New HTC One M9 – An overview of the updated smartphone from HTC. HTC One M9 - Specifications Appearance and usability

Smartphone HTC One The M9 was first officially unveiled in 2015, becoming the Taiwanese company's mainstay at a tech show in Barcelona. Experts immediately noted that the flagship had not undergone a large number of fundamental changes compared to its predecessor. The battery volume has slightly increased, the platform has been updated, but no revolutionary new products have been proposed.

Appearance

In terms of dimensions, body and shape, the HTC One M9 is not much different from its predecessor, the One M8. There are still differences, but they are small: protective glass with the screen slightly raised above the base of the case, when the M9 did not go beyond the edges. Such a difference may not even be noticed, but from a practical point of view, it still brings additional inconvenience. Dust accumulates over time in the resulting rim, so it has to be blown out.

The model has an aluminum body, larger set various colours. A combination of golden side faces with a silver reverse side was added to the golden and dark gray colors.

As an excuse, we can say that the M8 had a good design, there was no point in fundamentally changing something.

Control Features

On the front side of the smartphone, there are three basic buttons - "Home", "Back" and "Last running applications". By holding the Home button for a long time, you can launch a specialized Google service now. The power button is located on the right side just below the volume buttons.

One of the main features in management is the use of modern Motion Launch technology. Thanks to it, information from all sensors is transmitted to the processor, any application immediately receives this information. This allows you to save battery and implement new control options.

For example, unlock the screen without using the power keys. The technology works best when the smartphone is in an upright position. If any of the unlock options interfere, it is disabled in the screen settings.

Another option for using Motion Launch is to quickly turn on the camera when the phone is locked. To do this, just turn the gadget to a vertical position, and then press the volume key.

At the bottom of the phone is a mini-jack and a microUSB connector for headsets and headphones. Many users noted that this location of these inputs is the most optimal. When listening to music from a smartphone in your pocket, it should be lowered upside down. Then you don't have to intercept it, getting it out.

On the front side, the speakers are located at the bottom and top. In addition, there are proximity and light sensors. A 4 MP camera eye and a light indicator are inscribed in the grille of one of the speakers.

Display

On the HTC One M9 smartphone, the manufacturer put a Super LCD3 display with a diagonal of 5 inches. The screen looks advantageous, as it has a large viewing angle, no matter how the user rejects it, the picture is not distorted. Even if you watch a video or photo diagonally from the end or edge. The margin of brightness is not the maximum, but sufficient for the image to be clearly visible in sunlight.

Color rendition is almost indistinguishable from natural. At the same time, it is calmer than in the M8. Some people will like it, but for others it will become a moot point. Such a phone is suitable for users who are supporters of displays with a calm color scheme.

At the same time, many manufacturers now give customers the right to choose, allowing you to manually adjust the color temperature, contrast and brightness. HTC One M9 does not have similar functions. The screen cannot be changed, so it is not recommended to buy a phone without looking at it live. It is necessary to realize from personal experience whether such a color rendition suits you or not.

The smartphone has an automatic brightness control function. It works well, but sometimes the value set by the machine turns out to be insufficient.

At the same time, the display supports up to 10 touches, including touches with gloves. There will be no difficulty if you touch the device with wet hands. He reacts adequately to all pressures.

Camera

Perhaps the main difference between this smartphone and previous HTC flagships is fundamentally new module main camera. It is equipped with a dual flash with LEDs, while they are of several tones, the sensor resolution reaches 20 MP.

Compared to previous versions, image detail is much better, it looks more natural. Works well in low light as well as automatic detection white balance.

The camera in the HTC One M9 smartphone is inferior to analogues in such flagships as Note 4 or samsung galaxy S6. But at the same time, the device costs an order of magnitude cheaper. In this case, the user receives a quality module.

The camera should be told in more detail, as this is the main pride of the gadget. It is based on a Toshiba sensor equipped with a back-illuminated matrix. Its resolution is just over 20 megapixels.

The same sensor is installed on the front camera, only the resolution is slightly lower, the native technology of the Taiwanese manufacturer is involved. The developers got rid of two cameras on the back of the device and ultrapixels on the main camera.

At the same time, they retained many of the useful and original shooting functions that today's smartphones are famous for. For example, this is the ability to take photos in bokeh mode. This is an artificial blurring of the background with increased sharpness of objects located in the foreground.

This feature is present in HTC One M9, but in practice it is practically no different from changing the focus. When taking such a photo, the cameras simply take several frames in a short period of time, focusing in turn on the foreground and background. In the final shot, she automatically blurs the background, doing it as neatly as possible.

In dual shooting mode, it is possible to literally split the screen in half. Between them there is a slider that allows the owner of the smartphone to determine which of the parts will be larger or leave them the same. On one half of the screen, the picture from the main camera is displayed, and on the other - from the front. This allows you to take pictures in turn with each of the cameras without turning the phone, and even take two pictures at the same time in opposite directions.

An important feature is manual mode, which allows you to independently set the white balance, shutter speed, exposure, focus. Those wishing to experiment should give priority to building the focal length and shutter speed. As a result, it is possible to obtain high-quality results even in poor lighting, compensating for the lack of light with slow shutter speeds and ISO settings.

Of course, in this case, you will need a tripod or some kind of support, but the main thing is that this possibility is present. This greatly expands the capabilities of the camera on the gadget. As a rule, if the phone's camera does not have the ability to adjust the manual mode, the user is doomed to "noise" in the picture or strong overexposure.

