Phones HTC “Hima” Flagship Device Rumored to Sport Snapdragon 810, 5-Inch FHD Display, 20.7M

[AppleRobert]

Wow to those pics. Guess no worries about that it appears.

$64k question, do apps refresh making it no better than the Edge as far as you are concerned?

 

[MRU]

So are you liking it so far MRU? How is the battery doing?

Actually battery is good. It also supports fast charge like the s6 and nexus 6 if you use a fast charger. I charged up to 50% a few hours ago and it told me it would take 30 mins to full charge. Since then I've made three calls, taken photos, posted here and such and I'm still at 42%.

Great pictures MRU! You do live in a very beautiful place in the world.

The pictures were they just point and shoot? Did you do any processing at all or apply any filters?

Just the black and white one was desaturated after the others shot in Macro & Landscape modes. The HDR mode is toooooo aggressive and brightens up too many shadows. So I don't use it. Haven't tried manual mode yet.

 

[MRU]

Sense 7 is still very economical memory wise

Without cache apps look how little ram it uses.

Here we have cached apps, all still in the background and not refreshing and still 1gb free

That's with

Facebook
Twitter
Google play Newsstand
Play Music
Gallery
Contacts
Messages
Mail
Simple Weather
Peel Remote
Calendar

All open in the background ...... Not a single app refresh. Whatever HTC do memory wise its on par with Stock android. Unlike my S6e which sits at 2gb used with no other apps open.

 

[jamezr]

Sense 7 is still very economical memory wise

Image

Without cache apps look how little ram it uses.

Image

Here we have cached apps, all still in the background and not refreshing and still 1gb free

That's with

Facebook
Twitter
Google play Newsstand
Play Music
Gallery
Contacts
Messages
Mail
Simple Weather
Peel Remote
Calendar

All open in the background ...... Not a single app refresh. Whatever HTC do memory wise its on par with Stock android. Unlike my S6e which sits at 2gb used with no other apps open.

Thanks for the feedback MRU! The M9 was the phone I was anticipating in the first half of 2015 more than any other phone. But there has ben a ton of rumors around various issues with the handset.
The pictures you posted look amazing! Glad to see Sense 7 manages RAM better than the S6 does.
Can you do a Antutu benchmark and post? I know benchmarks don't tell the whole story. Have you noticed any overheating issues? Any slow downs due to throttling?
The M9 is still on my radar!

 

[MRU]

Thanks for the feedback MRU! The M9 was the phone I was anticipating in the first half of 2015 more than any other phone. But there has ben a ton of rumors around various issues with the handset.
The pictures you posted look amazing! Glad to see Sense 7 manages RAM better than the S6 does.
Can you do a Antutu benchmark and post? I know benchmarks don't tell the whole story. Have you noticed any overheating issues? Any slow downs due to throttling?
The M9 is still on my radar!

It gets warm especially when I first got an upgrade and it was optimising apps but no more so than any other android device ive used. You honestly wouldn't under load no the difference between the S6 & M9 heat wise.

And nope - no throttling here. I'll run antutu later for you.

Because it's so efficient at memory, it feels just as fast as the S6 in use.

One area where it copes better than the S6 is themes. When applying themes on the S6 it practically grinds the device to a halt until the phone has fully applied the theme, the M9 applies themes quicker and doesn't get bogged down during the install / change of a theme.


Here's antutu bench

 

[MRU]

HDR filter applied to photo after in the fx editor.

 

[jamezr]

ImageImageImage


HDR filter applied to photo after in the fx editor.

Great pictures MRU! As Epicrayban pointed out you can make a bad camera really look good! Do you have any low light pics with no filters or processing....just point and shoot. Like the rest of us mortals do?

 

[AppleRobert]

Sense 7 is still very economical memory wise

Image

Without cache apps look how little ram it uses.

Image

Here we have cached apps, all still in the background and not refreshing and still 1gb free

That's with

Facebook
Twitter
Google play Newsstand
Play Music
Gallery
Contacts
Messages
Mail
Simple Weather
Peel Remote
Calendar

All open in the background ...... Not a single app refresh. Whatever HTC do memory wise its on par with Stock android. Unlike my S6e which sits at 2gb used with no other apps open.

How do you like the display versus the S6, do you listen to music with a smartphone cause the S6 is excellent with Wolfson Dac and adapt sound, and try a speed test S6 versus the M9 opening and closing apps. I rather see feedback on that versus running benchmarks.

