HTC One M9 (2015) Announcement and Discussion

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#1249357 2-Mar-2015 12:24

The 20MP sensor on the M9 is confirmed to be the Toshiba T4KA7 and not the Sony IMX series

Dingbatt

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#1249495 2-Mar-2015 14:33

Now that I've had a chance to view a few videos and particularly the comparison of the M9 with the M8 and M7 I am cautiously impressed. I like the fact they have gone back to the more square corners of the M7. While the finish looks premium I wonder how much of a 'crap-trap' the ridge between the front face and the edge treatment will be.
At least it was confirmed that it has IR.
With the strength of the NZ dollar I would expect it to have an RRP well below $1000. Which leaves enough for the new generation of dot view cases and an SD card. Reviewers of the pre release handsets all seem to be wary of the main camera, but are quick to comment about beta software. I hope the production models have this sorted out as it wouldn't be the first time HTC had used its customers as beta testers.

The theming part of Sense obviously take its cues for the developer community. A benefit being that I can free up Tasker from doing my theming and have Sense do it instead.

With a possible release date of April that would hopefully mean early teething problems and any glaring deficiencies will be apparent before a purchase in the Queen's Birthday sales.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

Insanekiwi

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#1249581 2-Mar-2015 15:53

Personally, I enjoyed HTC M8 it was a great phone. Everybody complained of the camera, but I really liked the duo function as well as the quality shots I was getting in less than ideal situation (which is the most of the time). At least they kept that camera on the front on M9, so that's a good start.

I don't know if this phone is enough to justify upgrading it from M8 though. Looks similar, works similarly. M8 is still blazingly fast and has real solid build quality.

Seems that if you still want good quality photos (at any time, point and shoot) iPhone is the king at the moment. (excluding windows phones).

Dingbatt

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#1249605 2-Mar-2015 16:02

Perhaps not the M8, but a definite contender to replace my M7.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

ZombieJohn

109 posts

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#1249610 2-Mar-2015 16:04

Yeah, I wouldn't consider it if I owned a M8 however coming from a Nexus 5 it is a quite significant jump so I am more than happy to make the move.

Kopkiwi

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#1249629 2-Mar-2015 16:22

Both the S6 and M9 aren't worth the upgrade from a Note 4 to be honest. In fact upgrade is the wrong word, change, that's all it is. Early tests of the M9 camera say it's a big fail and looks pretty average.

The loss of SD and Battery on the S6 will cost Samsung a massive amount in sales.

Probably the 2 most underwhelming phone announcements since the iPhone 5S

macuser

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#1249633 2-Mar-2015 16:25

Hopefully my M7 can hold out another year, working perfectly except the home button sometimes presses itself automatically (maybe a bit of water damage)

Looking forward to seeing the Z4, otherwise I guess the M9 is OK - looks better than the M8, but I wish they would put the capacitive buttons back

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Kopkiwi

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#1249645 2-Mar-2015 16:32

macuser: Hopefully my M7 can hold out another year, working perfectly except the home button sometimes presses itself automatically (maybe a bit of water damage)

Looking forward to seeing the Z4, otherwise I guess the M9 is OK - looks better than the M8, but I wish they would put the capacitive buttons back

Sounds like someone is trying to convince themselves the M9 is a worthwhile phone...

markl

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#1249687 2-Mar-2015 17:51

Kopkiwi: Both the S6 and M9 aren't worth the upgrade from a Note 4 to be honest. In fact upgrade is the wrong word, change, that's all it is. Early tests of the M9 camera say it's a big fail and looks pretty average.

The loss of SD and Battery on the S6 will cost Samsung a massive amount in sales.

Probably the 2 most underwhelming phone announcements since the iPhone 5S

M9 camera - I've seen one bad review and one average one. Again though if you're deciding the worth of a phone based on the camera, then YOU'RE GOING ABOUT IT ALL WRONG.

Wrt the s6 and the lack of replaceable battery and SD card - I again disagree with you....1) You're talking about users who are happy with Touchwiz FFS!!!! They (and most average users in general) don't care about a replaceable battery...and which phone will they switch to that DOES have one? Most of the "flagships" these days don't.

Same with SD card....with all the streaming this, and online that these days, you arguably don't NEED more than 32-64 GB onboard these days...

Dingbatt

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#1249890 2-Mar-2015 22:06

Kopkiwi: Both the S6 and M9 aren't worth the upgrade from a Note 4 to be honest. In fact upgrade is the wrong word, change, that's all it is. Early tests of the M9 camera say it's a big fail and looks pretty average.

The loss of SD and Battery on the S6 will cost Samsung a massive amount in sales.