The HDR mode seems to work quite well. The pictures are contrasting and bright, the interference of electronics is almost imperceptible.

The photo kiosk function only works on the front camera. This is a series consisting of four self-portraits, which are glued together in one frame, like after visiting a photo booth in a supermarket. You can choose what the result will be: rectangular, square or elongated in width. It's a nice feature that isn't anything fancy, but it lets you cheer yourself up by fooling around with friends or a loved one.

Permission front camera is 4 megapixels. At the same time, it takes really high-quality pictures, when compared with the result that can be obtained from smartphones in the same digital range. The frames are as detailed as possible and more saturated. The credit for this is the increased pixel size and sensor.

Audio

Compared to the previous model from HTC, which was already mentioned in this article, there is practically no difference in sound. This applies to the quality from stereo speakers, as well as sound from headphones or a headset. For the average user, audio will leave only pleasant sensations.

There is a BoomSound feature, which added several additional profiles. It turns out really different sound depending on the chosen option. If you are watching a TV series or a movie on your gadget, it is recommended to stop on the “Movie” profile, and if you listen to songs, then on the “Music” profile. You will definitely feel the difference, for example, in "Cinema" the sounds automatically become more saturated and voluminous.

High quality sound that comes through the speakers. In a small room, a smartphone can be used as a compact speaker. The device will completely replace portable speaker, which is often taken to a hotel or to the bathroom. The sound quality is just as good.

Battery

The smartphone has a 2840 mAh non-removable battery. This is a little more than previous models, but keep in mind that the HTC One M9 has more powerful performance and platform.

With active use, the phone lasts for a whole day if you charge it until the morning. As a rule, it lasts for about an hour of calls, two dozen SMS messages, a couple of hours of use mobile internet, up to 4 hours of listening to music. This is without taking into account the launch of mobile games.

Performance

The HTC One M9 smartphone is powered by the Snapdragon 810 platform. The Taiwanese mobile technology manufacturer is increasingly using it in its devices. Efficiency provides a processor of 4 cores with a frequency of 1.5 GHz. Graphics controller - Adreno 430.

The device is equipped with 3 GB of RAM. An additional 32 GB is installed for user data. If necessary, you can put a microCD flash card instead of one of the SIM cards.

The HTC One M9 was one of the first modern smartphones to use a brand new platform developed by Qualcomm. Over time, more and more mobile technology switched to it.

Users and experts do not complain about the performance of the phone. Programs run flawlessly, even heavy games run well on HTC One M9. maximum settings charts.

The device runs on Android 5.0. In addition to it, the native shell relies HTC Sense, installed in most smartphones from this Taiwanese manufacturer, except for a few of the very first models.

Sense is presented in a new version. It made several fundamental changes. Other themes appeared, implemented competently and accurately. True, some elements cause dissatisfaction among many. This applies, for example, to the "oblique" font in the clock widget.

Conclusion

We have quality smartphone, to which there are no justified and reasoned claims. The phone quickly and efficiently catches the network, the voice of the interlocutor is heard clearly and clearly, without distortion and extraneous noise. Someone may not have enough volume, but a small margin is still present.

The phone has a powerful vibrating alert. It can be felt almost always, despite the dimensions and weight of the device. The volume of the speakers when the smartphone rings is set to above average by default.

This phone will appeal to fans of products made by HTC. In its price range, the smartphone looks good, although not perfect.

The announcement of the HTC One M9 was received, to put it mildly, coolly - the company planned to update the hardware platform and camera of the smartphone, and left everything else unchanged, at first glance. On the other hand, modern wisdom says - it works, don't touch it! In addition, the average user has long lost interest in the annual updating of smartphones, and with flagships, in principle, there is no such need - they have enough performance margin for several years. So maybe you should not try to come up with something new and minor improvements are enough to win the heart of the consumer? Let's figure it out.

If you put HTC One M8 and M9 side by side - last year's and fresh flagships of the company, only an employee of the company can distinguish them from the first time. But the difference is really minimal - this is not Samsung with their Galaxy S5 and S6, which look like products different manufacturers, maximum continuity is preserved here.

The general idea of ​​design, design and arrangement of elements remained almost unchanged. The body of HTC One M9 is made from a single piece of aluminum, and the texture of the back cover retains the natural look of the metal.

Not much space is given to the display on the front side - there are wide plastic grilles on the top and bottom, under which the famous stereo speakers are hidden, and the company logo still flaunts above the bottom, extending the case by a couple of extra millimeters.

Under the top grill is a small indicator light. To the right of it is a slot for sensors and a large front camera lens.

Trays for a memory card and NanoSIM are located at the top of the sidewalls, MicroUSB and 3.5 mm are crowded at the bottom, and a glossy black insert on the top hides infrared port to control household appliances.

Important changes compared to HTC One M9 can be listed point by point.

First. The power key fell into place after many years, it is located under the separate volume buttons on the right. So using a smartphone is much more convenient - you do not have to reach for the key on top. Of course, I would like the button to be located a little higher, just under the thumb, but this place is already occupied by the volume keys.

Second. HTC has changed the shape of the side faces of One M9. In M8 they were rounded, but now they are sharper. As in the Galaxy S6 Edge, you need to get used to the relatively sharp sidewalls, I personally stopped paying attention to this feature after a couple of days of use.

