Latest Mobile Phone from HTC – HTC One S9, Released
If you are looking for the latest mobile phone from HTC, they just recently announced the HTC One S9. HTC is really taking their business more seriously with their new phones released almost every month.
Sometimes the model names start to confuse me, but that’s a good thing because it means there’s a good variety of smartphones to choose from.
So before you also get confused, let’s see.. they released HTC One A9 last November 2015 and then they also released the HTC One X9 last December 2015.
So what’s so special about the HTC One S9? Let’s find out.
Device Type: Smartphone
Display: 5.0 inches (1080 x 1920 pixels)
Camera: 13MP
Hardware: Mediatek, Octa-core 2.0 GHz, 2GB RAM
Battery: 2840 mAh
Price: US$ 499.99
Design and Display
Like the HTC One A9 and One X9, the HTC One S9 is made of metal. That’s hard stuff. If you want a very sturdy smartphone, this is a good choice. Not only that, you can also see the elegant “brushed” metal finish at the back .
The stereo speakers are located at the front, one speaker replaces the fingerprint scanner in the HTC One A9. But take note that when watching in landscape mode, you have two front facing stereo speakers on each side which are capable of Dolby surround audio.
Having a Dolby stereo speaker in a smartphone is an excellent feature. This kind of speakers is not even present in some expensive flagship smartphones.
Like the HTC One A9, it has a 5-inch display with the same Full HD resolution and sharpness (441 ppi). The One X9, on the other hand, is larger at 5.5-inches. All three are protected by Corning Gorilla Glass which is twice more durable than other glass designs.
I hope you don’t mind the slightly thicker profile because the HTC One S9 is a little thicker at 10.1 mm and also a little heavier at 158 g compared to the HTC One A9. The HTC One A9 is only 7.3 mm thin and weighs 143 g.
The HTC One S9 comes in Gold and Silver colors variants, unlike the HTC One A9 which has Carbon Gray, Opal Silver, Topaz Gold, Deep Garnet, and Pink colors.
Processing Power
The HTC One S9 is not as powerful as the flagship smartphones, but it is one of the best mid-range smartphones that you can choose from. It runs the same Mediatek chipset of the HTC One X9 which includes a faster and smoother CPU and an excellent graphics processor.
It has a 16GB internal storage and all three models are capable of expanding up to 200 GB using a microSD card. That’s a huge storage space for all your video files.
The 2GB RAM is the same with the HTC One A9. The HTC One X9 has a 3GB RAM which is what is expected for a smartphone with a larger display size.
All three also run on the latest Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) which, aside from the beautiful user interface, has a feature called Doze that can significantly lengthen your battery life.
Camera
The camera of the HTC One S9 has the same 13MP resolution and f/2.0 aperture size with the HTC One A9 and One X9. Both HTC One S9 and One A9 can record Full HD videos, but only the One X9 can record 4K videos.
So what’s special with the HTC One S9’s camera?
Well, the website seems to emphasize too much on the OIS (Optical Image Stabilization), which is the feature responsible for reducing blurs when the subject of the image is in motion or if your hands are shaking during picture taking.
All three smartphones have an OIS feature, but according to HTC, the HTC One S9 is capable of detecting the slightest hand movements within 0.125 milliseconds response time. It uses the gyroscope sensor to detect your hand movements and ensures a razor sharp image.
The front camera is the same with the HTC One A9 which is at 4MP with f/2.0 aperture size, 1/3″ sensor size, that can also record Full HD videos.
Battery Life
This is the time when a larger battery capacity does not mean longer battery life. At 2840 mAh battery capacity, the HTC One S9 can last up to 13 hours of Talk Time in a 3G network.
The HTC One A9 with the same 5-inch display size has a battery capacity of 2150 mAh, but can last longer up to 16 hours of Talk Time (3G). The One X9, on the other hand, can last up to 15 hours of Talk Time (3G)
The HTC One S9 is longer in terms of standby time which is up to 658 hours compared to HTC One A9 which is only up to 432 hours.
All three have non-removable batteries.
Other Features
The HTC One S9 was initially announced in Germany, but it can certainly reach your country if you purchased it online. So take note of the LTE bands to ensure connection to an LTE network in your location.
The LTE bands are 1(2100), 3(1800), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 20(800), 28(700), 38(2600), 40(2300), and 41(2500).
The LTE speed is Cat4 150/50 Mbps which is the same with the HTC One X9. But it is not as fast as the HTC One A9 which is at LTE Cat7 300/100 Mbps.
It is also capable of Wi-Fi connection and can be used as a hotspot. It can use both GPS with A-GPS and GLONASS, so identifying your location and you destinations when using Google Maps is very easy and more accurate. There is also NFC support if you need one.
Unlike the HTC One A9, there is no fingerprint scanner in the HTC One S9. Other sensors in the HTC One S9 aside from gyroscope include the Acceleration sensor and Compass.
Conclusion
The HTC One S9 is a good upper mid-range smartphone. It has two front facing speakers which is capable of cinematic sound and it is better in terms of reducing blurs in its camera with an enhanced OIS feature.
Compared with the HTC One A9 and One X9, it is almost as good in terms of display quality and processing power.
However, even if the HTC One A9 has the same display size with the HTC One S9, the HTC One A9 has a thinner and more sleek profile, has a fingerprint scanner, longer battery life (3G talk time), and faster LTE speed.