HTC One M9 review: A fast, well built phone, that’s now more affordable

HTC One M9 review: Camera

When the One M8 first launched, we were pleasantly surprised by its 4-megapixel ‘Ultrapixel’ Duo Camera, but as time wore on it became increasingly clear that its smeary low res shots simply weren’t up to the task of competing with other flagship phone cameras. Sadly, the One M9’s rear camera has also become something of a disappointment, despite the fact that it now has a much higher 20-megapixel sensor and dual LED flash.

As you’d expect, the level of detail present in both the foreground and background is a huge improvement on the M8, and our test images remained sharp throughout. However, the camera’s exposure levels are all over the place, and even HTC’s latest software update to version 1.40.401.8 which began rolling out in June hasn’t really delivered any significant improvements. This particular update is meant to improve the camera’s auto-exposure balance algorithm to enhance the sensor’s overall dynamic range, as well as improve its low-light capabilities, allowing the camera to capture more detail and produce more realistic colours.

When we first started testing the phone’s camera, areas of shadow were very dark indeed, resulting in very dingy-looking photos. Likewise, manually adjusting the main focus point tended to make the rest of the photo appear too bright, whiting out the sky and surrounding buildings. Things are a little better with the recent software update, but photos are still overly dim compared to its main rival, the Galaxy S6.

^ Even in sunny weather, areas of shadow were far too dark if we didn’t manually adjust the focus point

^ By way of comparison, this is the same view taken on the Galaxy S6 at exactly the same time, which is much brighter and better exposed

Luckily, we found that switching to HDR mode helped reduce this problem, as it brought large areas of shadow into view without making them look unnaturally lit. Colours remained accurate as well, albeit at the expense of an overexposed sky. It’s a shame that this flagship handset can’t properly expose an outdoor image; still, we’d prefer to have a white sky than be drowning in shadow, so if you’re shooting outdoors, we’d recommend switching to HDR mode in more overcast weather conditions.

Indoors, there’s slightly better news, as colours were indeed much richer and better exposed – as promised by the latest software update. Our test images were reasonably sharp, too, but they were still noticeably darker than those we took with the S6. As a result, the lack of contrast meant that some textures, such as the fur on our teddy bear, didn’t look quite as defined, and the gleaming statue towards the back looked positively tarnished by comparison.

^ Despite its continuing poor performance outdoors, we were reasonably pleased with the One M9’s indoor capabilities

^ However, the One M9 still can’t compare to the Galaxy S6, which had buckets more contrast and brighter, richer colours

While the 1.40.401.8 update was a full ROM update, HTC has also added its M9 Camera app to the Google Play Store this year, meaning it can push smaller updates out to users much sooner than before, and one of the most notable so far is the ability to add RAW capture.

RAW shooting is becoming a much bigger deal on smartphones than it used to be, as the sensors inside each handset are capable of producing very detailed shots, but you’ll need to export your images and tweak them using desktop image editing software like Adobe’s Lightroom. The One M9’s RAW images aren’t sharpened or processed in the same way as its JPEGs, which helps preserve detail and lets you adjust levels, exposure and white balance in a non-destructive way. It takes around a second for the phone to take a RAW photo, and the results are undoubtedly noisier, but details are preserved and you can get a better final image with only a small amount of adjustment in software.

^ RAW .dng file exported as .TIFF (left) compared with JPEG (right)

In our 150% cropped reference image, it’s clear that the HTC One M9 is applying a great deal of noise reduction and sharpening to its JPEG images, which aren’t present when shooting in RAW. There’s visible JPEG compression around the samurai’s helmet on the right image, and the colours have been warped slightly. With minimal adjustment, the RAW file should make for a superior final image.

HTC One M9 review: Verdict

The HTC One M9’s design is once again a very much by-numbers update, but HTC’s new Sense 7 interface gives the One M9 a new lease of life, making it feel anything but a tired rehash of year-old ideas. Admittedly, its battery life and overall screen quality aren’t quite as good as we expected, and the camera continues to lag behind the competition, but there’s still a lot to like here, particularly if you’ve been disappointed with the One M8.

It may not be quite as powerful as Samsung’s top-end phones, but at least it’s equally as attractive. However, the worry is that HTC hasn’t improved the hardware enough to really compete, especially when the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge have had significant and wide-sweeping changes. The HTC One M9 is a powerful and attractive flagship Android phone, but the issues with the camera and the quality of the screen hold it back.