HTC announce the One M9, the 2015 flagship

[Guest PaulOBrien]

HTC have announced the HTC One M9, their new flagship device for 2015, sporting an incremental design language from the M8 with a number of internal upgrades.

We're all techies here (right?), so let's start with the specs...

• Android 5.0 Lollipop with HTC Sense Seven
• Qualcomm® Snapdragon 810 octa-core CPU 4 x 2GHz + 4 x 1.5GHz 64-bit
• 32GB ROM / 3GB RAM + microSD expansion
• 5" 1080p screen
• 4G LTE
• 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 & 5 GHz) WiFi
• Bluetooth® 4.1 with aptX
• NFC
• 20MP main camera with sapphire cover lens, f/2.2, 27.8mm lens - 4K video recording
• HTC UltraPixel front camera, f/2.0, 26.8mm lens, 1080p video recording
• Ambient Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Accelerometer, Compass Sensor, Gyro Sensor, Magnetic Sensor, Sensor Hub
• Internal GPS + GLONASS
• 3.5 mm stereo audio jack
• HTC Connect + DLNA
• HDMI MHL 3.0
• CIR - Infra-red transmitter
• micro-USB 2.0 (5-pin) port
• Nano SIM
• HTC BoomSound with Dolby Audio
• 2840mAh battery
• 144.6 x 69.7 x 9.61 mm
• 157g

There has been much (vocal) debate on the back of the leaks of the M9 about whether the device looks too much like the M8, whether the upgrades are enough to warrant the M9 moniker and we'll certainly cover those in a future article and our review, but there are a number of spec changes that address concerns users had with the M8.

First up is the body - although it looks the same, the design has been tweaked to give it a more defined edge on the back, making it less likely to slip from your hand. The front bezel is now one piece, giving a noticeably higher quality appearance and less potential for the 'gap' issues seen on some early units. It feels instantly familiar, but also new and improved.

Key concerns with the M8 were a poor camera and unimpressive battery life, both specs that have received a bump for the new model. A 20 Megapixel camera now features (with ultrapixel moved to the front, arguably where it always belonged!) and the battery capacity is increased to 2840mAh, which should help in that regard.

The HTC One M9 will be available globally in dual-tone silver and rose gold, single-tone gunmetal grey (my favourite!), single-tone gold and dual-tone gold and pink from mid-March.

Click here to view the item