Newsletter
As we reported in March, the new HTC One M9 is now available for purchase in Canada for $200 on a two-year contract and about $750 off contract. It is available now at several carriers – Rogers, Bell, TELUS, Koodo Mobile and Videotron – and will also be sold at SaskTel and Wind Mobile next week. Wind Mobile will offer up the One M9 on its WindTab for only $149.
The new HTC One M9 will not be mistaken for anything else – but possibly a One M7 or One M8 – they resemble each other so much that only a thorough look at the back will give you a clue, and even then, the One M7 and One M9 look very much the same. Is this a bad thing? The design was almost revolutionary two years ago, and as nice as it is, the look is becoming a little ‘dry’ for some. HTC did redesign the edges with a slight bump to allow the user to have a firmer grip on the device and they removed the Duo Camera from the back, giving it a very One M7 look.
The two biggest improvements on the HTC One M9 are in the camera area and processor upgrade – but HTC did not include OIS, a QHD display or a fingerprint scanner in the One M9…something that may come back to haunt them in sales. For the main camera, HTC did away with the 4MP UltraPixel affair and Duo Camera in favor of a new 20MP sensor, autofocus and dual-tone LED Flash, however, they still did not include the coveted OIS feature. HTC made good use of their UltraPixel technology by using their leftover 4MP lenses for the One M9’s front-facing camera (FFC) and it should work great for selfies and video chatting.
For the processor, they turned to an old friend, Qualcomm, for their new 64-bit Snapdragon 810 octa-core, with four cores clocked at 1.5GHz and four cores clocked at 2.0GHz. It has 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, with a microSD card slot to add an additional 128GB. The non-removable 2840mAh battery will just about get you through a day…which may explain why HTC did not include a QHD display in the One M9, but chose to stay with the FHD display.