The HTC One M9: A Smaller Upgrade Compared to its Predecessor
As I'm about to take a closer look at the new HTC One M9, it's interesting to note that it will be compared side by side with the M8, and this comparison is crucial in understanding the upgrade offered by the M9. Upon initial observation, the surface of both phones appears similar, but there are certain features where they differ.
One notable difference lies in the front-facing camera. Although the camera itself looks slightly larger than its predecessor, it's still not as impressive as some other cameras on the market. Moreover, the HTC One M9 has opted to drop its UltraPixel camera and replaced it with a new 20 megapixel sensor. This change also means that the Duo Camera feature is no longer available.
My first day with the One M9 was quite eventful, and one thing that kept bothering me was the placement of the power button. It's located down on the right side below the volume rocker, which makes it a bit awkward to access. I found myself accidentally hitting the power button whenever I tried to pick up the phone, so while this is an improvement over having the power button on top like on the M7 and M8, I wish it were placed higher up.
Now that I've had some time with the camera, I must say it's not as great as I had hoped for. The pictures I took during my initial usage were overexposed, and although the phone claims to be focusing, it wasn't actually doing so. It would make that noise as soon as I touched the screen but was not necessarily like, done focusing. The One M9 has decent cameras, but they are not the best out there, especially when compared to the issues with the M8.
However, what really sets apart from its predecessor is the processing power of the One M9. With an eight core processor and three gigabytes of RAM, it's no slouch in terms of performance. Nevertheless, one drawback of all this power is the excessive heat generated by the phone. Even performing everyday tasks like checking Twitter or watching videos can cause the back temperature to rise to around 100 degrees Celsius.
One thing that I've truly appreciated about the One M9 is its BoomSound speakers. Having two front-facing stereo speakers that actually produce good sound quality is a rare gem, and I often find myself forgetting about this feature when switching between phones.
WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enStay tuned to the end to get a sneak peakat how I make my videos. This is the HTC OneM9 and this is going to be my only phone forthe next week. Put side by side with the M8,the M9 is definitely a smaller upgrade. Soon the surface it looks very similar, youwill be able to tell that the front facingcamera looks a little bit bigger and thatthe speaker’s been slightly redesigned,but on the whole of it it's a very similarlooking phone. Around back HTC has opted todrop their four UltraPixel camera in favorof a new 20 megapixel sensor. Now in additionthis also means that you're going to be losingthe Duo Camera which to be totally honestis no real loss to me. It always seemed alittle bit of a gimmick more than an actualfeature. Alright so today was day two withthe One M9 and so far, so good. One thingthat has been bothering me a little bit isthe placement of the power button. So it'sdown on the right side below the volume rockerand it's in a little bit of an awkward spotso I keep wanting to pick up the phone andI accidentally keep hitting the power button.So it is a slight improvement over havingthe power button on the top of the phone likeon the M7 and the M8 but still it would havebeen nicer if it had been a little bit higherup. Alright, so now let's give the cameraa try. It's going to be storming here in afew minutes so I don’t have a lot of timeso let's try to take a few pictures and videosand see what we can get.Oh look, that's overexposed, no! So it's sayingit's focusing but it's actually not, you hearthis? It just makes that noise as soon asI touch the screen but it actually is noteven like necessarily done focusing. You canget some decent pictures with the M9. It'snot the best camera out there and I feel likeit kind of has a lot of the same issues asthe M8 even though this has way more megapixels.It's okay, but I think the big deal is isthe fact that the processing just is not thatgreat. Now there are going to be some updatescoming for the camera soon and hopefully that'llfix it but right now it's a little disappointing.With an eight core processor and three gigabytesof RAM, the One M9 is no slouch when it comesto performance. However there is one drawbackto all this power and that is the heat. Doingeveryday things like checking Twitter andwatching video is enough to make the One M9noticeably warm to the touch. Now it neverreally exceeded around 100 degrees as faras the back temperature goes but that's stilla little bit on the warm side for a phone.One thing I've really been appreciating arethe BoomSound speakers. Having two front facingstereo speakers that actually sound good issuch a nice thing. I always forget about itwhen I switch over to another phone and thenpick up an HTC One and go "Oh, right, thisis what a phone is suppose to sound like."I've been pretty easy on the One M9 batterythis week and it hasn't let me down. Now usuallythe big test is if a phone can survive a fullday when I'm traveling. Since that's not anoption, I decided to run the One M9 as wellthe One M8 and the new Galaxy S6 edge throughthe PCMark battery test. The results werea little disappointing. So the M9 was ableto last five hours and eight minutes comparedto six hours and fifty-eight minutes for theM8 and seven hours and twenty minutes forthe Galaxy S6 edge. The M9 is still goingto be enough for most people to get througha day however if you're a little bit of aheavier user it's a little bit worrying thatit’s not only behind the Galaxy S6 but it'seven behind the One M8 from last year. Lookingat the screen on the One M9, I think HTC absolutelymade the right decision in keeping it 1080phowever the color looks a little bit odd.It's a good screen that most people will haveno problems with however I did notice thatit tends to be a little bit on the blue side,especially compared to the M8. I'm typicallymore of a fan of stock Android, however I'vegot to say that HTC has made some nice customizationshere. I appreciate things like HTC's cameraapp, which is a big step forward comparedto Google's stock camera app however thereare also some weird things that Sense bringsalong including some very bizarre quick settingswhich have the text cut off, a little bitweirdly laid out, it’s just a mess. TheHTC One M9 is a good phone however it's notmuch of an upgrade over the M8. Put it sideby side with the Galaxy S6 and it just can'tkeep up. So what do you guys think? Let meknow in the comments below and I've got togive a big shoutout to VideoBlocks for makingthis video possible. I use all kinds of gearwhen it comes to making my videos, from camerasto computers but one of the most useful toolsI have is VideoBlocks. VideoBlocks is a subscriptionservice that gives you unlimited access tostock footage, backgrounds and After Effectstemplates. If you've ever looked at buyingstock footage for a video you'll know thatit can get crazy expensive. I needed a fewclips for a project a few months back andit ended up costing me like three hundreddollars. With VideoBlocks you can get thatsame 100 percent royalty free content foruse on places like YouTube which can be massivelyhelpful for making videos you might not beable to do otherwise. You can start a freeseven day trial at the link in the descriptionso if you want to up your video game definitelybe sure to go check it out. Anyways guys,thank you so much for watching and I willcatch you in the next one!