HTC One M9 User Thread

[COZisBack]

Stay tuned for 1st post update. Until then, users post away.

[COZisBack]

Well, I'm in day two on my Sprint M9. I have not been an HTC customer since the very original EVO so I am seeing this device through a different set of eyes than some. My two phones before this were the LG G2 and the Nexus 5.

 

First the good. This thing is amazingly smooth. It does not feel like I am even making it break to sweat when I use it. I've seen no lag of any kind. I decided not to restore from a previous phone configuration so I set it up from scratch which included downloading many apps and opening them and setting them up. I was doing all of this simultaneously with many apps downloading in the background while I open and setup apps that had finished installing. The phone never missed a beat. It got a little warm but nothing the caused me concern.

 

Yesterday I used it in the car for a 6 hour round trip drive which included running Google Maps while listening to Pocket Casts. This combination would tax both of my to previous phones. On this device I noticed no ill effects from running both of those apps simultaneously for hours.

 

I've not really ever experienced what modern day Sense is but I like it. I don't find it intrusive or bloated. I do not like how much padding exists around apps and widgets on the screen. I feel like they could have fit in another row if there was a way to reduce the padding.

 

The out of the box experience was horrible. It involved two resets from recovery to get to this point. After activating it online, when it was first turn on it performing android update which updated all of the apps. The phone activated and worked properly however it would not sign in to my Google account no matter what I tried including completely removing the Google account and adding it back in. That was the first reset from recovery.

 

As I began setting it up I noticed the WiFi Calling setting so I went into that menu. It began a profile update at that point and during that process completely disconnected from the Sprint network and my connectivity was dead at that point. WiFi calling did not show as active and I turned off wifi completely but I had no connectivity to the Sprint network at all. A reboot and manual profile update was not successful. I reset network services using the ## code. Still nothing. That was reset from recovery #2.

 

After that everything setup successfully and the phone is operating without any problems. If I do I reboot I still get a message everytime the android is updating but it does not go through the process of updating any apps. It is just a brief message and the reboot continues as normal.

 

Yesterday afternoon there was a large amount of updates to HTC apps in the Play Store. I assume that this was HTC making those apps available to the M9 for the first time. That is a great sign since we will be able to get updates without firmware updates. Curiously one app was called HTC Service Pack. Perhaps that is old news for HTC regulars.

 

Thanks for the mini review, can you do me a favor and post what the camera software version is? Oh and how is the battery life so far?

 

How is the rf compared to the nexus 5?

[jeffcarp]

The camera software version is 7.0.495306. I can't really give you any opinions on battery life yet. Whenever I have had time to use the device I have been using it significantly more than normal downloading and setting up apps. Tomorrow will be a day that I will combine travel with a lot of meetings and I won't be able to constantly be on the device so I will get a better feeling.

[Ascertion]

Please let us know how the signal strength is compared to your previous device.

 

 

Sent from my M8

[leozno1]

Really looking forward to seeing people's experience with this phone. I wanted to get the M9 but I'm really concerned with the Snapdragon 810 and I've been heavily considering getting the Nexus 6 instead. 

[jeffcarp]

I am convinced that the camera issues with this phone are not hardware related. There are some very good threads developing in various forums about a significant improvement in photo quality by using manual settings indeed I can confirm that. The most important manual setting appears to be limiting ISO to 200 if possible. Auto ISO is just crazy on this phone in the current version. In conjunction with that, current thought process is to also knock down sharpness by 1.5.

 

Here is the vast difference that you'll see. First shot is completely automatic settings and the 2nd shot is manual settings.

 

 

[WiWavelength]

Here is the vast difference that you'll see. First shot is completely automatic settings and the 2nd shot is manual settings.

 

The flash fired in the first shot.  Did it fire in the second shot?  If not, that is an apples to oranges comparison.

 

AJ

[jeffcarp]

The flash fired in both photos and that is confirmed by the EXIF data. Both photos had the flash set on auto so the camera decided whether to fire the flash not me but again in both photos the flash indeed fired.

[davidtm]

This has been the definitively helpful thread for adjusting the manual controls on the camera for best results:

 

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=59870261&postcount=329

 

Personally, I have absolutely blown away by the audio on this phone.  The Dolby YouTube videos are amazing, and even the BT (which doesn't use Dolby) in my car is noticeably cleaner.

