HTC One M9 goes official with a refined design, Snapdragon 810

HTC One M9 is the official name of the next One flagship. Contrary to previous rumors, the new One M9 was announced alone at the MWC and there is no Plus flavor, at least for now.

Design

HTC One M9 comes with refined design with less part count, dual anodization, and scratch-resistant coating and sapphire glass on the camera lens. While it looks a lot like the One (M8), the new One M9 design is more minimalistic and the smartphone is lighter and smaller. It has a single-part front bezel, new placement for the Power/Lock key, an improved volume rocker, and brand new color options.

HTC One M9 in Gold

The One M9 is not dust and waterproof, but the company promises IP69-certified cases for the One M9.

The One M9 will be available in new paintjobs - there is a Silver model with Rose Gold accent (on the frame), Gun Metal Gray, completely Gold version and Pink model with Gold accent on the frame.

HTC One M9 in GunMetal Gray

Hardware

HTC One M9 packs a 5" 1080p display - the same unit from One (M8) - Super LCD3 - with minor improvements on the technology and color rendering. The highlight of the front are the traditional BoomSound stereo speakers, now improved further by Dolby Sound technology.

HTC One M9 in Pink and Gold

The One M9 is powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 platform - an octa-core 64-bit processor with four Cortex-A57 cores at 2.0GHz and four Cortex-A53 working at 1.5GHz. The new Adreno 430 is responsible for the graphics, while the 3GB RAM will help with the multi-tasking.

The rest of the specs include 32GB expandable storage and rich connectivity package with LTE Cat.6 or Cat.9 (various by region) with support for 21 LTE bands, wired and wireless TV-out, GPS + GLONASS, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC and Wi-Fi ac.

HTC One M9 in Silver and Amber Gold

HTC One M9 comes with non-replaceable 2,840 mAh battery. Fast charging is supported by default, but the charger within the retail package is not a "fast charger".

Camera

HTC has dropped the dual-camera tech in favor of a Toshiba-made 20MP sensor with a 1/2.3" sensor size. HTC One M9 comes with a 20MP BSI camera on the back with F/2.2 aperture and dual-LED dual-tone flash. The maximum shooting resolution is 5376 x 3752 px – that’s 10:7 aspect ratio. RAW capture is supported, as is 4K video recording.

The HTC One M9 rear camera

Unfortunately, the camera doesn't support optical image stabilization, but on a positive note there is a sapphire glass to protect the lens from scratches.

The front selfie camera uses a 4MP UltraPixel sensor, quite similar to the one embedded on the backs of HTC One (M7) and One (M8), but without auto focus.

HTC has developed new cooler effects for the rear camera and promises a brand new Zoe apps for Android and iOS.

Software

HTC One M9 runs on Android 5.0 Lollipop enhanced with the new HTC Sense 7 UI. HTC Blinkfeed is a major part of the new Sense and now content from the aggregator will be displayed on the lockscreen as well. The updated service also uses location specific suggestions, thanks to a new partnership with Yelp, and will be able to gives you various tips for nearby restaurants.

The entire concept of HTC Sense has changed and now the launcher supports themes, which will be able to change its looks completely - backgrounds, colors, icons, even the keyboard. There will be a theme generator, which will support automatic theme generation by inputting just a single image.

Another cool feature of the new HTC Sense 7 is the option to customize the navigation bar - you will be able to change the keyboard layout and put additional shortcuts of virtually anything.

Finally, Sense 7 supports BoomSound connect - it allows the phone to combine its internal speakers with external ones for surround playback.

Availability

The pricing is yet to be announced, but the HTC One M9 is expected to launch in March.

Hands-on

We've already met with the HTC One M9 and you can find our extensive hands-on impressions right here.