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After leaking promo images of the HTC One M9 earlier today, @upleaks teased that videos were also incoming to cast away any doubt as to the legitimacy of his leaks. As promised, @upleaks delivered, posting 3 separate promo videos showing the HTC One M9 carrying that all too familiar One M8 design. Oddly enough, almost as soon as they went up, he removed them as to protect his sources (Update: annnnnnnd…. they’re back again).
There are some notable differences as pointed out in the videos. Namely, the new 2-tone finish (the same one we saw in our leak many weeks ago), and the new placement of the power button, and strange button occupying the nav bar. HTC also seems to have replaced their Beats Audio software with Dolby Digital, something we doubt anyone will notice. Check out the new promo videos down below.
HTC One M9 Intro
The HTC One M9 “introduction” video — which is used for retail units while on display in demo mode — shows off some of the phone’s subtle design changes like a new 2-tone brushed aluminum finish, and a slightly protruding single lens camera. The video also briefly covers some of the new software features like themes, new Home Widget (which changes apps based on your location), BlinkFeed (which adds meal time suggestions), UltraPixel front facing camera, 20MP rear camera with new photo editing features, BoomSound with Dolby Audio surround, and HTC Connect to stream video or music to different speakers using a simple 3-finger gesture.
HTC One M9 Camera
There’s no audio in the next 2 videos, but the camera walkthrough shows off some new software enhancements coming with the new One M9. Notably, the camera has been bumped up to 20MP and features a new set of filters and overlays to customize photos. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but could come in handy for those who love posting selfies to social networks.
HTC One M9 Themes
Looks like HTC is planning to introduce an all new theme engine for the One M9. This isn’t the first time they’ve experimented with themes, you may remember this back during the early days of HTC Sense. This time, they’re allowing users to essentially create their own themes, picking from various color schemes, wallpapers, and even icons.
There’s still a lot of confusion as to what HTC is doing here. While we like some of the new software enhancements, we’re a bit underwhelmed with the recycled design. Especially after @evleaks showed us something completely different a few weeks back. Is it possible HTC went through the trouble of creating fake promo videos just to troll leakers? We wont really find out until their March 1st event in Barcelona.
UPDATE: After dropping this whirlwind of HTC One M9 leaks, out of nowhere, @upleaks has seemingly deleted his Twitter account. We’re guessing this was in an effort to possibly cover his tracks, but who knows. Weird…
I guess that’s pretty cool. But damn that HTC black bar again. :(
I’ll probably still get it though, unless the S6 completely wows me.
Yeah, so far the S6 isn’t quite doing it for me (based on leaks), but I’m still interested to see what they did with the software. I think that will ultimately be the deciding factor for me.
The only way I’d think about TouchWiz again is they started from scratch, de-bloated their software to make it run smooth and decolorized (with their bright greens and blues) it. I’d say that would be a miracle.
That’s exactly what they’re doing.
Bless their hearts, but I doubt they will. We’ll know by Sunday I guess. :)
That is why I love Nova Launcher. Same thing, different phone.
Wait is that a power button in the nav bar?
Pls no
HTC has squandered another opportunity with this mediocre, lazy, idiotic attempt of a flagship! HTC will continue to suck and fail.
Annnndd here comes the Sammies
Here comes the HTC fanatics, the ones who can’t stand criticism of their beloved company
I don’t think “…mediocre, lazy, idiotic attempt of a flagship! HTC will continue to suck and fail” is considered criticism.
That’s constructive criticism
:
k
Here come the paid Samsung trolls who will do anything to bias the market.
Ftfy
Nope, your mistaken Samsung has nothing to do with this. It is funny tho most HTC fans and others bash/roast Samsung for having the same design for years and rightfully so. But as soon as HTC pulls the same thing, now people are trolling and you give them a pass? Cut it out, please. Give praise to where it’s due and criticism when it’s needed to these OEM’s. That’s from a unbias perspective.
I thought it was dumb that Apple and Samsung did this. And I’m upset that HTC is doing this. However, although I’m upset or have my opinions, it’s actually a very smart move. When it comes to parts and repairs alongside other behind-the-scenes things.
This is why I don’t sweat it too much.
Sad that you’re willing to shill for Samsung, without even getting paid for it.
I wouldn’t call playing it safe “idiotic,” but that’s just me.
The M9 is a safe way for HTC to sell products, but it doesn’t sell me from moving up if anything. The design is great, but it still has it’s flaws. That’s like having a bad design carry over from a 2014 Ford Fiesta to a 2015 Ford Fiesta. I do want HTC to ramp up their multi-tasking. Too many OEMs haven’t implemented multi-window software. LG and Samsung are the lone two. To me, the software is what sells, not the hardware since they’re relatively the same with RAM and processing speed/processor models.
I believe this is what HTC is doing. They’re customers aren’t those that have the M8, but those that have the M7 or a year, or more earlier.
