HTC has kicked off Mobile World Congress 2015 with the unveiling of the HTC One M9. To put things simply, the rumors were true. Well, most of them were.
Internal Specs
On the inside, the HTC One M9 is powered a Qualcomm’s octa-core Snapdragon 810 SoC with 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, 128GB microSD expansion slot and 2840 mAh battery. The 20 megapixel main camera is equipped with an f/2.2, 27.8mm lens, BSI sensor, digital stabilization and is capable of capturing 4k video. The front-facing UltraPixel (4 megapixels) camera features a BSI sensor, f/2.0, 26.8mm lens and 1080p video recording.
Design and External Hardware
The new HTC One M9 features a design that’s a mix between the original HTC One and last year’s HTC One (M8). The aluminum unibody chassis measures 144.6 x 69.7 x 9.61mm and weighs in at 157 grams with a two-tone, brushed finish. The edges are a bit sharper, making the HTC ONe (M9) less slippery than last year’s model. The back of the device matches up to all the leaks we’ve seen, featuring a squircle camera cutout with scratch resistant sapphire protecting the 20 megapixel main sensor which is pared with a two-tone LED flash.
The front of the HTC One M9 is isn’t much different from last year’s One (M8), dominated by a 5-inch 1080p display centered between DolbyDigital-powered BoomSound speakers with virtual surround sound. The front-facing camera has a lower megapixel count than the One (M8)’s, but its UltraPixel (4 megapixels) sensor will certainly make it one of the best selfie cameras on the market.
While the One M9 is roughly the same size as last year’s One (M8), the newer phone is slightly more ergonomic since the power button is now located on the right side of the phone below the separate volume up/down keys.
HTC Sense 7
The HTC One M9 is powered by Android 5.0.2 and also introduced HTC Sense 7. The new software build from HTC look pretty similar to HTC Sense 6, but it packs in dozens of new features and can be customized to your heart’s content.
BlinkFeed has been upgraded with Yelp integration which can show suggestions for lunch and dinner right on your home screen. The launcher is also location aware, automatically suggesting apps based on your location while allowing you to personalize the list to your taste. Those who don’t like the location awareness features can always opt out and use the static launcher.
Sense 7 looks nice, but it’s certainly not for everyone. For those who like to add their own customizations, Sense 7 includes a Themes app which allows you to download dozens of different themes for your phone which change the main colors, fonts, soft-keys and wallpaper. If you don’t like any of the available themes, you can create your own based on pictures you take.
The DuoCamera isn’t present on the HTC One M9, but HTC has retained the uFocus effect by capturing five consecutive images at different focal lengths and merging them together to blur the background. The camera software comes with all the Eye Experience features that HTC rolled out with the HTC Desire Eye last fall, but Sense 7 does have a few new photo editing tricks. With Double Exposure (image masking) and Prismatic (shape masking), HTC hopes to give your images the “pop” they need to grab attention when sharing them on social media.
Pricing and availability
HTC isn’t quite ready to release pricing details of the HTC One M9, but the phone will certainly be priced at $199.99 with a new contract from AT&T, Sprint and Verizon and should carry an off-contract price from T-Mobile that’s right around $650. Unlike the launch of the One (M8), the One 9 isn’t available right out of the gate. The HTC One M9 is slated for an “early Spring” retail launch, but we expect service providers will be making their own announcements in the coming days or weeks.
[divider]Press Release [/divider]BRING YOUR WORLD TO LIFE WITH THE NEW HTC ONE
Get more out of every experience with the beautifully crafted HTC One M9’s
unique combination of elegance and performance
Barcelona, Mobile World Congress, March 1, 2015 – HTC today unveiled its most personal, beautiful and powerful smartphone yet, the HTC One M9. The newest flagship in the globally acclaimed HTC One family, the HTC One M9 is a classic yet timeless celebration of beauty and elegance that combines high style and performance, enabling you to get the most from your mobile phone.
“HTC has built its reputation on challenging expectations in the mobile industry,” said Cher Wang, Chairwoman, HTC. “The HTC One M9 accomplishes this once again with stunning elegance and design, combined with smart features that help bring your world to life, connecting you in a deeper way to the things you consider most important. So much more than just a phone, the HTC One M9 is an extension of who you are.”
A complete celebration of design
Building on a three-year pursuit of excellence, the HTC One M9 melds the best of the award-winning HTC One M7 and HTC One M8 into a stunning, iconic design. Distinct metal edges combine perfectly with graceful curves for a jewellery-grade look. Small and easy to hold, the crafted, all-metal unibody design is highlighted by an exquisite dual-tone silver and rose gold¹ finish that is as distinctive, as it is durable. Mirror-polished gold sides cascade effortlessly into a hairline brushed silver back panel, encasing a bright and vivid display.
HTC Sense 7: An extension of you
Your phone should make a statement about who you are and the new HTC Sense™ 7 experience puts you in control of everything. Highly customizable and intuitively you, Themes puts you at the center of the smartphone experience, intelligently analyzing your favorite photos to modify the look and feel of your apps, color scheme and backgrounds.
As your always-on travel companion, your smartphone is perfectly placed to enrich your mobile life. Sense 7 reinvents the home screen to deliver the most useful apps to the homepage based on your location. Whether at home, work, or play, you’re never more than a click away from the features you need with this contextual, customizable widget. A more intelligent HTC BlinkFeed™ also makes it easier to uncover the hidden gems that surround you by using location data to recommend points of interest, news and information.