Third. The main feature of the One M8 was the dual camera. They decided to abandon it, and replace it with a conventional module. It protrudes slightly above the lid, but in the photos it looks worse than in real life. In addition, the lens is protected by a sapphire crystal, so you don’t have to worry about the safety of the camera.

An additional change is the new colors of the case, to which fashionable gold has been added. HTC One M9 can be completely gold (Gold on Gold), silver with gold sides (Gold on Silver), or completely black (Gunmetal Gray). All colors have the same lid texture.

Otherwise, the One M9 is one of the most metal smartphones on the market, the abundance of metal is clearly felt in the hands. As before, it is larger than other models with 5-inch screens, but it can be operated normally with one hand.

Display

HTC did not pursue high resolutions and installed in their flagship traditionally good SuperLCD3 display with a diagonal of 5 inches and a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels (441 ppi). The screen is covered with Corning Gorilla Glass 4.

The screen brightness varies from 8 to 418 cd/m², the measured contrast ratio is 1:773. The quality of the factory calibration is at a good level - the color gamut corresponds to the sRGB space, the color temperature is slightly too high, and the gamma curve has small differences.

The screen supports operation with gloves, which is useful in the cold season. The ability to control gestures has not gone away - a double tap is enough to turn the screen on or off. In addition, with a simple swipe, you can immediately unlock the screen, open the BlinkFeed feed or start voice control.

The screen makes a very pleasant impression. Automatic brightness control works correctly in most cases, the backlight supply is enough for both working in the dark and for a bright sunny day, the oleophobic coating allows you to quickly remove fingerprints. The display has a very calm color reproduction - the colors are as close to natural as possible, there are no flashy bright colors that are characteristic of AMOLED displays and individual IPS matrices. From the screen of HTC One M9 there are only pleasant impressions.

Hardware platform

As a basis for their flagships, HTC, as a rule, uses the latest developments from Qualcomm. This year, the company did not change traditions - the heart of One M9 is the eight-core 64-bit Snapdragon 810. It is complemented by 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal memory, the volume of which can be increased using memory cards.

There is also support for all current standards mobile networks, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, DLNA, Bluetooth 4.1 (apt-X), GPS+GLONASS, NFC, infrared and even FM radio. For a “full set”, the HTC One M9 only lacks the possibility of wireless charging, but given the all-metal back, this is not possible.

Naturally, with such a filling, the smartphone occupies the first lines in most benchmarks and works as quickly as possible during normal use. Adreno GPUs always get good optimization in different games, so there will be no problems with them either. Moreover, for most tasks, the available performance will even be excessive. There is no 2K screen, so there is nowhere to use the existing “power” either (except for games).

The only negative point is the heating of the case. Under normal use, the M9 stays cold, but after playing a few resource-demanding games or running a couple of benchmarks, it warms up noticeably. Of course, the hand does not burn, but the heating is felt.

Calls, multimedia

The appearance of BoomSound speakers in the flagship HTC smartphones allowed them to stand out among their own kind. In One M9, the speakers remained in place. Subjectively, they have not changed in a year. They can still be called best solution if you like to watch YouTube videos or play dynamic games without headphones. They play loudly, quite voluminously and cleanly. Things are also going well with music playback through headphones - the sound is clear, voluminous, without extraneous noise and with a good volume margin.

HTC One M9 also has no problems with phone functions, with the only exception that you need to choose a melody a little more carefully - when the smartphone is in the pockets of your trousers, the sound is muted, so you can accidentally miss a call. The vibrating alert is average in strength, it is felt in pockets and when the device is lying next to it on the table. In talk mode, the loudspeaker has a normal volume, in most situations it turns out to be enough, there is a small margin. There were no problems with network signal reception during testing.

Operating system and shell

The smartphone is running latest version Android 5.0.2 Lollipop with proprietary interface HTC Sense 7.0. It may seem that in a year there have been no visible changes in the shell, they are just hidden away.

Of the innovations, it became possible to customize the on-screen keys, which can add a fourth button. In addition, a theme store has appeared. They allow not only to change the appearance of icons, but affect absolutely everything - wallpapers, melodies, fonts, and even the design of the system control keys.

One of the innovations is hidden on the desktop. This is a widget that collects frequently used applications and just installed programs. The location of the icons changes depending on the frequency of use of specific programs and your location - this solution turns out to be convenient.

Working hours

From the built-in 2840 mAh battery, HTC One M9 confidently works a day at an average load, showing three to four hours of screen operation. This is a normal indicator for modern flagships, which will probably improve a little with the release of updates.

cameras

The potentially interesting Duo Camera with ultrapixels turned out to be the main drawback of the One M8, the HTC One M9 uses a regular module for the main camera, and the ultrapixels moved to the front camera.

The main camera is a BSI sensor with a resolution of 20 megapixels. Dual tone LED flash, 27.8mm f/2.2 lens protected by sapphire crystal. The front camera has the following specifications: 4 MP, HTC UltraPixel, BSI, f/2.0, 26.8mm.

Compared to the M8, progress is visible - the quality of the images has really improved, at least due to the increased detail.

In practice, in ordinary non-ideal shooting conditions, everything is not so simple. We can definitely say that the camera in HTC One M9 is inferior to the best modern photo flagships of the Galaxy S6 or iPhone 6 level. In difficult conditions, the device can miss focusing, mistakenly determine the white balance. In addition, you need to work on focusing speed - in this parameter, the smartphone is also inferior to competitors.

