The company has since launched new models but has not been able to replicate the appeal of the original handset. Each time, for one reason or another, we have not been able to wholeheartedly praise HTC’s efforts. Last year, the HTC One (M8) failed due to its unsatisfactory Duo Camera feature and the other variants failed to earn praise for their looks and design.
HTC surprised everyone by launching the One M9+ in India before the One (M9) smartphone. It has a bigger screen, a different processor, a fingerprint sensor and a Duo Camera feature that was not included in the M9. So, this handset is not necessarily better or worse than the M9. We are also curious to know how the performance of this smartphone is.
Look and design
We were expecting a handset similar to the HTC One Max, which was a bulky and plastic version of the original One, but it’s clear that HTC has learned from its mistakes. The One M9+ has a metal body and a premium two-tone finish. It is available in grey, gold and silver-gold colours, and we got the unique silver-gold version for review.
Sadly, HTC hasn’t gone with the unibody style of its predecessors. The M9+ looks like two separate parts that were welded together. There’s a ridge where the front and rear meet, which we couldn’t help but point out. The front of the review handset was a dull silver, while the back was brushed silver and the sides were painted in gold. We can’t say we liked the look, but it is different, a bit pretentious. The other two variants are expected to be more popular.
The black glass on the front extends to the edge, but the screen is smaller in comparison as there are black borders running along the edges of the handset. Above and below it are HTC’s trademark BoomSound speaker grilles, although this time the fingerprint sensor sits in the middle of the bottom grille. At the top sits the front facing camera.
The Nano-SIM slot is on one side of the phone while the microSD card slot is on the other. The power and volume buttons are on the right side. While all the buttons are already placed lower than usual, HTC has for some reason placed the power button at the bottom. Its location is in a place where your thumb would not normally go or even near it, which is extremely annoying. Despite the simple design, we kept accidentally pressing the volume button. The good thing is that you can use the fingerprint sensor to wake the phone from sleep mode. However, its placement is also very low.
The micro USB and 3.5mm audio port are located at the bottom. A dark plastic strip is used at the top, this is the only place where plastic is used in the whole phone. This place is used for the infrared emitter and antenna, so that communication can take place through the metal body. There is nothing worth mentioning at the back of the phone except two cameras and dual LED flash.
The HTC One M9+ feels a little awkward to hold and its 168 gram weight feels a little unbalanced. The curved back helps, and at least it doesn’t slip out of the hands like other phones. However, the edges of the phone are a little too sharp. Stretching your thumb to reach the edge of the phone was a little uncomfortable, and a similar problem arose during phone calls.
Specifications and software
Instead of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 SoC used in the One M9, HTC has used a MediaTek processor in the M9+. The device is powered by the Helio X10 processor, also known as the MT6795T. It has eight ARM Cortex-A53 cores based on the 64-bit ARMv8 instruction set and is integrated with the PowerVR G6200 GPU.
The diagonal length of the screen is 5.2 inches and this handset has a stunning resolution of 1440x2560pixels as compared to the 1080×1920 resolution of the One M9’s 5-inch screen. It has 3GB of RAM and 32GB of inbuilt storage which can be expanded up to 2TB via microSD card. However, it is unlikely that SD cards of such a large capacity will come in the market by the time you use the phone. The phone also has support for USB-OTG.
The phone also supports dual-band Wi-Fi b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.1, infrared, NFC, GPS and FM radio. 4G LTE also works on the 2300MHz band used in India. The 20-megapixel rear camera with a secondary sensor for creative 3D effects is the icing on the cake.
The UltraPixel sensor makes a comeback on the front. One thing that isn’t impressive is the battery, which has a modest 2840mAh capacity. The Android 5.0.2 operating system runs a new version of HTC’s Sense UI on top. It doesn’t look very different from last year’s version but there are some new things to try, like the Themes app and more customization options. HTC has also integrated location-related app suggestions, BlinkFeed news items and alerts about events and deals. The phone comes with Scribble, Polaris Office 5, Peel Smart Remote, Fun Fit and a number of HTC apps, none of which are too annoying.
Performance
We used the HTC One M9+ for a long time but couldn’t get used to the fingerprint sensor. Its placement is awkward and doesn’t work well if you have an oblique finger. And we kept trying to reach for it out of habit as if it were the home button. Thankfully, HTC realized this would happen and has mapped the sensor to home when the phone is in active mode.
The screens are good and crisp. The colour reproduction is excellent and the viewing angles are decent but there are reflection issues. We had no issues playing 1080p video clips but our focus was on the BoomSound experience. Like its predecessor, the One Max, the One M9+ was loud enough and we haven’t heard any other smartphone with louder sound than this. The speaker gave a great output for everything from classical to electronic dance music numbers. The sound is a little thin and distortion is evident at the highest volume but despite this, the handset’s performance in this regard is much better than other phones.
One M9+ gave very good results in benchmark tests. It got 51,670 points in AnTuTu and 27,401 points in Quadrant test, these results clearly show that MediaTek’s new processor is at par with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor used in Motorola Google Nexus 6.
However, the graphics scores were quite weak. The 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited test scored 12,300, which is almost half of what we got from the Nexus 6. The Ice Storm Extreme test scored 8,549, which is on par with older phones in this price range.
We didn’t face any issues during normal use, but we did notice that the phone did get quite hot when we put pressure on it with benchmarks and HD videos. This also happened when we used the camera continuously for some time. The call quality was good, but the battery life was disappointing. In the video loop test, the battery lasted for 5 hours and 33 minutes. We expected the battery to last at least a day with normal use.
Camera
We were excited to see how the Duo Camera setup and the front UltraPixel camera would perform, and whether HTC had found the right formula after years of experimentation. The camera app gives you the option to switch between Duo mode and Hi-Res mode, with the Duo mode using the second sensor to capture additional depth information for Hi-Res mode.
To be fair, we couldn’t use the Duo Camera feature. The One M9+ gives you the option to change the focus point of a photo after taking it, allowing you to blur out the foreground or background of the photo. Apart from this, the camera app has some interesting features like faux 3D shift effect, double exposure, shape and pattern overlays, and Face Fusion which blends two faces. We got poor results using every feature and some were not useful at all.
We were not impressed with the high-res mode either. Even at 20-megapixel resolution, the One M9+ took average photos, with a lot of compression. Photos taken with the camera in daylight looked good, but when transferred to a desktop monitor, the flaws became clearly visible. As expected, photos taken in low light were even worse. These photos had a lot of noise and subject definition was also poor. Video output was disappointing despite the default recording being 1080p.
Our verdict
The HTC One M9+ has a tough challenge ahead of it, especially from the Chinese phones that offer similar specifications for half the price. The looks of the phone will make people turn their head over and it feels extremely solid, but sadly, this handset doesn’t excel in any one feature. For instance, the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the iPhone 6 beat this phone in almost every department. The Nexus 6 and Motorola Moto Turbo are good alternatives, as is the low-cost Oneplus One.
The HTC One M9+ looks good, but for us, that’s where its appeal ends. We were hoping that HTC would come out of its experimental phase and deliver a great handset, but that wasn’t to be. If looks aren’t your biggest concern, you have plenty of other options.