Posted in: Android, Mobile phones

HTC One M9 vs HTC One (M8) – twins born a year apart

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The HTC One M9 is finally official and we’re experiencing a déjà vu. Didn’t the HTC One (M8) look exactly the same? Alright, they are not quite the same, but you have to look very, very closely to see the subtle differences. Still, here’s a direct comparison, which should give you a perspective on whether the new stuff under the hood is enough of a reason for you to upgrade.

Before we discuss the changes on the inside, let’s go briefly on the exterior. The HTC One M9 is just a tad more compact than its predecessor and weighs 3 grams less. The differences aren’t really noticeable, but the build has been altered slightly.

HTC says they’ve addressed the issue of handling that some people had by making the front a bit more protrusive, which creates an edge. This ought to help with handling a bit. The back design is changed, too, as the UltraPixel camera setup is gone in favor of a 20.7MP snapper. It sports a large cutout for the glass joined by the dual-tone LED flash.

The front of the phone remains more or less the same with the dual-stereo speakers and 5.0″ 1080p display unchanged from before. It worth noting that the stereo speakers on the One M9 are enhanced by Dolby Digital software and we can’t wait to compare them with the One (M8)’s in the comfort of our labs.

Anyway, under the hood, everything is brand new with a Snapdragon 810 chipset with an 64-bit octa-core CPU and 3GB of RAM. It runs Android 5.0.1 Lollipop with Sense 7 UI garnished on top. The battery is also bumped from 2,600mAh on the One (M8) to 2,840mAh on the One M9.

Here are the rest of the specification comparison.

 
HTC One M9
HTC One M8
OS
Android 5.0.1 Lollipop
Android 5.0 Lollipop
Display
5" LED-backlit IPS LCD
5" LED-backlit IPS LCD
Resolution
1920 x 1080
(441 ppi)
1920 x 1080
(441 ppi)
Height
Width
Thickness
144.6 mm
69.7 mm
9.6 mm
146.4 mm
70.6 mm
9.4 mm
Weight
157 grams
160 grams
Processor
Qualcomm MSM8994 Snapdragon 810 (64-bit)
Quad-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 & Quad-core 2 GHz Cortex-A57
Qualcomm MSM8974AB Snapdragon 801 (32-bit)
Quad-core 2.3 GHz (US/EMEA)/ 2.5 GHz (Asia, China) Krait 400
GPU
Adreno 430
Adreno 330
Storage
32GB
16GB / 32GB
microSD card
Yes
Yes
Primary camera
20.7 MP, 5376 x 3752 pixels, autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) flash, automatic simultaneous video and image recording, geo-tagging, face/smile detection, HDR, panorama
Dual 4 MP, 2688х1520 pixels, autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) flash, 1/3” sensor size, 2µm pixel size, automatic simultaneous video and image recording, geo-tagging, face/smile detection, HDR, panorama
Video recording
2160p@30fps, 1080p@60fps, 720p@120fps, HDR, stereo sound rec
1080p@60fps, 720p@120fps, HDR, stereo sound rec.
Front camera
4 MP, 1080p@30fps, HDR
5 MP, 1080p@30fps, HDRs
Battery life
Standby: 402 hours
3G talk: 21:50 hours
Standby: 496 hours
3G talk: 20 hours
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot
Bluetooth
Yes, v4.1, A2DP, apt-X
Yes, v4.0, A2DP, apt-X
Network
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
Quad-band UMTS/HSPA
Penta-band LTE support,
LTE-Advanced (20-band)
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
Quad-band UMTS/HSPA
Penta-band LTE support,
LTE-Advanced
NFC
Yes
Yes
Speakers
Stereo speakers with Dolby Digital simulation
Stereo speakers
Availability
March, 2015
Already available

In the end, since both devices are running the latest version of Android 5.0 Lollipop, there’s not much big of a difference between the performance that Snapdragon 810 and Snapdragon 801 provide in general usage. However, the new 20.7MP camera, larger battery and new snazzy color schemes of the One M9 might be enough of a reason for you to splurge out and grab the hot new version of HTC’s flagship.

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