The above will be important if the quality of the smartphone camera plays an important role for you, and the pictures are studied and processed on a computer. Pictures taken in clear weather look good. Plus, you should not write off the fact that the smartphone is just entering the market, for sure, the quality of shooting will be improved in future updates.

The front camera, on the contrary, can already be called one of the best.

The average quality of the main camera by the standards of flagships is slightly compensated by the software. You can add new shooting modes to the existing shooting modes, there is a functional built-in editor.

Results

HTC One M9 really does not present any surprises - this is an evolutionary development of the smartphone introduced a year ago. The company was able to improve the main drawback of One M8 - the camera, albeit not so much that the new flagship could perform on equal terms with the best competitors. It is important that nothing was spoiled. There are the same high-quality case materials, speakers, screen, productive platform and excellent speed. Ergonomics have improved due to the power button that has moved to its side. But a completely preserved design robs the feeling of novelty that you expect from any smartphone that is proudly called the flagship. From this purely emotional point of view, the HTC One M9 looks boring. Owners of One (M8) new product may be interested mainly in improved camera. For users of the first HTC One released in 2013, the hero of the review will be much more interesting, but it is worth remembering that One M8 has remained quite relevant, and even more affordable.

Liked:

Housing materials

Quality screen

Platform and speed, memory card slot

stereo speakers

Front-camera

Did not like:

- Case dimensions

- Average main camera by the standards of flagships

- Heating of the case under load

	Operating system	Android 5.0.1 (Lollipop)
RAM, GB	3
Built-in memory, GB	32
Expansion slot	microSD/SDHC (up to 2TB)
Dimensions, mm	144.6×69.7×9.61
Weight, g	157
Protection against dust and moisture	—
Accumulator battery	Li-Ion, 2840mAh (non-removable)
Operating time (manufacturer's data)	talk time up to 25.4 hours in 2G networks; up to 21.7 hours in 3G networks
Diagonal, inches	5
Permission	1920x1080
Matrix type	Super LCD 3
PPI	441
Brightness sensor	+
Touch screen (type)	capacitive
Other	Corning Gorilla Glass 4
CPU	Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 MSM8994 + GPU Adreno 430
Kernel type	Cortex-A53 + Cortex-A57
Number of Cores	4 + 4
Frequency, GHz	1,5-2
Main camera, MP	20.7(f/2.2)
autofocus	+
Video filming	+ ([email protected] f/s, [email protected] f/s, [email protected] f/s)
Flash	+ (dual LED)
Front camera, MP	4 (f/2.0)
Other	sapphire lens coating
WiFi	802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot
Bluetooth	+ (4.1)
GPS	+ (A-GPS, GLONASS)
IrDA	+
NFC	+
interface connector	USB 2.0 (micro USB, MHL, HDMI)
Audio jack	3.5mm
MP3 player	+
FM radio	+
Type of shell	monoblock (non-separable)
Housing material	aluminum
Keyboard type	screen input
More	stereo speakers (HTC BoomSound with Dolby Audio), fast charging, magnetic sensor, accelerometer, compass, gyroscope

Released in 2015 as the flagship mobile device of a Taiwanese company. Alas, he failed to repeat the success of his predecessors - progress on the part of competitors and a number of his own shortcomings did not allow him to gain a foothold on the top. The Taiwanese manufacturer lost its leadership position and lost customers and profits for the next two years.

To understand why the M9 didn't find success, we need to take a closer look at the devices of competitors - iPhone 6 / 6s and Samsung Galaxy S6. The Koreans from Samsung managed to get rid of one of the biggest drawbacks of their flagships - nondescript design. Samsung Galaxy S6 came out in a new version of glass and metal, and it instantly won success and recognition from users. Apple devices with their multi-million audience have always been successful, and the "sixth" line of smartphones in itself was very, very good.

Unlike its competitors, HTC decided not to make radical changes. In terms of design, the HTC One M9 is not much different from the M8 - in fact, the smartphones use almost the same displays. Most manufacturers introduced new cameras, hardware and batteries. How can HTC respond to this? Is that a slightly redesigned shell of HTC Sense 7.

In any case, the HTC One M9 corrected the mistakes of its predecessor and showed a whole host of improvements. But neither the redesigned main camera nor the larger battery proved to be as revolutionary as they should have been. And to be honest, it's not all that unexpected. In any case, HTC One M9 remains a very, very worthy flagship.

In terms of design, the HTC One M9 and M8 are like the iPhone 5s and 5. Both smartphones follow the same design concept and have the same displays. Only a number of small changes separate the M9 from the M8.

The most noticeable of these changes is the new two-tone color scheme. The smartphone is available in three color options: gold and silver, full gold, and metallic on gray.

As for the back panel, instead of a curved surface, HTC decided to use a thick edge that connects the front panel to the back. The front of the smartphone seems to be squeezed into the back. This has a slight advantage - HTC was able to make a thinner bezel between the screen and the panel itself. In addition, the smartphone is now lighter and more firmly held in the hand, not trying to slip out of the hands. It is even easier to hold in one hand, although it is still inferior to the M8 in terms of convenience.

In all other aspects, the design of the phone has improved. It became 0.2 mm thicker, but the engineers managed to narrow it by almost a millimeter. The smartphone weighs 157 grams - not too little and not too much. Sometimes it may seem heavy, but this is even for the better - the user will never get the feeling that he is holding a child's toy in his hands.

