HTC has skipped the HTC One M9 and just launched the One M9+, the big brother of its flagship smartphone. The smartphone is priced at Rs. 52,500 and brings all the premium features of the HTC One M9 with a few changes in key specifications. We spent some time with the device and here are our first impressions of the HTC One M9+.
Build
Last year’s HTC One M8 was one of the best built phones you could buy and the HTC One M9+ comes very close to it. The material of choice is still metal but the unibody approach has been replaced to accommodate wireless antennas.The phone feels sturdy in hand but is slippery.
Design
Design-wise the HTC One M9+ can be described as the amalgamation of the HTC One M7 and last year's HTC One M8. It carries forward the same design language and use of metal HTC started with the original HTC One. There are some new design changes like the dual-tone finish at the edges and the power button now on the side instead of the top..
Display
The HTC One M9+ features a beautiful 5.2-inch 2K display which offers a resolution of 2560x1440p giving it a pixel density of 534ppi. The display has accurate colour reproduction. Viewing angles looked great but sunlight legibility can only be commented upon, once we review the device.
Hardware
Inside the smartphone rocks the new MediaTek Helios X10 SoC. It has a 2.2GHz Octa-core processor and is accompanied by 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage which can be further upgraded to upto 2TB (yes, you read that right). We observed that navigating through apps and camera toggles was fast. We will do a detailed performance run of the new SoC as well as the phone once we get it for review.
Camera
The camera has been a hot topic with the HTC One series phones and this one's no different. The HTC One M9+ houses a duo camera setup at its back. There is a 2.1MP camera in addition to the 20MP camera. The duo camera setup is there to change focus in images after you take it with the help of the HTC Zoe app. Like the HTC One M9, the One M9+ features a 4 Ultra pixel camera at the front which offers a f/2.0 aperture.
BoomSound
Yes, the good old BoomSound speaker setup is still here. This year HTC has partnered with Dolby for the front-facing BoomSound speakers. HTC claims that the new speakers can simulate a 5.1 channel speaker system.
Finger-print scanner
Like every other flagship phone, the HTC One M9+ gets a finger print scanner. The fingerprint scanner sits in between the bottom speaker grill.
Another side view of the HTC One M9+
HTC One M9+ alongside the HTC One M8