First Impressions of the New HTC One M9: Beauty, Brains, and a Deja Vu Design

BARCELONA, Spain –– HTC’s One M8 was one of the best smartphones of 2014. What to do for a followup? This year, the company is back with the next version: No, not the Two M8, but the One M9.

Sporting a 5-inch HD display, an improved camera, and powerful front-facing speakers, the One M9 certainly appears to have the goods to be one of the best phones of 2015.

How does it stack up? Here are my first impressions.

Déjà vu design

To say that the HTC One M9 bears a resemblance to last year’s One M8 is an understatement. Both have the same all-aluminum frame and brushed-metal back panels, both sport the same unique front-facing speakers, and both have 5-inch displays.

And while the One M8 is certainly gorgeous –– arguably more attractive than even the iPhone 6 ––it would have been nice to see some design changes made for the M9.

What changed? Well, the M9’s power button is now on the side, making it easier to reach. And its edges have been tapered to make it easier to hold. But beyond that, the handsets are virtually identical, and that’s a bit of a shame.

In terms of size, the One M9 is actually a bit smaller than the M9, and weighs a whole 0.1 ounce less. If you liked the design of last year’s HTC phone, you’ll probably like this year’s, too.

Screen

While every other smartphone company seems to be equipping its handsets with super high-resolution QHD displays, HTC is sticking with an HD display, and that’s a great decision.

Why? QHD displays, which have a resolution of 2560 x 1440, sound cool, but in reality, the average consumer can’t tell the difference between a 5-inch screen with such a high resolution and an HD display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080.

In truth, the QHD screen just ends up using more battery power. The battery has to power more pixels on a QHD screen than an HD screen. Why not just stick with the HD screen and save some battery life?

HTC did. As for overall screen quality, based on my short time with the M9, the images looked crisp and the colors were vivid. It will be interesting to see how the M9’s display stacks up against the iPhone 6’s Retina HD screen and the Galaxy S6’s panel.

BoomSound speakers

The One M9, like its predecessor, comes with what HTC calls BoomSound speakers. HTC has been touting these for a few years, and it’s one of the most distinguishing factors of an HTC phone: Positioned above and below the phone’s display, the BoomSound speakers are the best external speakers you’ll find on any smartphone.

For the One M9, though, HTC has included Dolby virtual surround sound, which the company says can simulate a 5.1 channel audio setup. That’s not to say that the One M9 will sound better than your home entertainment center, but it should certainly sound better than any other smartphone.

Improved camera

Around the back, the HTC One M9 gets an all-new 20-megapixel camera. The company says the new camera is sharper than the One M8’s unique Dual View camera, and will allow users to zoom in farther on their photos.

A new one-touch edit feature has also been added to the phone’s camera app, as well as a new double-exposure option that lets you take two different photos and merge them together to create a single image.

I’ll have to test the camera more thoroughly; that will be one thing to look out for in my upcoming review.

Interface

The One M9 runs on a modified version of Google’s Android Lollipop operating system; HTC’s Sense 7.0 software runs on top of it. In general, the interface is relatively unchanged from the One M8, though there is a new widget (an app that runs on your home screen) that can automatically provide you with a specific set of apps based on your location and time of day.

It works by determining which apps you use most often during a specific time of day and at a specific location. So if you regularly use things like your email, calendar and Dropbox apps while at the office, they will begin to appear in the widget panel whenever you’re at work, making them easier to get to.

Don’t want to use the widget? Like all widgets, you can disable it.

There’s also a new theme feature that lets you set your favorite picture as your home-screen background, and then automatically pulls colors from the photo and uses them as colors for various app toolbars and backgrounds. It’s a small thing, but still pretty nifty.

Performance

HTC has packed the One M9 with one of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 processors and 3GB of RAM, which means the handset will be more than powerful enough to handle your games of Candy Crush Saga and Threes.

Samsung was originally rumored to be using the M9’s processor in its upcoming Galaxy S6, but the company is said to have passed on the chip due to concerns about overheating. The heating issues are said to have been resolved, but I’ll be checking for any problems when I get to use the M9 for a prolonged period.

Battery

The One M9 comes with a non-removable 2,840 mAh battery, which is larger than the 2,600 mAh battery found in the One M8. This means you should be able to use the M9 for a bit longer than last year’s phones, which already delivered all-day battery life.

Your next favorite Android smartphone?

With the One M9, HTC has honed its now iconic smartphone design. Still, I would have liked a greater evolution when it came to the handset’s looks. It’s certainly beautiful, but it’s not exactly fresh. Recycling last year’s design is one thing HTC shouldn’t borrow from Apple.

Beyond that, though, the One M9 looks to be every bit the heavy-hitting smartphone a flagship device should be. It has a gorgeous display, a sharp camera, and plenty of horsepower. And the design, though familiar, still works.

HTC has another contender for best Android phone of the year on its hands.

Email Daniel at dhowley@yahoo-inc.com; follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley or on Google+ here.