Gadgetory

when the HTC One m7 launched I took it for a 30 day test drive and thanks to its clean responsive Sense UI and iPhone light construction it became my new daily driver then when the One m8 follow-up launched it became the second Android phone to earn the my daily driver status for the same reasons so now that the one m9 is here is solid construction and a clean Sense UI still enough spoiler alert no but let's find out why shall we the Corsair HX 1200 eye power supply delivers 80 plus platinum efficiency for quiet efficient power and corsair link digital for advanced monitoring and control click right here to learn more I guess these videos start with specs right so there's an octet of CPU cores for low power and for for high performance three gigs of ddr3 RAM and Adreno 430 GPU 32 gigs of built-in storage wireless AC an FM radio and a twenty point seven megapixel rear camera all crammed inside the phones characteristically premium feeling metal enclosure then moving around to the front we've got a 5.0 inch 1080p Super LCD 3 display covered with Corning Gorilla Glass 4 a 4 megapixel selfie camera HTC's characteristic and much better sounding than the competition front-facing stereo boomsound speakers and the chin bar is back this was a big warning sign for me I mean the chin bar never actually bothered me in fact with the move to on-screen buttons on the m8 making the device symmetrical was as simple as rotating it the other way in landscape mode so it was buttons on one side and chin bar on the other and I never really bothered with that anyway because devices covered with screen and buttons are actually kind of hard to hold when you're watching videos in landscape mode but the thing is a lot of people are put off by it and leaving it there snacks of either laziness or an internal feeling at HTC of fearing to break the mold something that they proudly shouted from the rooftops that they weren't afraid to do when the One m7 launched as an oasis of beautiful craftsmanship amongst the plastic junk that past her flagship Android phones at the time and the rest of the one m9 does little to convince me otherwise we'll do the obligatory physical tour but frankly they didn't change much and IMO they didn't change anything for the better from the back we can only tell that the device is marginally shoulder if we hold it right next to the One m8 the asinine secondary camera has been thankfully removed in the lone camera with its dual LED flash is now accompanied only by a noise cancelling microphone and HTC branding on the top is a large i re Miller from Media Center control on the left is the nano SIM tray on the bottom we find a micro USB charging port supporting Qualcomm quick charge 2.0 and the 3.5 millimeter headphone jack that's been again IMO unfortunately relocated from the top where I prefer it on the right is a microSD slot a very important inclusion considering the galaxy s6 removed expandable storage and the worst lock and volume control buttons I've encountered in some time this is really simple people they need solid tactile feedback they need to be easily felt for their position and differentiated from each other without looking and no putting a light texture on the lock button doesn't count for that and they can't be on opposing sides of the device so you mash two buttons when you mean to hit one and at least it gets the last point right in fact I like the position of the lock button in the volume rocker it's easy to use right or left-handed but everything else about these buttons sucks back to the drawing board HTC the good news is that while an ant X very detailed analysis of the screen actually found some more issues there other than the lackluster maximum brightness especially when compared to the galaxy s6 there wasn't really anything that jumped out to me is a huge issue contrast is still very good something that's more important past a certain point than just throwing more resolution at the problem so yes it's a 1080p display but unless you're really pixel peeping you'll literally never notice and HTC's loyalty to LCD means that you don't get that weird tinting from certain angles that i've seen on the droid turbo and galaxy s6 which I guess leads us to the lollipop version of Sense UI blinkfeed is still a really pleasant way to browse social media content and makes more sense for me personally than Samsung's left swipe to Flipboard that I totally forgot to mention in my review it's still clean and simple with meaningful customization like accent color palettes to choose from and customized ability of the on-screen buttons not to mention the awesome gear next to every volume slider that gives you quick access to the other ones but gestures are a little weak with no ability to mix and match a gesture and an action if you're listening to music you just plain can't use a gesture to launch the camera since that particular locked-in gesture relies on the volume up button and device orientation but sense is responsive and if you turn off the derpy sense home widget that tries to be a v8 by showing only the most relevant apps when you're at home or work or out and about but in my experience just kind of gotten away with your relevant suggestions and downloads folders and the prime locations on the right-hand side that can't be moved and poor organization of the rest I'll just use a v8 or organize my ads myself thanks it is pretty good which leads us into another low point for the phone however the camera is just plain not competitive sorry HTC the ultra pixel gambit didn't seem to work out and they've gone for a more traditional camera setup and while it actually compares reasonably favorably to the Droid turbo that I use that's kind of like saying it runs as fast as the kid carrying a diesel generator on his back they improved auto white balance and removed the head-scratcher of a second camera but at only 50 dollars less than the galaxy s6 off contract not to mention that it doesn't come with a quick charge wall wart like the s6 does the one m9 needs to do more than that I mean in no particular order it needs faster autofocus faster shutter button response a flash that works under 15 percent battery life a clearer image preview while taking pictures tuning of the noise reduction on low-light pictures that makes them basically a total mess right now optical image stabilization a wider angle lens on the selfie camera and just a I mean I don't want to be unfair it's not like these test shots and test footage are unexcusable or unusable or anything it's just that the galaxy s6 exists unfortunately and I'll pay a little extra for the better experience and the use of glass instead of whatever rubbish HTC uses on their lens cover on the back I actually had one of my to review units crack the lens cover during totally normal use with no drops which I would normally chalk up to a fluke and not mention if I hadn't had the same damn thing happened with my one m8 not to mention that she gave me the runaround and wanted to charge me for the replacement of it even though it was a documented issue with the phone which I guess leads us into the conclusion for the video the one m9 is just a phone it's a good phone and one with an SD card slot if you're into that but it's just a phone every other flagship grabs my attention in some compelling way whether it's the camera of the s6 the water resistance of an Xperia tipo solid even great build quality and a clean Android skin was enough two years ago but it isn't anymore and while I applaud HTC for offering a free replacement for a cracked screen or water damage within the first year that only has a value to me if I already own the device and I think HTC is going to need another reinvention to stand out against their much stronger competition than what the one had to work with in the first place speaking of standing out you know what else stands out the high quality 3m vinyl wraps that D brand uses to make your phone or other device look absolutely kick-ass like the one m9 that you guys have been looking at for the last eight or so minutes dbrand provided us with two units of the one m9 so I could decide which skin style I liked better and I definitely liked the one that actually wraps right around all the little buttons on the sides it's truly remarkable what a great job they do with these it's not just about the quality of the vinyl either getting the cutting just right so that it fits your device perfectly is a real trick and they do more than just phones whether it's a game console game controller notebook computer or whatever else that you want to personalize there's an affordable D brand skin for you I mean even if you're not planning to buy one it's actually worth checking it out head over to D brand calm we've got it linked in the video description and try playing around with the different color schemes on there builder on their site it's actually pretty fun so I think that's pretty much it guys like the video if you liked it dislike it if you thought it sucked leave a comment preferably on the link to our forum in the video description if you want to discuss the video also linked in the video description you can buy cool t-shirt and other merch like this one in fact we have lanyards now also down there you can give us a monthly contribution if you think what we're doing is important and you want us to make more videos and finally a link to where you can change your bookmark on Amazon to one with our affiliate code so we get a small kickback whenever you buy battle no phones or phone stands these are discontinued but whatever things on Amazon thanks again for watching and as always don't forget to subscribe