Incredible imaging: Helping you create your best memories
With the best camera being the one you carry in your pocket, your smartphone should make it a breeze to take brilliant, creative and fun images. The HTC One M9’s cameras are designed to capture every moment in amazing quality, allowing you to relive those moments again and again. The main camera features an incredible 20 megapixels that accentuate every crisp, intricate detail and a sapphire cover lens that protects from scratches. For vivid video that looks like the latest blockbuster, the camera also shoots movies in 4K resolution.
The best moments take you by surprise and spontaneity often doesn’t come fully lit. The ultimate companion of the impulsive snapper, the HTC One M9 addresses low-light shots with a powerful UltraPixel™ front-facing camera. Dynamic auto exposure and UltraPixels that capture 300% more light than standard cameras deliver sharper, more natural and balanced self-portraits in any lighting conditions.
HTC Sense 7 with HTC’s EYE™ Experience software makes taking creative pictures easy. A host of new editing effects including Shapes, Prismatic, Elements and Bokeh allow you to add a little bit of individual artistry into every shot, with the Zoe™ app automatically editing them, putting them to your choice of music² and letting friends remix the collection with their own shots to create a shared celebration from every moment.
With so many incredible images, quickly showing your friends those brilliant shots could become an issue. Wherever they’re stored, the new One Gallery makes it easy to search through your entire photo library, viewing images saved on the phone, on social media, and on select cloud platforms. The gallery puts your whole image library at your fingertips, searching by date, location, event, album or even the images themselves with Image Match.
Exhilarating audio: Hear the difference
A truly great viewing experience deserves sound that puts you on the front row. The HTC One M9 guarantees a larger-than-life soundtrack courtesy of HTC BoomSound™. The HTC One family’s iconic dual front-facing speakers, now combined with 5.1 channel Dolby® Surround sound3 simulation, get you even closer to the action, delivering extraordinary, cinema-style surround sound. Uniting HTC BoomSound and Dolby Audio™ creates immersion vibrant audio experience, so you can enjoy movies with rich, clear and powerful sound even without connecting headphones or external speakers. Whether listening via the stereo speakers or headphones, even the most discerning music fans will be blown away by the phone’s support for perfect, 24-bit high-definition sound that surpasses even CD quality. HTC’s unique combination of HTC BoomSound, Dolby Audio™, a finely tuned sound profile, and Qualcomm® Immersive Audio gives all of your music and movies an unmistakable HTC One M9 flavor.
Connecting your world
Smartphones are fast becoming the central hub for home entertainment and HTC Connect™ makes it easy to enjoy your multimedia experience beyond your phone. A three-finger swipe on the screen connects the phone to compatible TVs or external speakers from leading manufacturers including Harman Kardon. HTC Connect’s integration with Qualcomm® AllPlay™ smart media platform and Blackfire Research™ wireless media technology, allows you and your friends to stream high quality content from your smartphones to multiple home entertainment devices around the house. The playlist feature also allows multiple smartphones to share a speaker with Qualcomm AllPlay. For the ultimate connected smartphone-powered TV experience, the HTC One M9 comes exclusively preloaded with the Peel® Smart Remote app. Instantly connecting you to the shows you love, the app even learns from your viewing habits, transforming your phone into a personal TV guide and remote control.
Accessories and availability
For a standout look, the HTC One M9 will be available with a range of unique and customizable accessories including the second generation HTC Dot View case, which adds more retro personalization thanks to a host of new features and color options. A transparent back keeps your smartphone pristine without hiding it from the world with the case injecting fun into even the most tedious commute by transforming into a mini games arcade. The new HTC Dot View case won’t even get in the way of apps such as Instagram, Snapchat and Badoo with through-the-case notifications alerting you to the latest photos, messages and check-ins.
Life has no limits, and when your adventurous side takes you into the unknown, an IP68 water resistant Active Case and Active Headset means that your phone can boldly follow wherever the action takes you, keeping up with the pace of the most epic adventures.
The new HTC One will be available in the U.S. on AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon early Spring. It will also be available through HTC.com, Amazon, Best Buy, Best Buy Mobile specialty stores, Costco Wholesale and Target. An Unlocked version will be available on www.htc.com. More information on availability will be shared in the coming weeks. Follow @HTCUSA and visit www.htc.com/one for more information.
FAIL!
OMG …
I dont know what to say…
This is just sad.
Looks good
it’s a buy from me!!
Coming from M7, it might be a worthy upgrade for me…though was a bit disappointed with the design not matching with that of @evleaks leaked renders (i think his leaks swelled our expectations really high)…Well, it still looks the most premium android device…Hope it does an excellent job under the hood
Solid upgrade, like an iPhone 5 to 5s, only more substantial actually. Maybe not worth it for people who have the M8, but I think HTC are aiming for more customers than those who are already buying their phones (go figure…).
Techies are screaming about bezels (go buy an LG), but HTC has made a phone that’s simply stunning when you see the design as a whole and don’t just look for bezels. Also, most folks don’t have a clue about OIS (a major complaint around the tech forums) and they are not obsessed with bezels when it doesn’t ruin the design.
As it seems, HTC M9 will be the phone that in 2015 has
– best onboard sound
– the best design (even more so now imo, and with more styles to fit every kind of customer)
– finally a decent camera
– prolly the best selfie camera for selfie situations (dark)
– quickest non-stock Android upgrades and at least for two years (loving lollipop on my M7!)
Sense is also widely popular and I think making it easy to finally make Android look both sleek and custom (by the new customization tool) will be a seller.
All in all, this was a much better upgrade than M7 -> M8 for me. The M9 shows HTC listens to customers and reviews yet they show integrity in design.
I think most of the outcries come from disappointment that it’s not a totally new design – no wow-fix today sry, expectations of phones have outgrown the industry in general. I hope ppl get over it and start appreciating how awesome this phone is.