HTC One M9 hype thread

[dawheat]

both the m8 and m7 have black bars because they are both metal phones. if there were no bars the metal would act as a faraday cage and you would get terrible reception. every iphone has them too and apple wanted to remove the bars but they couldn't. htc decided to integrate the bars into the edge of the display but unfortunately it has convinced people that they are just stupid and cant design a phone as this thread shows. so you can have no black bars, or you can have a full metal phone, but not both. that is why the note 4 and galaxy s models have no bars.

And it's the evolutionary design with the 20mp camera. Funny how they discussed low light performance on the front camera but not the back.

And honestly the black bar explanation might have worked 2 years ago, but the iPhone as well as the new A5 and A7 show you don't need to have this type of bar anymore. Back bars like the One and IP6? Ok - it is what it is. Adding another substantial one to the front? So 2013.

 

[shabby]

Wow the htc watch...

 

[dawheat]

Well my initial impressions aside, battery life is probably going to be exceptional.

240 mAh more than the M8, 1080p screen along with Lollipop should result in great run time over the already very good M8. Larger battery in a phone slightly shorter and narrower is positive.

 

[zerogear]

I'm iffy on this phone, since I already have a M8. I might have to wait until the next one.

 

[dawheat]

I'm iffy on this phone, since I already have a M8. I might have to wait until the next one.

Yeah I don't see most M8 users burning to upgrade unless they've really wanted a high res main shooter. I don't think they said it has OIS in the presentation which is kind of disappointing - I'm guessing it's going to take great daylight photos and average/mediocre low light considering the tiny pixels and no OIS.

Otherwise similar design and screen, the M8 never lacked for performance, battery life was already very good, no biometrics addition, etc.

 

[zerogear]

Yeah I don't see most M8 users burning to upgrade unless they've really wanted a high res main shooter. I don't think they said it has OIS in the presentation which is kind of disappointing - I'm guessing it's going to take great daylight photos and average/mediocre low light considering the tiny pixels and no OIS.

Otherwise similar design and screen, the M8 never lacked for performance, battery life was already very good, no biometrics addition, etc.

This phone is definitely an excellent upgrade to M7, I think we've been overhyped by the "concept art" that the evolution design feels like a disappointment. Which happens with all companies, I guess.

 

[touchstone]

And it's the evolutionary design with the 20mp camera. Funny how they discussed low light performance on the front camera but not the back.

And honestly the black bar explanation might have worked 2 years ago, but the iPhone as well as the new A5 and A7 show you don't need to have this type of bar anymore. Back bars like the One and IP6? Ok - it is what it is. Adding another substantial one to the front? So 2013.

they don't have to be black per se, just plastic and therefore a different material than the metal of the case or the glass of the case. the ip6 has them too. i agree that the design is evolutionary and disappointing. the real wild card is how much the qualcomm chip throttles and how fast its gpu is vs the chip in the galaxy s6. at the moment it looks like a comeback moment for samsung.

 

[touchstone]

Wow the htc watch...

hilariously tiny stereo speakers on that watch. also a total waste of the very small amount of space you get with a smartwatch screen. but thats just my opinion

 

[sze5003]

This phone is definitely an excellent upgrade to M7, I think we've been overhyped by the "concept art" that the evolution design feels like a disappointment. Which happens with all companies, I guess.

To an m7 I agree but if you have had an m7 and are tired of it, maybe not so much except if you want a bigger phone. If you have an m8 this is no big upgrade. I was hoping it would be nicer.

 

[dawheat]

hilariously tiny stereo speakers on that watch. also a total waste of the very small amount of space you get with a smartwatch screen. but thats just my opinion

Shabby was joking.

 

[KentState]

How is the average consumer suppose to differentiate between the M7, 8 and 9?

 

[Strk]

How is the average consumer suppose to differentiate between the M7, 8 and 9?

The trim is a bit different on the M9. I don't think HTC really needed to do much with the M9. The M8 was pretty nice, so just upgrading to more current internals was really all they needed to do.

