 Hey, I'm Vlad with Virture at MWC 2015 in Barcelona and this is the HC1M9. No wait, that's the M8. This is the 1M9. You'll be forgiven for mistaking HTC's new flagship phone for its old one. It still has a 5-inch screen with 1080p resolution, it's still made almost entirely out of aluminum and it still has giant boom sound speakers on the front. Hell, even the camera is the same, only this time the 4MP ultra pixel shooter has moved to the front of the device. That makes room for a new 20MP camera on the back, whose sapphire lens protrudes slightly from the 1M9's body. The new camera is the most prone to visual change and that's intentional. HTC wants to build an icon in its own words with the One design and it's only tinkered around the edges. Literally. The 1M9 has a more pronounced edge on the sides and now has a grippier finish. One of the few downsides of the previous design was that it felt too slick and easy to drop, but the 1M9 fixes that. And it moves the power button to the side, which also helps. That power button could have been placed higher though, I find I keep pressing the volume up button when trying to wake the phone. The camera is a big new thing with the 1M9 but it's been a let down for me. It's really fast to take photos, however their quality isn't good enough for a flagship phone in 2015. There's too much noise, too little sharpness and low light photography is basically a disaster. The 1M9 keeps up a history of unsatisfying cameras that has plagued the One series so far. Not even the addition of 4K video and RAW image capture are going to save the day. On the software side, HTC is making a big deal out of theming the new Sense 7 home screen. With a bunch of options to adjust things like fonts, icons, color scheme, etc. There are also automatic Yelp suggestions for nearby places to eat and a new home screen widget that dynamically changes your apps depending on your location. These are all potentially nice additions but nothing earth shattering. The 1M8 needed a few design tweaks and a better camera to become most people's perfect phone. That's exactly what they tried to do with the 1M9 but it didn't quite get there. The design is gorgeous, the camera is not.
 Hey, I'm Vlad with Virture at MWC 2015 in Barcelona and this is the HC1M9.
 No wait, that's the M8.
 This is the 1M9.
 You'll be forgiven for mistaking HTC's new flagship phone for its old one.
 It still has a 5-inch screen with 1080p resolution, it's still made almost entirely out of aluminum
 and it still has giant boom sound speakers on the front.
 Hell, even the camera is the same, only this time the 4MP ultra pixel shooter has moved
 to the front of the device.
 That makes room for a new 20MP camera on the back, whose sapphire lens protrudes slightly
 from the 1M9's body.
 The new camera is the most prone to visual change and that's intentional.
 HTC wants to build an icon in its own words with the One design and it's only tinkered
 around the edges.
 Literally.
 The 1M9 has a more pronounced edge on the sides and now has a grippier finish.
 One of the few downsides of the previous design was that it felt too slick and easy to drop,
 but the 1M9 fixes that.
 And it moves the power button to the side, which also helps.
 That power button could have been placed higher though, I find I keep pressing the volume up
 button when trying to wake the phone.
 The camera is a big new thing with the 1M9 but it's been a let down for me.
 It's really fast to take photos, however their quality isn't good enough for a flagship
 phone in 2015.
 There's too much noise, too little sharpness and low light photography is basically a disaster.
 The 1M9 keeps up a history of unsatisfying cameras that has plagued the One series so
 far.
 Not even the addition of 4K video and RAW image capture are going to save the day.
 On the software side, HTC is making a big deal out of theming the new Sense 7 home screen.
 With a bunch of options to adjust things like fonts, icons, color scheme, etc.
 There are also automatic Yelp suggestions for nearby places to eat and a new home screen
 widget that dynamically changes your apps depending on your location.
 These are all potentially nice additions but nothing earth shattering.
 The 1M8 needed a few design tweaks and a better camera to become most people's perfect phone.
 That's exactly what they tried to do with the 1M9 but it didn't quite get there.
 The design is gorgeous, the camera is not.