For three weeks now, even a little more, I have been using One M9 as my main smartphone HTC. During this time, I managed to pay attention to all the main points in the device, both positive and negative: the quality of the cameras, the heating of the case and what to do with it, the calm color scheme of the screen – is it good or bad? In general, practically important points in M9 and my attitude to them are in this article.
Last year's design is almost the main complaint about the HTC One M9 and, to be honest, I almost succumbed to general hysteria myself. However, while I was using the M9, from time to time I switched for a couple of days as a second device to other smartphones, very worthy, I want to note. Here is Huawei P8, which I use at the moment; it's just an excellent and very balanced device, moreover, in a metal case. But! It does not have that rigidity and the highest quality materials and their processing, which 'catch' and One M9. Yes, there is a metal body, sleek and neat, but that's all. In the M9, this is a special aluminum treatment, this is the curvature of the rear panel, this is the feeling of being in the hands of a really expensive and high-quality device. In other smartphones, there is no such feeling from materials, that's all.
Left to right HTC One M7, M8 and M9
With the screen, the situation is twofold – in three weeks I got used to the display in HTC One M9 and any other IPS-screen with a standard color scheme, that is, literally a drop of twisted colors, now seems to be similar to the early AMOLED. At the same time, I understand perfectly well that this is a matter of habit: when you look at the display with muted colors every day, your eyes rest and the transition to a more contrasting screen seems abrupt and wrong. However, it is worth using any smartphone with the usual IPS colors and everything returns to normal, and the screen in the M9 again seems dull.
The main 20MP camera in the M9 also leaves a double feeling. In terms of image clarity and crop resolution, it is undoubtedly two heads better than the four-megapixel module in the M8. On the other hand, color reproduction, white balance, frame depth and overall photographic feel; for all these parameters, for me personally, the camera in the M8 is still preferable. But damn permission! I understand that some of the features of the ultrapixel sensor from the M8 cannot be implemented in the module HTC One M9, but I would like to believe that the overall quality of the main camera in the new flagship HTC will still improve. fortunately, there is something to work on and the result should be.
But the front camera in HTC One M9 is one of the best among current smartphones, in my opinion. Yes, there are 4 megapixels, not 5 or 8, but these are ultrapixels and this fact makes the camera great. The pictures are sharp, deep, if you are not photographed against the background of a wall, and even with a lack of lighting, the camera almost always gives at least a satisfactory quality, and in most situations – good.
The new platform Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 used in the HTC One M9 is good in terms of performance and not very good in terms of heating. We cannot say that the 810 heats up critically, but in the situation with the M9, the high heating of the chipset is superimposed on the metal case. As a result, we have heating within normal limits inside, even under a serious load, benchmarks on HTC One M9 do not show the temperature on the battery over 45-48 degrees, and noticeable heating outside. Simply put, sometimes holding HTC One M9 is not comfortable, for example, when the device is working at maximum: Wi-Fi, downloading programs, playing a game, video for a long time, and so on. The solution is to use a case, I am doing this now and, I hope, in the very near future HTC and Qualcomm will be able to make the new chipset even colder and the heat will not be felt so noticeably on the case.
Finally, the most important thing I want to talk about is HTC Sense. Yes, yes, and yes again, having used a lot of devices with proprietary shells based on Android 5.0 Lollipop for six months, I can confidently say that Sense is the best. In HTC they did everything right and did not replace the convenient solutions from the stock Android 5.0 with their own, similar or dissimilar. The new Sense has all the best that Lollipop has to offer, as well as the very best that Sense has to offer. And together it goes well. As a result, the interface in HTC One M9 turns out to be harmonious, there are no distortions in the direction of the proprietary shell, but at the same time there is a feeling that the manufacturer simply dumped a couple of his chips into the stock Android.