 

[Radeon962]

Not looking good already.

HTC’s One M9 is the world’s most beautiful disappointment

The design is still gorgeous, the camera is still mediocre

Regrettably, my initial impression of this camera is not a positive one. Image noise is present in most of my pictures, and low-light photography is basically a disaster. I was reminded of BlackBerry’s consistently inadequate cameras in the devices that preceded the Passport. Like them, the HTC One M9 lacks optical image stabilization, which the company justifies on account of physical space constraints. The image sensor also appears to be an odd size as the "regular" image ratio is 10:7, and there’s no 4:3 option to be found.

http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/1/8126431/htc-one-m9-hands-on-preview

 

[tsupersonic]

Decent evolutionary change. I expect a revolutionary change for the M10. I can't believe people place so much weight on a cellphone's camera. I guess I'm old school, but I'll stick to dedicated camera equipment for any type of serious pics. Cell phone cameras are just that - they are portable (you'll likely always have it on you), and they are only good enough for sharing pics/videos with friends/family.

I can't wait to see what the other flagships are doing. It seems cell phones have plateaued.

 

[zerogear]

I think they might still be working on camera software.. I hope

 

[luv2liv]

m7 user here. the m9 doesnt excite me. absolutely nothing new. not even waterproof! and the stupid bezel to squeeze in the HTC logo from m8.
when the company upgrades our phones, i would probably go with the samsung s6

 

[cronos]

How is the average consumer suppose to differentiate between the M7, 8 and 9?

It's easy, the M7 is the prettiest

 

[fstime]

So they kept the long TV remote control look and feel after all the complaints about the space the HTC logo takes up?

I'll be going for the Samsung alternative probably in that case.

 

[npaladin-2000]

Ok here's the largest problem with HTC's presentation. They showed a device that looks very similar to the One M8. Then they got into the software advances in Sense7. Then they blew it by stating that the One M8 would get Sense7. Thereby drastically reducing the number of reasons to buy the M9.

 

[zerogear]

Well, adoption rate for HTC was low to begin with. So they might be looking for people who have other smartphones. That being said, Samsung abandoned uSD for this generation, and M9 will have it.

If I wanted one of the two, the decision is made for me.

 

[blairharrington]

The premium feel edge that HTC touted over the Samsung is now gone with the S6. I see 3 reasons why someone would choose an M9 over an S6. (Assuming battery life are nearly identical, remains to be seen.)

1. Boomsound speakers.
2. SD card expansion.
3. They prefer Sense over TouchWiz.

It would have to be one of those reasons or a combination of 2 or all 3. Personally I'd opt for the S6 if I were deciding. It's 20 grams lighter, I don't need an SD slot if I have enough internal storage, and I don't need stereo speakers.

 

[zerocool84]

You can only stagnate in design if you're the top dog and even then Samsung realized that they need to change how their phone looks. HTC's design was great when it was released but it's not like they became the top smartphone choice because of it. It's old now, they should have done more than just an extremely slight refresh. They needed to do more to get more of us to care. They failed on that part. It's still a good phone but it's a phone we've already had for a while.

 

[KentState]

Decent evolutionary change. I expect a revolutionary change for the M10. I can't believe people place so much weight on a cellphone's camera. I guess I'm old school, but I'll stick to dedicated camera equipment for any type of serious pics. Cell phone cameras are just that - they are portable (you'll likely always have it on you), and they are only good enough for sharing pics/videos with friends/family.

I can't wait to see what the other flagships are doing. It seems cell phones have plateaued.

The problem is that the M8 camera and software suck at just being a simple camera. Slow and just below par picture quality in a market with much better options. I know the S5 isn't the pinnacle of smartphone cameras but it is the go-to over my wife's M8 in most situations.

 

[Imported]

Sigh. Come on Sony!

 

[MrSquished]

damnit. why can't they get the camera right? i prefer the 4mp on the m8 over something terrible in low light.

they needed like a 10mp with OIS good in low light as well and that would be the perfect phone. oye!