Folks on the android side swear that unused RAM is wasted Ram, I do not really agree.

 

[rockitdog]

MRU has me thinking about a switch to the M9 as well. Also curious in his views of the display - also how his battery life is now. Great pics again, maybe the M9 isn't so bad...

 

[Cnasty]

maybe the M9 isn't so bad...

In my opinion it was never bad. The M8 was one of the best Android smartphones last year and the M9 just improved upon that with minor tweaks. I think most people are disappointed because they saw what Samsung did but HTC decided to play it very conservatively.

People expected more design overhauling but they stuck to their plan that has worked. Business wise it wasnt the best decision but as a consumer it will still be one of the better devices out there come the end of the year as its an Android staple.

 

[jamezr]

In my opinion it was never bad. The M8 was one of the best Android smartphones last year and the M9 just improved upon that with minor tweaks. I think most people are disappointed because they saw what Samsung did but HTC decided to play it very conservatively.

People expected more design overhauling but they stuck to their plan that has worked. Business wise it wasnt the best decision but as a consumer it will still be one of the better devices out there come the end of the year as its an Android staple.

yeah I agree with you. I also think HTC is to blame for a lot of mis information about the M9. Then they issued phones to reviewers that had pre-release software on them. Big no no if you want positive reviews for you new flagship phone. HTC never really came out and addressed the initial bad reviews of the overheating and throttling issues. They need to ramp up their online and social media presence.
The M9 was the phone I really wanted to see in 2015. I was the guy that started this thread and was pretty hyped about the M9.
If they have their software issues addressed i might get a M9 this weekend.
But I still see a lot of mixed reviews about the camera on most forums.

 

[MRU]

OK screen wise. The S6 & Edge is better especially if you crave vibrancy. The LCD panel in the M9 is great too and without having them side by side anyone would be happy with either. But compared side by side the S6 is better, and this is not because of resolution. Indeed you won't find a pixel on the M9's screen, but just the vibrancy and contrast the S6 panel has. But like I say that doesn't mean the M9 has a poor screen.


Auto Brightness is better on the S6 (you can override it more on the S6) so I fond myself sometimes turning off auto brightness on the M9.

App opening wise as I don't really do games the two are much of a muchness for me. The S6 fractionally by a matter of milliseconds beats the M9, but then flicking between those open apps the M9 is quicker because its able to keep them in memory without refreshing the content. So once apps are open the M9 actually feels a little faster even if benchmark wise the S6 wins.

Battery has been good for me so far, basically seems to be on par with M8

Headphone audio is difficult thing to basically call as 1) without adapt sound enabled on the S6 I find the M9 to produce better sound but... 2) with adapt sound setup on the S6 it sounds better than the M9.

But either difference is likely unnoticeable if you didn't do a side by side comparison and listened in isolation.


The Samsung keyboard on the S6 / Edge is really nice but I'm not keen on HTC's so I installed Google Keyboard.

I played some riptide GP 2 and rayman fiesta just to stress it last night and didn't feel it getting any warmer than my other previous or current devices, likewise didn't experience any bottlenecking / throttling either.


The reason the M9 didn't or hasn't got attention is simply because they recycled the design of the M8 leaving reviewers with that 'not really new' or exciting feeling compared to the hype of the S6 & Edge.

It's is still one of the best android devices, but has been completely overshadowed and sadly for HTC they don't have the muscle power to change that amidst the waves of hype and marketing muscle Samsung have slapped down the S6 & Edge.


As for software issues, I had a 300mb software update upon booting and setting up the device. I don't know I'd this is the software that addressed issues others may have reported but I certainly haven't had any issues.

 

[AppleRobert]

Thanks much. Hhhmmm, might be time to check out swappa and the like. That eliminates 14 day return but I have seen enough to know the M9 is very good with checking it out at retailers. The wasted space is a hot button but eliminating the navigation buttons is a very big plus. Kudos to HTC for that resource.

Everything else was a preference, size wise and the display and audio output and camera etc. versus other smartphones.

 

[MRU]

Themeing is excellent. The amount of customisation is awesome. And there are hundreds of fonts, icon packs and themes in the site for free. Making your own is really easy and you get so much control compared to s6 themes.

It's really clever.

 

[Cnasty]

How are those front facing speakers compared to the nexus 6 you have? I know HTC is king there but curious how much better.

That honestly would be the only thing to make me even consider this phone with how often I take conference calls on my phone. The Nexus 6 has been the best speakers I've ever used on a device and was always curious about the HTC line.

