Just upgraded HTC One M8 to M9 - worth keeping?

[Land]

I've been a happy HTC customer for many years now. I picked up an M9 on a little bit of a whim because AT&T seems to be phasing it out in favor of the A9 and I wanted to get my hands on one before they disappeared.

Probably should have looked at the Anandtech review first. I saw other reviews that honestly had me a little confused about the M9's screen. But when I got it, I was absolutely shocked at how washed out the screen looked compared to the M8.

I tried adjusting the color temperature to very little improvement - I don't know if there are any other tricks I can try on the software end but it's the only thing keeping me from liking the phone. It definitely feels snappier and I prefer the M9's camera, and the inferior battery life isn't quite a huge deal because I usually have a battery pack nearby.

Cost isn't the issue here in regards to keeping it or going back to the M8 or trying something else. I wanted to stick with HTC because I love the design and it would be pretty hard for me to give up the dual front facing speakers.

 

[Crono]

I don't think it was worth upgrading the M8 to M9. The M7 had a few flaws that were fixed with the M8 (except the camera quality, which was more a side-grade), but there isn't a compelling reason to get the M9 if you had the M8. Most of the updates were minor at best. I'd wait to get a Snapdragon 820 based phone because at least there should be some efficiency and power gains. I don't know if HTC is working on a M10, but it would be worth waiting until Mobile World Congress to see if there's something worth upgrading to.

Since you already have the M9, I'd say it's not worth the trouble of going back unless the display really bothers you. I don't think there's a device out there with better overall sound, either.

 

[Land]

Well, if I did go back to the M8 I could wait another six months or so and upgrade then if an M10 actually did come out.

But I would really be plenty happy to keep the phone aside from the screen. Sitting next to the M9 the M8 practically looks like it could be an AMOLED screen (I know it's not, but I think that's about how big the difference looks to my eyes - the best way I can think of to describe it based on past experience).

I still have about 11 days to decide. I guess I'll download some apps to play with the color values and see how I feel about it after a week or so. And honestly it has been nice having an extra Android device around that's pretty fast, portable and doesn't come with all the bugs and quirks of PC emulators like Droid4x and Genymotion.

 

[Megatomic]

Land, did you look at the A9? It has an AMOLED screen, the Verge review states that it looks almost as good as the S6 which is amazing. I have an A9 on the way, I'll get it next week sometime.

 

[tsupersonic]

Do you just have the itch to upgrade? Because the M9 is not that great of a phone, it was more of a downgrade from the M8. I'd stick with your M8, and wait for MWC (end of Feb.), and new generations of phones should be released in the Spring timeframe.

 

[mnewsham]

M8 was decent but not AMAZING, M9 was just stupid, A9 makes me wonder if HTC even wants to continue in the smartphone business, what were they thinking?

No wonder their sales dropped almost 40% in 2015.

 

[DealODay]

Unless you'll be watching videos, I'd say not to bother. But if it's annoying you that much then go right at it and switch!