HTC is the first of the big smartphone brands to release a new model One M9 smartphone at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona however what was not leaked was the Companies first high-performance, fitness tracker, powered by UA Record, the new health and fitness network from Under Armour or their new Virtual Reality headset that is set to go head to head with Samsung’s VR offering.
The New One M9 is sleek, and made of metal like its predecessor the M8, what has been retained is the iconic design that has made HTC smartphones distinct.
HTC Chairwoman Cher Wang claims that it is critical that today’s smartphones have to stand out and that they should “make a statement” about their owner.
The new metals deliver what HTC has described as a jewellery-grade look.
Small and easy to hold, the all-metal unibody design is highlighted by a dual-tone silver and rose gold finish that is more durable than prior HTC models.
The M9 has mirror-polished gold sides and a hairline brushed silver back panel.
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Weighing in at 157 grams the device is powered by the all new Qualcomm, Snapdragon, 810 octa-core, CPU that delivers 4x 2GHz+4 x 1.5GHz output.
Running Android 5.0 the device has 32 GB of storage and 3GB of RAM.
The 5″ display delivers Full HD. A big standout feature is the 20.7 megapixel camera and the lossless audio system that allows high res audio to be played on the new M9, this will seriously please music lovers.
HTC has also improved the battery life over previous models.
The 20.7MP camera has a sapphire cover lens and auto-focus, BSI sensor. The f/2.2, 27.8mm lens delivers significant better quality than prior models.
The M9 also has a 4K video recording capability.
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The front facing camera delivers new HTC UltraPixel capability which HTC claims delivers significant quality improvements for selfie shooting.
The lens on the front facing camera is f/2.0, 26.8mm with 1080p video recording capability.
Users can shoot in low-light using the now powerful UltraPixel front-facing camera. The device has dynamic auto exposure and by using UltraPixel technology the camera is capable of capturing 300% more light than standard cameras deliver as well as sharper, more natural and balanced self-portraits in any lighting conditions said HTC.
With the new HTC smartphone offering users can intelligently analyse photos and easily modify the look and feel of images using a new range of apps, colour schemes and backgrounds.
HTC has also taken their own HTC Sense UI to a new level.
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New themes allow you to analyse your favourite photos and then modify the look and feel of your apps, colour scheme and backgrounds from the colours found in your own images.
An upgraded HTC BlinkFeed makes it easier to uncover key information that surrounds you by using location data to recommend points of interest, news and information.
A new One Gallery makes it easy to search through an entire photo library whether be on-board the smartphone, in Dropbox or Google Drive.
The gallery puts your whole image library at your fingertips, searching by date, location, event, album or even the images themselves with Image Match.
A really big standout feature is the sound system on the One M9. No other smartphone has been able to deliver such high quality audio so far.
New HTC BoomSound dual front-facing speakers, now combined with 5.1 channel Dolby Surround sound3 simulation, that get you even closer to the action, delivering extraordinary, cinema-style surround sound.
By uniting HTC BoomSound and Dolby HTC has been able to take listening to music on a smartphone to a new level with the introduction of 24-bit high-definition sound that surpasses even CD quality.
HTC’s unique combination of HTC BoomSound, Dolby Audio, a finely tuned sound profile, and Qualcomm’s Immersive audio gives owners of the M9 a brand new capability.
HTC Connect makes it easy to enjoy your multimedia experience beyond your phone. A three-finger swipe on the screen connects the phone to compatible TVs or external speakers from leading manufacturers including Harman Kardon. HTC Connects integration with Qualcomm’s AllPlay smart media platform and Blackfire Research wireless media technology.
This allows users to stream high quality content from your smartphones to multiple home entertainment devices around the house.
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The device goes on sale in Australia on March 17th. Pricing has not been announced but we suspect $899.
The HTC One M9 will be available globally in dual-tone silver and rose gold, single-tone gunmetal grey, single-tone gold and dual-tone gold and pink in from mid-March.