The lock and shutdown key has been moved from the top to the right panel. It is now located directly below the volume buttons. In addition, the material was changed - the button is now metal and equipped with an etched surface. The user will be able to offhand distinguish it from the volume controls. The latter, by the way, have also been improved - they are now a little harder and require a little more pressure to actuate.

Alas, the phone is still difficult to use if you are used to doing it with just one hand. Competitors have already come up with solutions - in the iPhone, for example, top part The screen moves down when you double-click the Home key, while Samsung has a separate mode. HTC apparently decided not to pay attention to such a "trifle", and there are no ways to make it easier to use the phone with one hand.

On the bottom edge are a 3.5mm headphone jack and a microUSB input. The front grille covers the new BoomSound speakers.

Almost the entire top face is covered with translucent black plastic. Below it is an infrared emitter that allows you to use the M9 as a remote control.

Another change is the camera design. The HTC One M9 uses a square camera that protrudes slightly from the body. The corners of the module are slightly rounded so that the phone does not get stuck when you try to put it in your pocket.

Display

In 2015, “2K hysteria” began among smartphone manufacturers, and they all began to en masse equip their flagships with displays with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. HTC decided not to succumb to the trend and traditionally equipped the 5-inch screen of the HTC One M9 with a Full HD matrix.

2K displays are sharper than Full HD displays, but that doesn't matter at 5 inches. The graininess of the image is completely indistinguishable to the eye - a density of 441 pixels per inch allows you to work with the display without any problems. By comparison, Apple's Retina specifications require only 336 pixels per inch. In other words, the lack of 2K resolution is not a problem.

The Super LCD3-matrix displays colors well and has sufficient contrast and black depth. It still doesn't compare to Samsung's Super AMOLED, but for normal use it will be more than enough. Brightness and viewing angles are very good, but the display is still very reflective of the sun's rays - the user will probably have to turn it at an angle so that the sun does not hit the eyes.

Built-in speakers and sound quality

Traditionally, HTC One M9 is equipped with a pair of stereo speakers with built-in amplifier and support for Dolby Audio. Compared to other speakers, they are better at separating sound in stereo, but this is not their main feature. What makes the HTC One M9 truly special is how deep the speakers sound and how well they reproduce the mids given their size. Competitors' devices cannot compare with the M9 in terms of sound quality.

Due to the small size achieve good sound low frequencies will not work. Luckily, the amplifier and Dolby Audio support work even with headphones plugged in.

In short - best speakers not to be found anywhere HTC best sound quality.

Performance

Prior to the release of the HTC One M9, the flagship smartphone market was dominated by models powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8-series processors. Galaxy S5, and Sony Xperia Z3 were equipped with these processors and they were unmatched in terms of performance.

The HTC One M9 uses the Snapdragon 810, the latest processor from Qualcomm. Its main feature is support for 64-bit computing and eight cores with big.LITTLE architecture. In fact, the smartphone is equipped with two quad-core processors operating at 1.55 GHz and 1.96 GHz. Few powerful processor Responsible for handling calls, receiving and sending text messages, receiving data from sensors, playing music and browsing the Internet - in other words, for actions that do not require serious processor power. Thus, it is possible to significantly reduce energy consumption. The second, more powerful processor is connected only when running demanding applications, such as 3D games. In power-saving mode, high-performance cores are completely disabled.

In terms of performance, the smartphone works just perfect. We have never encountered slowdowns or freezes - the system worked perfectly. In games, the smartphone also showed its best side, but the main problem Snapdragon 810 - overheating - still managed to show itself. After spending a lot of time in games, the phone heats up noticeably, and if it is also charging at that time, the temperature jumps even more. Fortunately, it never came to a complete overheating.

In synthetic benchmarks, the HTC One M9 scores as follows:

• * 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited: 15602 (21625 with power saving disabled);
• * GeekBench 3 multi-core: 2268 (3545 with power saving disabled).

Operating system and software

The HTC One M9 runs on Android 5.0 and is upgradable to Android 7.0 Nougat. Installed on top of the system branded shell HTC Sense.

One of key features HTC Sense is a redesigned home screen called Sense Home. It works as follows: the system learns what time and where the user is and what applications he is using at that time, and adjusts the home screen accordingly. For example, when the user is at work, Sense Home will display a list of eight frequently used work apps. There are three main categories: “Home”, “Work” and “Outdoor”. The third mode is for navigating with Google Maps and similar apps.

The built-in theme center has been redesigned, allowing for deeper device customization. The user is no longer limited by the available themes - he can now create his own. The application analyzes the image that the user wants to use as wallpaper, and selects icons, fonts and the overall system design for it. Sometimes the theme center handles icons incorrectly third party applications but overall it works quite well.

The smartphone also has a new Cloudex application. It brings together collections of custom images in Dropbox, Google drive, Facebook and Flickr, showing them all in one app.

The built-in “Remote” application returned to the M9, allowing you to use the infrared transmitter as a remote control. You can control almost everything - TVs, audio systems and other devices with an IR receiver. Also returned and child mode, which prohibits users from opening applications containing content unsafe for children.

In addition to Google Play Music HTC One M9 comes with its own HTC Music App audio player. Given that Google's app is more focused on streaming and buying audio content from its own store, the phone needs a separate audio player - and the HTC Music App is perfect for this role.

Memory expansion and wireless

Unlike other manufacturers, HTC still allows users to expand the built-in memory with memory cards. HTC One M9 is no exception - despite the rather large amount of internal memory (32 GB), users can expand it with microSD cards. In addition, as a bonus, HTC offers all users an additional 100 GB cloud storage Google Drive for two years.

