Gadgetory

in mobile technology it's the same thing over and over new device comes out new device gets reviewed new device gets forgotten almost no one follows up no one follows along no one sticks around to see how well a gadget ages over time because there's always something new to drool over so let's do something about it let's take another look at the phone that almost killed HTC I'm Michael Fisher this is the HTC One m9 and this is episode 50 of after the buzz okay maybe that's a little hyperbolic but not by much after the revolutionary design shift of the original HTC one and it's excellent sequel to one m8 people were expecting a lot out of the one m9 and instead HTC delivered an iterative sequel with an almost identical design for the same lofty price just as its rival Samsung launched the most appealing Galaxy S in years the result was a sales slump that lasted until the release of the radically different one a nine this fall if you don't like the a9 s derivative design or its thinned-out spec sheet the one m9 is still for sale and all its high points remain intact picking up the phone still feels like picking up an expensive and exclusive item like a limited edition handset from a fashion house or something you'd see in a very rich person's suit pocket or handbag other good-looking phones have debuted since the m9 but the one m9 is so gorgeous and has such presence in the hand that you forgive even the drawbacks that come with that the sharp edges that chafe against the palm and the grabby seams that pull on the hair above your ear in many respects this phone is aged quite well since March while much of the competition now offers front firing speakers none of those funds have the depth and richness of the m9 s boom sound drivers quality that makes you actually want to take calls on the speakerphone and crank up the volume on your game the Snapdragon 810 processor driving those games runs as well as it ever did which is to say way better than we expected given all the sky is falling coverage on the chips overheating issues some games trip up at times but HTC's software seldom if ever stumbles even though our review unit is still running Android lollipop and not the forthcoming marshmallow update speaking of we'll be covering that update with another feature as soon as our m9 receives it blinkfeed is still a good way to get all your social and news updates in one place the theme store still lets you change the look and feel the software to suit your particular tastes and the little conveniences that we've come to appreciate remain like the location-based mealtime suggestions on the lockscreen HTC Sense is one of our favorite Android skins for a reason it blends the zipi responsiveness of Google's stock software with imaginative and smart features like HTC Zoe and dot view yeah dot view requires an accessory but it's so cool it's worth it and do I mind that the display is 1080p and not quad HD nope not even a little now where the m9s strengths have been reinforced over time so to have its failings been compounded as usual the more apps you download over time the bigger the power drain you're going to see through wakelock issues and so forth and even with a moderate app load I'm finding it tough to make it through a full day of heavy use judging from the endurance the a nine manages on a smaller battery pack this is something Android marshmallow will likely help a lot with and then of course there's the big one the camera has gotten several updates over time but it remains pretty lackluster it doesn't mean you can't get good shots out of it we've pulled our m9 out of mothballs several times this year and have managed some really nice photos both in the conventional sense and using HTC's very cool filters in effect but when you put the m9 photos and video alongside say the Nexus 6p s you start to see where HTC suffers particularly in settings with uneven incident lighting generally it's much harder to get a good shot from the one m9 than with other smartphone cameras in its class and that goes for both automatic and manual settings on the front side while the added light gathering abilities of the ultra pixel sensor are nice to have the color reproduction is terrible and sharpness is too now if 90% of your photos and video go to social media and you don't spend a lot of time shooting in low-light you'll do fine with this camera after only about two minutes of playing with filters in Instagram I ended up with a beautiful shot from the one m9 and I'm hardly alone in that but that's a big compromise to ask of a smartphone that still costs this much in the end it's cost that will determine whether you should still think about buying the one m9 as we close out the year at its full retail price of $649 it's definitely a no-go you can get a nexus 6p with a better camera fingerprint scanner and faster Android updates for a hundred and fifty dollars less or HTC's newer one a nine for the same price or if you're really penny-pinching you can get a oneplus X with just as beautiful and industrial design for just $249 it's that kind of aggressive tician that makes it surprising that HTC continues to charge what it does for this device but the usual ebay and amazon routes offer lower prices and if you do want to get it directly from HTC comm the company's been running some incredible sales this season the most recent one offered 40% off the phone at 389 well the one m9 becomes much more compelling and one more time it's only going to get better once the marshmallow update lands so if you or someone on your gift list once a smartphone that places exquisite design above all else and you can find the m9 on sale it should definitely be on your shortlist otherwise you're probably better off going with an alternative or waiting for the next HTC flagship to see what we thought about the HTC One a9 check out our full review here on YouTube and at pocketnow.com and if you've had the one m9 for a while we want to hear about it tell us your experience in the comments below till next time this has been michael fisher captain two phones on twitter thanks for watching and we'll see you next time