 

[MRU]

How are those front facing speakers compared to the nexus 6 you have? I know HTC is king there but curious how much better.

That honestly would be the only thing to make me even consider this phone with how often I take conference calls on my phone. The Nexus 6 has been the best speakers I've ever used on a device and was always curious about the HTC line.

They are a touch more balanced but the nexus 6 can actually get louder.

 

[TechnicallyTee]

This is one device that is also on my radar because I really loved everything about the M8, the only downfall to me was the camera and that wasn't too bad because I was just taking pictures to put on social media so any camera will be really good to use for me. Love the fluidity of Sense and the fact that you still insert an SD card in the M9.

If the S5 would have made the same functionality to insert an SD card on the side or top of the device that would've been perfect!

 

[Fireblade]

The M9 is a nice device for sure, I would have bought it on release day, if HTC were using a bigger display (5,3" should fit in there) in the same body.

 

[jamezr]

Picked up a M9 last night comparing to the S6

I picked up a M9 last night from BB. First impressions are

1) What an amazing handset. The weight and feel in the hand is is top notch, There is definitely something to be said about a curved back phone and how it feels in your hand. Not a fan of the volume and wake/sleep buttons all together. The button order does not make sense to me. They have the volume up/down on the top right hand side then the wake/sleep button below it. The left side of the phone has no buttons. Why not have the volume buttons on the left and the wake/sleep on the right? I wish all phones had a mute button like the iphone. I wish the S6 and M9 had that feature.

2) Sense 7 is awesome! Such a nice lightweight smooth skin. Definitely the best Android skin. I love the dialer on Sense. I want it on my iPhone and S6!

3) The boomsound speakers are amazing. The clarity of the sound is very nice. I still think the speakers on the S6 are better and louder. You can feel sound vibration on the back when holding the phone.

4)The screen is nice but dull and unimpressive. If set to auto it pales in comparison to the S6 or 6+. I love the double tap to wake. I feel the HTC logo wastes too much screen. Then with the onscreen buttons and speakers on the front it is not very efficient way to manage screen real estate.

Themes........HTC has some very nice themes. But they are pretty basic. They change the wallpaper and sounds but that is about all. It does not get as immersive as the S6 themes do. The S6 themes change the app drawer and all the menus and sounds.


I will take some pictures and post them here of side by sides from the M9 and S6 for just point and shoot with no processing of the images and no tweaks to the camera settings.

 

[tbayrgs]

I picked up a M9 last night from BB.

Of course you did.

I am impressed that you were able to hold out this long but knew that as soon as MRU got one, you would lose whatever remaining willpower you had.

 

[jamezr]

Of course you did.

I am impressed that you were able to hold out this long but knew that as soon as MRU got one, you would lose whatever remaining willpower you had.

LOL....honestly the M9 was the phone i was looking forward to more the S6.

 

[MRU]

Lol. We need help.

Yeah screen is dull especially on as you say auto brightness. Turn of auto brightness and it can pop, just not with anything like the vibrancy of the amoled display on the S6

Some themes do come with different sounds as well as different clocks and icons. You can get more control if you edit your theme after too.

In an ideal scenario we would be able to get Sense 7 of the S6/Edge and then we would have a killer....

 

[jamezr]

Lol. We need help.

Yeah screen is dull especially on as you say auto brightness. Turn of auto brightness and it can pop, just not with anything like the vibrancy of the amoled display on the S6

Some themes do come with different sounds as well as different clocks and icons. You can get more control if you edit your theme after too.

In an ideal scenario we would be able to get Sense 7 of the S6/Edge and then we would have a killer....

I would love to have Sense 7 on my S6. I love the dialer. Do you know where to get the battery screen time? I can't find it

 

[jamezr]

M9 camera and S6

Here is an example of the M9 camera and the S6 camera.
No tweaks to both cameras everything set to defaults. No processing of the images. Just point and shoot right outside my front door.

HTC M9

Galaxy S6

 

[MRU]

I would love to have Sense 7 on my S6. I love the dialer. Do you know where to get the battery screen time? I can't find it

I think you have to use a third party tool like GSAM to get a screen on time.

A few more of mine today.

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Here is an example of the M9 camera and the S6 camera.
No tweaks to both cameras everything set to defaults. No processing of the images. Just point and shoot right outside my front door.

HTC M9

Image



Galaxy S6


Image

S6 is better, but the M9 isn't too far behind. Did you get the software update when you set it up for the camera? I got one on mine.