HTC One M9 – Review

The HTC One M8 was the best Android smartphone on sale last year.

HTC impressed with the phone’s pin-sharp five-inch screen and beautiful, polished all-metal hardware design.

However, the M8 was hindered by it’s frustratingly bland four megapixel rear camera and slippery aluminium case.

With its follow-up – the One M9 – HTC has tried not to throw the baby out with the bath water.

The Taiwanese manufacturer appears to have adopted an Apple-like approach to its hardware refreshes, which typically only include a camera and processor bump in the ’S’ iteration every other year.

With the One M9, HTC has attempted to address and improve the criticisms of its predecessor while maintaining the winning-formula behind the One M8.

Unfortunately, the results are uneven.

Look & Feel

The HTC One M9 sports a very similar design to its predecessor.

But, that's not a criticism.

The One M9 carries the same polished aluminium body, which is gently rounded to fit the contours of your palm.

HTC has made the One M9, which is undetectably thicker and shorter than the M8, much less slippery than last year.

This is a huge improvement to last year's flagship – which gripped like a wet bar of soap.

Another subtle tweak to the M8 hardware is the addition of a sharp lip around the edge of the device.

This stylish addition is an understated way of differentiating between the M8 and the M9 – although the new edge quickly becomes a magnet for pocket-lint.

HTC has dropped the sleep/wake button from the top of the device to hafl-way down the right side, below the volume controls.

Unfortunately, the button is easily confused with the two identically-sized volume controls above it. 

This is not helped by the fact that the new sleep/wake button is frustratingly spongey and has a tendency to lie flush with the device when you’re fumbling to lock the One M9.

HTC has done little to tweak the M8's stellar five-inch 1080p display – which makes a welcome return this year.

It does not match the dizzying number of pixels Samsung crams into its flagship phones, but the One M9's displays is sharp and bright enough to use outside.

HTC's signature Boom Sound speakers are also back and have been given a slight bump in volume since last year.

The battery in the M9 is slightly larger than last year, and HTC's new flagship comfortably lasts a whole day of use – but don't expect much more unless you switch-on Extreme Power Saving.

Software

The One M9 ships with the latest version of HTC’s Sense Software.

Sense 7.0 runs on Android 5.0 Lollipop and shares many of the same colourful design aesthetics.

It ships with a sparse selection of apps – unlike Samsung's myriad of memory-clogging bloatware – including HTC's motion-picture Zoe app.

Extreme Power Saving and Kid mode also make a welcome return to HTC's Sense software.

One of the headline new additions to the operating system is a location-aware app widget, called Sense Home.

The widget, which is placed on the homescreen by default, sorts the apps installed on the phone into three locations – home, work and out.

Home Sense is context-aware and automatically populates the eight available shortcuts based on your location, or the time of day.

On paper, it promises an intelligent way to triage apps. However, we found that the apps we used most frequently at work were almost identical to the apps used at home.

This is not a fault with Sense Home, but rather with the repetitive habits we developed while using the smartphone.

Another new feature bundled with Sense 7.0 is a UI customising app, called 'Themes'.

The standalone app allows users to pick from a range of icon designs, background images and system fonts.

There are a selection of HTC designed Theme Packs – which users can customise, or scrap and redesign from the ground-up.

A system-wide theme can also be generated from a photograph.

HTC offers users the ability to share themes publicly in a small online community found within the app.

Themes is a great addition to the operating system and offers a quick-and-simple way to customise the look of the phone without having to spend hours navigating the settings menu.

HTC has retained its practical three-by-three grid of recent apps by default.

However, this can be changed to the playful rolodex cards first introduced by Google in Android Lollipop, in the settings menu.

A torch toggle has been added to the Sense 7.0 quick settings drawer.

Camera

The rear camera was one of the worst aspects of HTC's 2014 flagship phone.

The M8 coupled a low-resolution 'ultra pixel' camera with a gimmicky secondary depth sensor – and the results were bland and somewhat gimmicky.

For the One M9, HTC has scrapped its dual-camera approach in favour of a more conventional 20-megapixel shooter.

Unfortunately, the results are just as lacklustre as last year. Photos with the M9 appear dimly-lit and bland.

The 20MP camera, which boasts a sapphire cover lens and 4K video recording, struggles in any situation with extremes in light and dark.

The result is a rear camera which can not be trusted as a reliable point-and-shoot. 

When compared with Apple's iPhone 6 – photographs from the HTC One M9 are consistently disappointing.

HTC One M9 vs iPhone 6

If photography is a priority, the One M9 is a very tough sell.

Verdict

HTC has attempted to systematically address and improve every one of the criticisms levelled at its critically-acclaimed One M8.

The result could have been a fine-tuned One M8 which successfully learnt from last year's mistakes. 

Unfortunately, the M9 still suffers from the same problems as its predecessor.

The beautiful hardware design makes a welcome return – as does the One M8’s lacklustre camera.

The One M9 is just as impressive as its predecessor. But thats not good enough to encourage current M8 owners to upgrade.

In a year when Apple finally embraced larger display sizes and Samsung ditched its plastic hardware design, HTC's incremental update already looks a little outdated.

Pricing & Availability  

HTC made the One M9 avaliable for UK buyers from 31 March 2015.

The HTC One M9 starts SIM-free from £579.99 from a number of UK retailers and carriers including Carphone Warehouse, or HTC's own website.

Monthly plans start from £37.50.

For a full breakdown of UK pay-monthly deals on the HTC One M9 read our price comparison.