Not a major overhaul from the M8 but they've made enough improvements to qualify it a a flagship for this year. I still like the design even though it doesn't seem like much has changed.
Expected to be released this month, before Samsung's S6.
Quote:
“HTC One M9 comes with refined design with less part count, dual anodization, and scratch-resistant coating and sapphire glass on the camera lens. While it looks a lot like the One (M8), the new One M9 design is more minimalistic and the smartphone is lighter and smaller. It has a single-part front bezel, new placement for the Power/Lock key, an improved volume rocker, and brand new color options.
HTC One M9 packs a 5" 1080p display - the same unit from One (M8) - Super LCD3 - with minor improvements on the technology and color rendering. The highlight of the front are the traditional BoomSound stereo speakers, now improved further by Dolby Sound technology.
The One M9 is powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 platform - an octa-core 64-bit processor with four Cortex-A57 cores at 2.0GHz and four Cortex-A53 working at 1.5GHz. The new Adreno 430 is responsible for the graphics, while the 3GB RAM will help with the multi-tasking.
The rest of the specs include 32GB expandable storage and rich connectivity package with LTE Cat.6 or Cat.9 (various by region) with support for 21 LTE bands, wired and wireless TV-out, GPS + GLONASS, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC and Wi-Fi ac.
HTC has dropped the dual-camera tech in favor of a Toshiba-made 20MP sensor with a 1/2.3" sensor size. HTC One M9 comes with a 20MP BSI camera on the back with F/2.2 aperture and dual-LED dual-tone flash. The maximum shooting resolution is 5376 x 3752 px – that’s 10:7 aspect ratio. RAW capture is supported, as is 4K video recording.
Unfortunately, the camera doesn't support optical image stabilization, but on a positive note there is a sapphire glass to protect the lens from scratches.
The front selfie camera uses a 4MP UltraPixel sensor, quite similar to the one embedded on the backs of HTC One (M7) and One (M8), but without auto focus. HTC has developed new cooler effects for the rear camera and promises a brand new Zoe apps for Android and iOS.
HTC One M9 runs on Android 5.0 Lollipop enhanced with the new HTC Sense 7 UI. HTC Blinkfeed is a major part of the new Sense and now content from the aggregator will be displayed on the lockscreen as well. The updated service also uses location specific suggestions, thanks to a new partnership with Yelp, and will be able to gives you various tips for nearby restaurants.
The entire concept of HTC Sense has changed and now the launcher supports themes, which will be able to change its looks completely - backgrounds, colors, icons, even the keyboard. There will be a theme generator, which will support automatic theme generation by inputting just a single image.
Another cool feature of the new HTC Sense 7 is the option to customize the navigation bar - you will be able to change the keyboard layout and put additional shortcuts of virtually anything.
Finally, Sense 7 supports BoomSound connect - it allows the phone to combine its internal speakers with external ones for surround playback.”