[Deval]

This has been the definitively helpful thread for adjusting the manual controls on the camera for best results:

 

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=59870261&postcount=329

 

Personally, I have absolutely blown away by the audio on this phone.  The Dolby YouTube videos are amazing, and even the BT (which doesn't use Dolby) in my car is noticeably cleaner.

 

Holy Crap those images are beautiful! I can't wait to get my hands on this phone. 

[themuffinman]

I should have my m9 as early as tomorrow, can't wait. 

[jeffcarp]

I haven't had an HTC phone since the original Evo so this may be old news to those that have had more recent phones. I was pleased to see that it appears that almost all of the functionality that HTC overlays on Android is distributed as an app from the Google Play Store. This includes the hotly debated camera, as well as Sense. After activating the phone I would guess that there were no fewer than at least 10 HTC apps that updated through the Google Play Store.

 

One app in particular caught my eye it was called HTC Service Pack. I'm presuming that this is similar to the approach that Google takes with Play Services.

 

It seems like there is a whole lot about this phone that HTC will be capable of updating and improving over time at their whim rather than waiting for firmware updates.

[themuffinman]

I haven't had an HTC phone since the original Evo so this may be old news to those that have had more recent phones. I was pleased to see that it appears that almost all of the functionality that HTC overlays on Android is distributed as an app from the Google Play Store. This includes the hotly debated camera, as well as Sense. After activating the phone I would guess that there were no fewer than at least 10 HTC apps that updated through the Google Play Store.

 

One app in particular caught my eye it was called HTC Service Pack. I'm presuming that this is similar to the approach that Google takes with Play Services.

 

It seems like there is a whole lot about this phone that HTC will be capable of updating and improving over time at their whim rather than waiting for firmware updates.

Yeah, htc and sense has come a long way since the OG Evo.  

[crazy_vag]

I'm digging the new user submitted Themes.  Have you tried the new Dot Case?  

[themuffinman]

Just got my m9 in, currently getting it setup.  Honestly this is what the m8 should have been but I do like the design a little bit more than what I thought I would even though its so similar to the m8.

[kojitsari]

Just got my m9 in, currently getting it setup. Honestly this is what the m8 should have been but I do like the design a little bit more than what I thought I would even though its so similar to the m8.

When you get the chance can you compare the rf to other devices you have. No one else has yet and that's what's going to sway me to buy one outright or wait until December xD.

[WiWavelength]

Just got my m9 in, currently getting it setup.

 

I set up my M9 for conceal and carry.

 

 

AJ

[mrrogers1]

I set up my M9 for conceal and carry.

 

 

AJ

 

Ha ha! I prefer my PM9 for EDC. 

 

*Anxiously await some RF performance data as I'll have a M9 in the near future as well. 

[WiWavelength]

Is the M9 available this year in gunmetal?  That could cause some confusion.

 

AJ

[ovation1]

Is the M9 available this year in gunmetal? That could cause some confusion.

 

AJ

[WiWavelength]

 

Is the M9 available this year in gunmetal? That could cause some confusion.

 

AJ

 

 

Sir, I am going to tell you one more time.  Put the M9 down, or we will have to shoot you.

 

AJ

[ovation1]

Sir, I am going to tell you one more time. Put the M9 down, or we will have to shoot you.

 

AJ

Haha

[themuffinman]

When you get the chance can you compare the rf to other devices you have. No one else has yet and that's what's going to sway me to buy one outright or wait until December xD.

I will as soon as I can, but I will say this though, the location of my desk in my office is virtually an lte dead zone.  The only sprint device that connected to lte reliably without failure at my desk was my nexus 5, everything else was hit or miss. 

[WiWavelength]

Joking aside, I do think this a bit of a gaffe on the part of HTC -- both to call this handset "M9" and to offer it in a "gunmetal" finish.  HTC should have skipped one or the other this generation.

 

AJ

[themuffinman]

Joking aside, I do think this a bit of a gaffe on the part of HTC -- both to call this handset "M9" and to offer it in a "gunmetal" finish.  HTC should have skipped one or the other this generation.

 

AJ

I don't think so simply because most won't get the relation between the two.