The smartphone supports dual-band Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n/ac) with DLNA and Wi-Fi Direct, MHL 3.0 for connecting directly to a TV via cable, and 4G. In addition, for energy-efficient pairing with other devices, there is support for Bluetooth 4.1.

Camera

Cameras have always been a weak point in the HTC One line of smartphones. In M9 she's still not the best - for real good cameras started to appear only after the release. However, compared to the M8 and M7, progress is evident.

The M9 camera uses a 20.7-megapixel sensor. In principle, this is already better than in other flagship devices - for example, only an eight-megapixel matrix is ​​​​installed in the iPhone 6. However, megapixels are not the point at all. Unfortunately, the HTC One M9 doesn't have an optical image stabilization system, which means that shooting in low light will suffer.

Since the HTC One M9 does not have a dual camera, an artificial bokeh effect is used instead of a physical depth of field effect. It works, alas, not in the best way - the transition from a clear to a blurry image is performed sharply, and not smoothly. In addition, objects must be no further than 60 cm apart, and image processing takes about five seconds. So it is better to forget about this function.

The editor built into the application allows you to add a number of filters, frames and effects to the image. The Double Exposure function allows you to merge two photos. Elements adds moving elements to your photos, like falling leaves or bubbles. Finally, HTC Zoe lets you make small video clips of multiple photos.

But no matter how wonderful the effects are, they are useless without a good camera. Let's take a look at the camera itself.

After switching to a 20-megapixel matrix, the quality of photos should have improved. However, the M9 camera is objectively inferior to its competitors (iPhone 6/6s and Samsung Galaxy S6). The detail on objects leaves much to be desired, and the background looks too soft and washed out.

Apparently, the fault is not the best exposure algorithm. The camera cannot balance the brightness, especially when there are several light sources in the picture at once - and as a result, some environments “sink” in the dark, and you will not find details in daylight images with fire.

In low light, the M9's camera doesn't shine either. The quality of the photos came out a little better than the Galaxy S5, but the lack of optical image stabilization makes itself felt - the photos are far from what they could be.

Under normal lighting, the photos are excellent. What's more, when shooting under normal conditions, the HTC One M9 produces some of the brightest and most saturated photos. The HDR mode works very well and improves the color and brightness balance. Processing, however, takes about two seconds.

As a front camera, the M9 uses a four-megapixel UltraPixel module - in fact, the main camera of HTC One M8 has migrated to the front panel. This camera is ideal for selfies - they are just basically taken in low light conditions.

The selfie camera works much better than the iPhone 6 Plus and Galaxy S5. If you like selfies, you will love this camera.

HTC One M9 can shoot 4K video for up to six minutes. It also supports slow motion at 120fps. The quality of the video is not bad, but it suffers from the same problems as the photos.

autonomy

HTC One M9 is equipped with a battery with a capacity of 2840 mAh. Using the big.LITTLE architecture should, in theory, reduce power consumption.

For the test, we launched SD video on a smartphone with the display brightness reduced to 50%. The HTC One M9 lasted about 10 hours - just a little more than the M8, but less than the Galaxy S5 or iPhone 6 Plus. In more everyday scenarios, the battery performed well, but not in the least outstanding. If you surf the Internet (3G/4G) for three hours, watch videos for an hour and play 3D games for another two hours, the battery will be completely discharged in 13 hours. With less intensive usage scenarios, the chances that the phone will “survive” until the evening increase.

If the smartphone is about to be discharged, you can turn on the extreme power saving mode. Almost all functions are disabled in it, except for the main ones - calls and messaging.

Like most flagship smartphones, the HTC One M9 does not come with a removable battery. This means that you will have to carry a power bank or other UMB with you. The phone supports the function fast charging- using special cable HTC One M9 charges up to 50% in half an hour.

Results

HTC One M9 is far from the worst flagship smartphone. He simply failed to come up with something truly innovative when competing firms came up with something completely new. Refreshed designs in the Samsung Galaxy S6 and LG G5, and 3D Touch in the iPhone 6s helped keep these smartphones from falling into self-repetition and becoming commercial successes, while the M9 was just a “slightly updated” M8. Partly because of this, HTC began to have financial problems, which the company was able to solve only now.

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At MWC 2015, which took place in February this year. Already on March 16, the device went on sale. The initial cost of new items was about 800 US dollars, depending on the amount of memory and country. Modifications were released with 32 and 64 GB of memory on board.

The design of the device repeats the appearance of the previous model, last year's flagship M8. The same straight lines, slightly rounded shapes, aluminum housing and traditional speaker grills located above and below the touch display.

The device is equipped with top-end stuffing and promises users a solid performance margin. Whether HTC succeeded in bringing the device's attractive performance figures to life, our short review will show.

CPU

The device is based on Qualcomm's top chipset - model Snapdragon 810. The octa-core processor, whose frequency reaches 2 GHz, allowed One M9 to win the third place in the ranking of the most powerful smartphones, as of the first quarter of 2015. The device scored 52 thousand points in the popular AnTuTu benchmark, losing only to the new flagships from Samsung, we wrote more about this in this article.

The downside of such a high performance is the fact that during intensive use the smartphone overheats. Heating can not be called too strong, but it is. And working at elevated temperatures, as you know, leads to accelerated battery consumption.

