Gadgetory

HTC refines their design inside and out with their latest flagship smartphone this is joshua guard from android authority what's going on everybody and this is the HTC One m9 while there are quite a few improvements made in this newest version of the one the most obvious is noticed when you get the phone in the hand HTC improved on their very well-regarded design language by taking some of the aesthetics from the one m7 and mixing it with the ergonomics of the m8 the result is a phone that basically adopts the two-tone coloration introduced in their desire line of mid-range phones but in this case the metal construction is still the centrepiece bringing a simultaneously industrious and elegant look on the sides the intersection of HTC's previous to design languages results in a sharper edge or a taper that brings the somewhat smoother backing into the sharper front that con caves down a bit this tactile feel on the sides is helped by a backing that isn't quite as slippery as before making this an HTC One that not only looks but feels much better dual anodization creates the two-tone look as the civil version you're seeing is covered in a gold rim the gold is actually subtle enough to keep the phone from looking too gaudy but there are a couple of the colors like the returning gunmetal that also looks incredibly sleek even the button layer has been brought to the side where the power button was once on top up front the boomsound speakers are easily found in big grilles on the top and bottom halves and the upgrade camera optics bring a very large unit to the backing without the extra eye of the duo camera there's no denying that the HTC One design has been well received and in the metallic space it is definitely one of the most recognizable but economically it has been improved and that's where the design aspect can easily be the focus of HTC steps forward the display experience is actually quite similar to the previous HTC One a super lcd3 panel that brings 1080p resolution stays at the 5 in form factor it's still a little tall especially considering the bezels and the speakers at the top and bottom but getting side to side is certainly no issue and adding a couple elements the soft key navigation bar can help alleviate the hand gymnastics the screen remains pretty easy on the eyes as we didn't really have any issue seeing things in broad daylight they'll do color production on the display is quite a bit cooler compared to the warmer tones of the HTC One m8 it's what's underneath the screen that truly shines as the Snapdragon 810 makes another appearance in a flagship handset this time backed by 3 gigabytes of RAM and while we might have been a bit skeptical about it performance and other devices thus far the HTC Sense 7 operating system does well to show how great this processor can be while some credit has to be given to how Spartan the OS is it's smooth and speedy elements cannot be denied going from the updated lollipop elements of the interface into applications and then back out again through the recent apps screen yields one of the nicest transitions end of noticeably smooth experience all around I cannot reiterate this enough this thing absolutely flies and speaking of sense a few key enhancements have been added to bring the 7th version of this operating system first noticeable is the sense home a widget that is basically a contextual location-based app launcher depending on where you are based on gps since home will bring up applications that you use on a regular basis it's a nice first iteration that benefits from being a widget because at least you can remove it if you want to and it's also nice that you are able to remove the folders that it comes with one with all your downloaded applications and one filled with suggestions that sometimes might come off a little spammy provided that you don't really care about what apps that appear in it blinkfeed returns but now adds its own location-based flavors results from the local Yelp listings for example become available at certain times as the one m9 will suggest through blinkfeed and in an area on the lockscreen places that you can go for a bite to eat for example it's in addition that's better felt over time and in just a day or so that we had with this phone it didn't really but into my routine enough for me to say it was good or bad to have and aside from the lollipop enhancements baked into sent seven changes to the interface can be felt through the theming engine many aspects of the interface can be changed to different colors through themes that are either pre-installed or downloaded from a growing list of shared ones from the interwebs but the most impressive part of this team is the ability to take any picture ideally your wallpaper of choice and plug it into the app it will analyze the colors and find a combination to use for all of the interface elements you can see me here putting my mega man x wallpaper in and finding the right shade of blue to easily apply to the OS before we get to the camera some other hardware enhancements include micro SD card expansion that backs that 32 gigabytes of on-board storage the boobs on speakers remain a very good part of the media experience especially when Dolby is put into the mix for even better sound the sensor for easily waking unlocking the phone also returns so when bringing the phone up from a prone position a simple double tap or swipe from the sides can get users to key parts of and finally the battery has been brought to 2840 milliamp hours though testing for full day usage battery life is going to have to wait for when we get our final review units you've probably been wondering about the large camera optic on the back yes we get a larger 20 megapixel sensor here that forgoes the ultrapixels of previous HTC One devices the result is a much enhanced picture taking experience though in translation we have to keep our reservations about the one m9 before we get to that though the app interface has been improved for easier selection of modes and it is worth noting that a pro mode will be available after launch which will allow for raw capturing of images if you are missing the ultrapixel from the HTC previous ones however don't worry the low-light performer has been moved to the front in order to make self-portraits easier to capture it's a very thoughtful move that has translated to success thus far with selfies getting the kind of low light performance they need especially in indoor situations but now it's in the rear facing camera that we have to dial back our enthusiasm because the 20 megapixel optics are actually pretty uneven pure daylight shots still bring the kind of quality we wanted from these shots despite the dialed back color saturation and details were quite sharp and we were happy with those results in broad daylight but even in somewhat lower light situations the noise comes back and darker elements are very blotchy it's quite easily noticed in photos but it's even more noticeable in video which is where the lack of optical image stabilization is probably most acutely felt it's important to note that improvements to the camera software will be made in time before the launch but we are definitely hoping to see that those right enhancements are particularly found in the low light situations and so there you have it the HTC One m9 in this first look at their new flagship HTC seems to have been at work creating the most refined and perfected one device yet and in a lot of ways they seem to be on the right track in design and especially in the software enhancements they are back not only by a powerful processing package but by a body that is not sacrificing these simplistic elegance that originally distinguished the line if there was only one flaw in otherwise great package and might be have to be the camera which is a bit of a bummer because we hope that the issues we have seen thus far are remedied in the final review units so you can wait until then when we get our full review units that we can bring you our full review of the HTC One m9 but until then keep it tuned to android authority for all of the best coverage from the Mobile World Congress 2015 in Barcelona Spain should keep it tuned here because we are your source for all things mwc