Probably the 2 most underwhelming phone announcements since the iPhone 5S

I agree with the sentence I have bolded above, but then why would you replace a phablet with a phone anyway? Unless a phablet doesn't suit.
The One's development is definitely iterative which is why I skipped the M8, not a big enough advance on the M7. The S6 is a big departure from the iteration of S3 to S5, with new buildmaterials and sd card and battery changes. Much the same as when HTC veered away from the Sensation to produce the polycarbonate One X, and then abandon that for the aluminium unibody, zero gap One series. A formula that obviously now works as HTC has stuck with it.

And that is from someone "convinced the M9 is a worthwhile phone". Worthwhile enough to part with the cash? Too early to tell. Need to see some real world reviews of production handsets and hold the real thing in my hand.

As for the capacitive buttons, Google has been herding manufacturers away from them for years. I was frustrated when HTC decided it knew better and did away with the usual four android buttons and got to the point of only having 2 on the M7. Then had to produce all sorts of double press/long press work arounds to get the utility back. So software buttons mean any reconfiguration is just a software change, and in fact the new Sense 7 appears to allow the buttons to be adjusted to suit. I would like to be able to turn them off completely and just use the Pie Controller I use at the moment.
Mechanical Home buttons such as the iPhone and Galaxy do allow a fingerprint scanner but to my way of thinking just introduce another point of failure. Moving parts = more prone to failure. Interesting that HTC have replaced the volume rocker with discrete buttons. I wonder if that is an asthetic change or a reliability one. Might make it easier to use one as shutter button though.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

MartinGZ

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#1249900 2-Mar-2015 22:32

It's the subtle things that may be nice. It looks like the international version might support 21 LTE bands, so no trying to figure out which version will work in NZ, altough can't yet see the full definitive list of bands covered. Just don't buy a US carrier version as they will be nobbled. See www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2477484,00.asp (the USA version of the web site).

Nokia 6110, 6210, 6234, Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1, Huawei Ideos X5 (Windows Mobile), Samsung Galaxy SIII, LG G4, OnePlus 5, iPhone Xs Max (briefly), S21 Ultra. And I thought I hadn't had many phones - but the first one around 1997.

ZombieJohn

109 posts

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#1249915 2-Mar-2015 22:38

The M9 is most definitely not be considered as a upgrade from a note 4. I feel like any same person when coming to purchase a device in late April will consider a selection of phones such as:
Note 4/ M9 / Samsung S6 or edge / one plus one and so on and so forth.

coffeebaron

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#1249917 2-Mar-2015 22:40

I wonder if they will make a Windows Phone variant :)

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Handle9

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#1249922 2-Mar-2015 22:53

markl:
540trickzter: Personally I think the One M9 is pretty disappointing... Design wise it pretty much looks exactly like the M8, only way to differentiate it is by the camera shape. And the Camera has no OIS...

So many people going ON AND ON AND ON about the camera....! Is that all you use your phone for??? Let's remember that it's a smartphone with a camera, not a camera with a phone attached...!!!!!

You want decent photos, then you're going to need an ACTUAL camera, no matter what the features of the phone cam...

I totally disagree with this. I don't care how they do it, whether OIS or postprocessing, but any flagship phone which doesn't have an excellent camera is not acceptable. Just like fast performance a big nice screen etc are prerequisites to being a high end device, so is having an excellent camera. It is a key part of the package of a modern smart phone.

markl

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#1249940 2-Mar-2015 23:13

Handle9:
markl:
540trickzter: Personally I think the One M9 is pretty disappointing... Design wise it pretty much looks exactly like the M8, only way to differentiate it is by the camera shape. And the Camera has no OIS...

So many people going ON AND ON AND ON about the camera....! Is that all you use your phone for??? Let's remember that it's a smartphone with a camera, not a camera with a phone attached...!!!!!

You want decent photos, then you're going to need an ACTUAL camera, no matter what the features of the phone cam...

I totally disagree with this. I don't care how they do it, whether OIS or postprocessing, but any flagship phone which doesn't have an excellent camera is not acceptable. Just like fast performance a big nice screen etc are prerequisites to being a high end device, so is having an excellent camera. It is a key part of the package of a modern smart phone.

I think you've missed my point. Yes it needs to have an excellent camera for a phone. But you know what? That just means a great sensor and some decent software. As long as said software (i.e. the camera app) plus the sensor, allow them to throw in a couple of gimmicks (be it OIS, or slow-mo or hdr or whatever) for the spec weenies then it qualifies. Anyone who navel gazes that much about a PHONE camera has lost their grip on reality.

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