The Adreno 430 GPU is the top GPU model and delivers excellent gaming performance. There are no problems with playing high-definition video either: the Blue-Ray HTC One M9 movie quality “drags” confidently.

RAM and internal memory

The novelty is equipped with 3 GB of RAM, as befits a modern flagship. Manufacturers have not yet begun to install more.

To store user content in HTC One M9 provides 32 or 64 GB of memory. The advantage of the device, in comparison with competitors, is the fact that the manufacturer did not forget to equip its flagship with a slot for a memory card. Its volume can reach 128 GB (most likely, 200 GB modules will also be supported, but there are no such modules on the wide market yet).

Battery

HTC One M9 is equipped with a non-removable lithium battery, with a capacity of 2840 mAh. According to the manufacturer, the talk time can reach a day, but in practice, the performance is traditionally less. With a moderate load, the smartphone will work for a day, but when you try to start a heavy toy, overheating makes itself felt. As a result, the same GTA is able to drain the battery in 4-5 hours.

Camera

The predecessor flagship, the One M8, was often criticized for its low camera resolution, which was 4 megapixels. Although new technology UltraPixel made it possible to obtain detail that was significantly higher than the matrix with the same resolution from competitors, for many it was not enough.

In the M9 model, the manufacturer decided to return to traditional technologies and equipped the smartphone with a 20-megapixel camera manufactured by Toshiba. It supports autofocus and is equipped with a classic LED flash. The quality of the picture has improved markedly, but the ideal matrix cannot be called. It allows you to get a clear image in conditions of a sufficient level of lighting, but when it is scarce, it is noticeably inferior to the same Samsung Galaxy S6.

Display

The display of the device has not changed much in comparison with its predecessor. This is the same LCD3 matrix with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. Its diagonal was 5 inches, and the image clarity reaches 440 dpi. There are no complaints about the quality of the picture, it is almost perfect: there are no color distortions when rotated, or an unnatural display of shades. Is that the brightness in the sun may seem a little bit insufficient for some users.

SIM cards

HTC One M9 supports only one nano SIM card, its slot is located on the side of the device. Among the supported communication standards, GSM, UMTS and LTE networks (2nd, 3rd and 4th generation, respectively) are announced.

Audio features

The smartphone has a high-quality audio system, and the BoomSound multi-profile equalizer allows you to select the appropriate set of settings to change the sound. The stereo speakers produce loud and clear sound, the quality of which is quite acceptable for listening without connecting additional accessories. In the headphones, the entire frequency range is clearly audible, the “tops” and “bottoms” of the device do not “cut”.

Operating system

The operating system on HTC One M9 is fresh android version 5.0 lolipop. as custom GUI, traditionally, the proprietary shell Sense 7 is used.

Pros and cons of HTC One M9

Against the background of other flagships, the HTC One M9 cannot boast of any outstanding characteristics. But, definitely, the device has advantages:

• powerful and clear sound;
• top "iron";
• high-quality screen;
• metal case;
• support for memory cards.

The main disadvantages of the model include:

Conclusion

As our review showed, the HTC One M9 is nothing new. The smartphone, rather, is a modified version of its predecessor, in which old flaws have been eliminated (but a couple of new ones have been added). It cannot be said that this approach is unsuccessful: for example, the same Apple has always adhered to such a practice, which did not prevent (and even helped) achieve a position in the top three market leaders. The M9 hardware platform has become more powerful, the screen is better, the camera has more megapixels, and the sound has become even richer. Definitely, the novelty deserves to exist and will find its fans.

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The Taiwanese company HTC released the flagship model HTC One M9 almost simultaneously with the Chinese company Samsung - the world giant in the production of quality phones, which presented another Samsung model galaxy. It's not easy to compete with a manufacturer that HTC once lost the palm to. Both models went on sale in March 2015 at about the same price and with equal technical performance. It is very important for HTC to win this high-tech race, it will determine the future of the company.

HTC One M9 smartphone design

HTC smartphones have always been ahead of their rivals in the beauty of design. Mobile devices With operating system The Android company is perfecting the design, using more than just the metallic hues of the body, unlike rivals LG and Samsung. But according to established HTC traditions, each a new version device is a direct successor of the previous one.

The M9 model in terms of design is practically the twin of the M8 model. If you put them side by side for comparison, then at a distance they are almost indistinguishable from each other. Everything changes when you pick them up. The body has become thinner. Smooth, slippery model M8 strives to slip out of the hands, while the M9 has a body brutal, rough and hard, pleasant to the touch. It lies in the palm of your hand confidently and firmly. Particularly attractive models of golden and silver colors. Their owner will feel like the owner of a luxurious device.

Another seemingly insignificant design change can be attributed more to a minus than a plus. The power button is now located on the right side below the audio volume buttons. They are very similar and easy to confuse. Although there is an opinion that this way the power button is easier to get. It has a special shape to make it easier to feel.

