Introduction

Do we have a good one for you today – the Apple iPhone 6 goes up against the new HTC One M9 and it is always exciting when we pit an iOS smartphone up against a smartphone running Android’s newest OS.  There is no denying the popularity of the iPhone – especially since they increased their display sizes to 4.7-inches and 5.5-inches…something that Android users have already enjoyed for a couple of years.  Of course Apple and their iPhone owners are giving all of the credit to Apple, as though they were the innovators of the large screen…I guess that is so that Apple does not have to apologize for taking so long to introduce a larger display.

The iPhone 6 is a visually stunning device, but the HTC’s use of all-metal is also beautiful and functional – both devices look and feel very premium.  There are not many things in common with these two devices – they are almost identical in height and width and they both use the LCD screen technology as well as their display size (4.7-inch vs 5.0-inch) is close to one another.  Their chipsets, memory, camera and battery size all differ greatly.  They do share the usual suspects – Wi-Fi, GPS, NFC capability (although the iPhone uses only Apple Pay), and the usual sensors, such as gyro, accelerometer, proximity sensor and compass and they both have non-removable batteries.

Please take a deliberate look at the detailed Specifications Comparison chart below and here you will see just how these two great devices stack up against one another – click on the “View Full Comparison” link at the end of the chart to expand the details.  After that, we will look at each individual device in greater detail and point out some of its pros and cons.  From all of this information we will try to determine the winner based on specs and execution of design and functions.

 Apple iPhone 6

It comes as no surprise that when Apple introduced their new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus with larger displays, something Android users had been enjoying for years – a larger display – they were touted as an engineering and technical marvel from Apple, iPhone users and iPhone websites.  There is no denying that the iPhone 6 is a beautifully designed smartphone, but is it really more beautiful than the all-metal HTC One M9 on both the outside and inside…let’s take a look.

The iPhone 6 comes with a 4.7-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1334 x 750 pixels with only 326 pixels-per-inch (PPI), compared to the 441 PPI on the HTC One M9.  Apple uses an Apple A8, a 64-bit dual-core processor clocked at 1.4GHz coupled to only 1GB of RAM – yes, a 64-bit processor using only 1GB of RAM.  The A8 and 1GB give the iOS a smooth operating environment – but one has to wonder how it would perform with heavy multitasking…certainly not as good as the 64-bit Snapdragon 810 octa-core  and 3GB of RAM like the One M9 is packing.  The iPhone comes in three storage models – 16GB / 64GB / 128GB – with no room for expansion.  The One M9 offers only a 32GB model for the same price as Apple’s 16GB model, and offers a cheap way to add 128GB of storage with a microSD memory card.

Now we will go to one of the iPhone’s strengths – its camera area…and make no mistake, they have a great point-and-shoot camera, but the other manufacturers are catching up and  in many cases are surpassing the iPhone’s capabilities.  The iPhone 6 still uses an 8MP sensor – improved over last year’s 8MP – with autofocus and a dual-tone LED flash, although the One M9 has all of that and bumps it up to 20MP.  The iPhone still only uses a 1.2MP front-facing camera (FFC), while the HTC One M9 uses a 4MP UltraPixel affair – I cannot believe Apple does not put a better FFC for video chatting and selfies.  Talking about size, Apple thinks it is more important to have the thinnest device, rather than putting in a battery larger than a small, 1810mAh non-removable affair, compared to the much larger non-removable 2840mAh battery in the One M9.  Apple offers no form of quick charge with their iPhone models.

As far as extra features found on the iPhone 6 – it does offer a fingerprint scanner, but is limited in unlocking the device or using Apple Pay.  The iPhone 6 is available on all major US networks, uses their new iOS 8, comes in Space Gray, Silver and Gold.  Pricing for the 16GB model is $200 on two-year contract and $650 off-contract.

HTC One M9

There is no mistaking the new HTC One M9 as part of the ‘One’ family – it has the same look as the One M7 and One M8, along with a few subtle changes.  The beautiful all-metal body still looks the same…it has a great solid feel about it and is certainly a beauty to look at and a joy to hold with its curved back.  HTC slightly redesigned the side body of the One M9 where there is now a small lip to help grip it better.

It sports a 5-inch FHD Super LCD3 display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and 441 PPI – better than the 326 PPI display found on the iPhone 6.  HTC used the most advanced Qualcomm processor on the market by choosing their 64-bit octa-core Snapdragon 810 with four cores clocked at 1.5GHZ and four cores clocked at 2.0GHz – certainly up to the A8 chipset in the iPhone 6.  It is packing 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, although it also has a microSD card for additional storage up to 128GB while the iPhone 6 uses only 1GB of RAM 16GB of storage and offers a 64GB and 128GB model each adding a $100 to the price.

HTC revamped their camera areas by getting rid of the 4MP UltraPixel main camera and Duo Camera and replacing it with a 20MP sensor with autofocus, dual-tone LED flash, still no OIS, but stacks up quite nicely with the 8MP camera on iPhone 6, also with no OIS.  HTC moved the 4MP UltraPixel camera to the front, which should give you great selfies or video chatting, compared to the only 1.2MP FFC in the iPhone 6.  It uses a non-removable 2840mAh battery…much larger than the 1810mAh in the iPhone 6.  It also supports Quick Charge 2.0 thanks to the Qualcomm processor.

The HTC One M9 includes a built-in IR Blaster, a stereo FM radio and dual stereo front-facing speakers with BoomSound.  It comes in Gunmetal Gray, Amber Gold, Silver/Rose Gold and Gold/Pink.  It available on major US carriers, runs Android 5.0 Lollipop and pricing is around $649 off contract and $199 on a two-year contract.

…And The Winner Is…

Summary

We are an Android website for a reason – we love Android and the freedom it gives us to customize our devices with just about any theme or look we want.  We love using different keyboards, widgets, music players, and video players, being able to multi-task in multiple windows and being able to use a common microUSB port to plug in our device – no special cords or chargers needed.  Hence, we think that the Android OS is more powerful than iOS…and Lollipop 5.0 displays that pride.

The HTC One M9 has a technically superior display, a 64-bit octa-core processor, more RAM, and a base of 32GBs of storage versus only 16GB in the base iPhone and the One M9 offers a cheap and easy way to add an additional 128GBs of storage via a microUSB card.  The HTC One M9 offers a much larger camera sensor for both the main and FFC and it offers superior sound with its dual front-facing stereo BoomSound speakers.  It offers a built-in FM stereo radio, an IR Blaster, a much larger battery and Quick Charge 2.0.

The iPhone 6 is a great device if you really feel that you want to tie yourself to Apple’s very restrictive iOS 8 and ecosystem.  However, if you want more freedom in your OS, in an equally well-built smartphone, with stunning looks, more features and at a better price, than the HTC One M9 is the winner of this competition.

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