I've had quite a run of phones lately, from basic emergency phones to complex smartphones. I recently reviewed an offering from LG, and this week, I'm taking on another brand's feature-laden smartphone.
The HTC One M9 is among the company's long-running One series and the high-price-range option above the A9 in the One series. The phone has a nice look to it, with an edge-to-edge, high-definition screen and a curved back that snuggles nicely into the hand. It comes in four colors: gold, silver, pink and graphite.
where it’s @
The HTC One M9 retails for $649 but is currently marked down to $499. It can also be purchased as part of carrier payment plans. Check with your carrier. More information is available at www.htc.com.
The M9 is thicker and slightly heavier than many equivalent smartphones, but I don't mind that. The metal exterior makes it feel so much more solid than some of the newer plastic and thin-aluminum phones.
The phone can be customized with themes that can change depending on where you are located. So you can have a theme of your favorite movie while at home and have it switch automatically once it detects you are at work. There are quite a few free themes available, but an HTC account is required to download them. Themes also can be created or edited, so you can personalize the phone.
The phone has good speed to it. The base memory is 32GB, but unlike many smartphones today, this one has an SD card slot for expanded memory up to 2TB (2,000GB). It also has a SIM card that can be purchased unlocked, meaning you can choose the phone service, though it comes only compatible with AT&T and T-Mobile networks. In my case, I tested a phone made specifically for AT&T.
The phone has front-facing Dolby speakers that give off really nice sound for a smartphone. They're a huge plus for this phone.
The battery life is just OK. It did fine at first, but once it dipped below 50 percent, it drained pretty quickly. It's also incredibly slow to recharge unless the dedicated HTC power cord is used. It can work with other mini-USB cords, but it won't charge nearly as fast.
The camera did better than I expected. It got good color and clarity, even indoors in low light. It has a lot of special effects and edits available, built right into the phone's software. Whether you add a lot of filters or prefer no filter, the raw photograph likely will look great with the 20-megapixel camera.
There are several things to like with this phone, but there is one thing I dislike and one thing -- yes, I'll say it -- I positively hate.
The thing I dislike about the M9 is the heat. It doesn't take long for this phone to get really, really hot on the back, to the point that it's uncomfortable to hold. You almost have to have a case to hold onto this phone if you use it heavily. In my case, I was using the camera and social media (Instagram and Twitter), as well as the voice recorder. It took maybe 15 minutes before I was switching the phone from one hand to another and blowing on the back of it to cool it down.
Still, there was something even worse with the phone, and it made me downright irritated. That thing was the power button.
More specifically, it was the placement of the power button that was the source of my ire. The button is on the right side of the phone, under the volume buttons, almost dead center of the side. It also happened to be where my thumb or the pad below my thumb would be while holding the phone. That meant I kept hitting the power button nearly every time I held the phone, or answered the phone, or did anything with the phone.
I kept turning off the screen, often shutting down whatever I had been doing, and it didn't take long for it to drive me absolutely crazy. I'm not sure what HTC was thinking, but that may be the worst placement for the power button I've seen, and I've seen a lot of phones. So yes, I hated the power button placement.
It's a shame, because the phone has a lot going for it. It has good speed, a lovely screen, easy navigation, customization options and a great camera. The battery life is so-so, but not much worse than most other high-end phones these days. The cons for me were the heat issue and the power button placement. If they could tweak those two things, I would be very happy with this phone.
The HTC M9 is a nice offering in the long line of smartphone models. Despite its flaws, it's near the top of a rather large heap.
Melissa L. Jones can be reached via email at mljones72@me.com.
SundayMonday Business on 05/23/2016