Specifications HTC One M9

• Dimensions - 144.6x69.7x9.61 mm;
• Weight - 157 grams;
• OS - Android 5.0.2 with HTC Sense 7.0 shell;
• Processor — 8-core, 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994), big.LITTLE GTS architecture (4x ARM Cortex-A57 2.0GHz + 4x ARM Cortex-A53 1.5GHz);
• RAM - 3 GB;
• Memory for data storage - 32 GB, support for microSD / HC / XC cards (128 GB);
• Screen - capacitive, Super LCD 3 matrix, diagonal 5 inches, resolution 1920x1080 pixels, pixel density per inch 441 ppi, Corning Gorilla Glass 4;
• Interfaces - Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 GHz + 5 GHz), Bluetooth 4.1 (aptX codec), microUSB (USB 2.0), USB-OTG, DLNA, HDMI MHL 3.0, NFC, IR port, 3.5 mm headphone jack;
• Main camera - 20 MP, BSI-sensor (Toshiba T4KA7), f / 2.2 aperture, 27.8 mm EGF, sapphire coating, autofocus, dual two-tone flash, 4K video recording;
• Front camera - HTC UltraPixel (4 MP), BSI-matrix, f / 2.0 aperture, 26.8 mm EGF, 1080p video recording;
• Radio - FM tuner with RDS;
• Sensors - accelerometer, Hall sensor, compass, gyroscope, light and proximity sensors;
• Network - GSM/GPRS/EDGE, HSPA/WCDMA, 4G-LTE (Cat.6);
• Battery - non-removable, lithium-ion, 2,840 mAh;
• Features - IPX3 splash proof.

Screen smartphone HTC One M9

Model M9 is equipped with a liquid crystal screen with bright saturated colors. The screen is voluminous, widescreen. The only pity is that the company can not refuse the wide black border around it, at the bottom of which is the campaign logo. It does not decorate it and takes up useful space.

Five-inch display with IPS-matrix has a resolution of Full HD (1920x1080 pixels). Nothing special, but it's enough. The colors are saturated, the lines are clear, the pictures are detailed. In addition, battery power is saved, which charges surprisingly quickly (50% in about 20-25 minutes).

The sound of HTC One M9

The smartphone has a good loud sound with the BoomSound system. The good placement of the speakers saves it from the disadvantage of some smartphones, when the sound is muffled due to the fact that the speakers cover the palm of your hand. This is a big deal for the developers. You can listen to music, watch videos, and enjoy the clear sound and deep timbre of low notes without using headphones. This qualitative difference between HTC One M9 and smartphones from other companies allows it to seriously compete with Samsung Galaxy S6 and even iPhone devices.

HTC One M9 performance

Externally, the M8 and M9 models are very similar, and this is where the similarity ends. New flagship HTC One M9 is equipped with a powerful modern processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (formerly Qualcomm Snapdragon 801), RAM has increased significantly, it is 3 GB (M8 OP 2 GB). The combination of an 8-core 64-bit Snapdragon processor with an Adreno 430 graphics chip will especially please fans computer games.

The process is instantaneous, everything literally flies. The one-piece aluminum case does not heat up. The owner should not be afraid of overheating of the device at maximum load and do not turn it off for a long time. During testing of the HTC One M9 at the limit of power, its performance surpassed analogues in performance, including the iPhone 6. This is proof of the quality of the phone and the professionalism of its developers.

The internal memory has grown significantly. Its lower threshold is 32 GB (against the former 16 GB), however, 21 GB of them are available to the user, the rest is reserved for the system and installed software. Internal memory can be stretched if desired up to the same upper limit of 128 GB due to microSD cards. Now the user does not have to buy an additional memory card, although it should be noted that an increase in internal memory will add a little to the cost of the smartphone.

Camera smartphone HTC One M9

The main 20 MP camera is located on the back, the resolution is usual, but it allows you to take beautiful clear, bright pictures and even 4K video. For selfie fans, the front has additional camera at 4 MP. Both cameras perfectly cope with their task, in terms of quality they will fully satisfy the most demanding customer.

Battery and charge HTC One M9

An analysis of the battery operation showed that the developers still have to work on it. The battery does not hold a charge well, it discharges very quickly when watching a video, so it can create a real problem for the user. On average, for the same time, the user sees less than 40% of the charge, while Samsung owners and LG have over 60%. Watching a 40-minute movie series “eats up” 20% of the battery charge versus 9% on the Samsung Galaxy S6.

Software HTC One M9

Concerning software, then the developers themselves believe that it needs to be improved. The flagship model went on sale with the Android 5.0.2 operating system with an improved shell. For comfortable operation of the device, a lot of themes are installed, you can change fonts, icons, background, create your own themes. Customizing your device with stickers and backgrounds for the back panel will make your phone unique and different from others.

There is one very interesting feature - the "smart" screen. Thanks to HTC features Home home screen and lock screen will change depending on the location of the smartphone owner. Houses on screen shortcuts social network, cookbook, games, and in the service - work applications, calendar, notes. On the road, it is proposed to use the Google Maps resource, icons of music albums are displayed. The more often the user resorts to this function, the more accurately the device adapts to his interests and needs, freeing the owner from everyday routine care.

Advantages of the HTC One M9 smartphone

• Good technical performance, bringing the flagship model HTC M9 into the category of the top model based on Android;
• Beautiful, unique design, attractive body color palette;
• The ability to change the interface according to the needs of the user;
• operating room android system 5.0.

Disadvantages of the HTC One M9 smartphone

• Weak battery;
• Not very convenient volume and lock buttons.

Price and video review of HTC One M9

The cost of the smartphone is 30400-55878 rubles. The average price of HTC One M9 is 37,900 rubles.

We present to your attention a video review of HTC One M9:

Thus, the owners of the HTC M8 smartphone, satisfied with its performance, can switch to a more modern model - HTC M9, and will not be disappointed either. In addition to a rather weak battery, the phone has no other serious shortcomings. At the request of the client, the company guarantees the replacement of HTC M9, if any problems are found with its operation in the first year of use.