I also don’t really care for the material they used. Heck, I’d love a phone like the Nexus One again. That phone was too legit.
You’re right about the software. I would love in-house software that allows me to multi-task with multiple apps. The root solution isn’t always the greatest, and if you want better performance with that, you usually have to get stock Android. It becomes no different than buying a phone with the software.
Well, they also want to market to iPhone users, Samsung users, etc. Their best attributes are build quality, sound quality, and a stable user experience. If only HTC can market better. HTC is my 2nd favorite Android OEM. I was with them from the start until the S3, then came back for the HTC One M7, and then had problems with the M8. Who knows, I might buy a bigger M9 or M9+ in the summer or fall.
Id think that HTC would want anyone on an M8 to upgrade to the M9. To say theyre marketing this phone to M7 users is kinda silly. That being said, these arent leaks, this is what HTC wants to leak, theres a difference. I think we’ll all be pleasantly surprised on March 1. If not, ill stick with my Nexus 6 and wait for the m10.
You can change the software (UI, launchers, icons, browsers, and so on) but can’t do the same with the hardware, especially that bar
Maybe that bar is a trademark HTC look? Look at the top of a galaxy device. It has oem branding on top in bold letters. A bezel like that isn’t too bad. That’s coming from a former M7 and M8 owner.
Yes it could be, but it’s clear that it ruins the design.
Look at an M8 with the screen on: the useful area of the screen (above the navbar) starts at almost half phone.
It looks ridiculous compared to competitors with thinner bezels like LG G3, Meizu MX4, Moto X, Sony Z3,…
It still sells though. A lot of the tech readers complain about the bezel. It’s probably the techy that’s the most vocal about it.
Looking at the sales figures HTC should pay attention to these claims, since the techys are the most probable potential customer.
At commercial level HTC value is now dropped to zero, its phones are mostly unknown to the majority of the “normal” people
WHAT IS HAPPENING
Same reason I took back the M8 after 2 days. Black HTC bar/Black button bar. Waste of space. Lose the bezel and I am in.
Bezel from the leaks are smaller from the sides and top. HTC is thirsty for brand recognition, so they most likely housed some hardware for the speakers under the bezel as an excuse to not get rid of the black bar.
That being said, I don’t think it takes away from the M9 at all, and if that’s your deciding factor, then there’s a lot of flaws with a lot of phones. Good luck
Wow… that was seriously why you took the phone back? Insane!! I mean, I know we all have our preferences, I just didn’t think people truly cared about having the least amount of bezel.
So I’m assuming you have the LG G3? That would be the seemingly perfect phone for you.
OK I’m starting to think..this IS the real design …
is this the M8? this looks identical….I thought I read a different placement for the speakers with a slit cut out on top and bottom of the phone….now it looks the same? and didnt HTC say they were going to have a different design? no thank you if this is it. Guess i”m waiting on the S6, or G4. =(
ROFL Those HTC Fanboys that are usually trolling Galaxy s6 Post don’t seem to be too happy lol #The_Fail_is_Real
not at all haha
Exactly
I am very unhappy. The M8 is too slippy. LoL!! It slides out my hand and stuff. I really preferred the M7 design. Am I salty? Yes. Am I upset the phone looks alike? Yes. For example, the iPhone 5 to the 6. noticeable different design, yet still the same. That’s what I want. Though now it seems like they’re going the Apple route. where the 4 and 4S was the exact same design-wise.
I guess it’s one way to say that updating to the M9 isn’t that much of a worthy upgrade from the M8 so I should hold my money and not jump and buy it. =.P
Slides out of your hand ? Are you lubed up all the time or something ? lol
LoL!! My hair is very oily. I scratch my head and that’s it. And in colder temperatures, usually below 70’s it’ll be harder to hold. ._.
S.T.U.P.I.D HTC I don’t believe you are this, therefore I know these promo videos aren’t the real deal
Disappointed by the lack of change here but still id still rather touch my sister than touchwiz again.
Something tells me your already did such a thing to make such a disgusting comment like that
uh yeah WTF….that is not even close to being funny.
S5 owner then?.
Actually that was incredibly funny XD
Maybe a little. Shock got me lol.
TW is getting a major revamp. It’s faster than stock.
Thank you, HTC, for shattering my hopes. The Phone Designer renders on FB were far superior because they represented an evolutionary step forward in design. This changes next-to-nothing, except for a bizarre power button softkey that completely deviates from Android design standards, and a gaudy two-tone colour option.
Please be elaborate fakes and HTC is just trolling us. Please.
These got to be the seeded fake decoys Phandroid reported on earlier. This looks 100% identical to m8. Tho the s5, looks like the s4, looks like the s3. Hopefully not the case even tho I like m8 Ide like to see something a lil newer and fresher and thinner!
We can only hope. If it is then HTC one marvelous job at actually keeping this release a secret! Let’s keep being skeptical :P
Oh, HTC. You could have won it all…
https://a.disquscdn.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/1764/1372/original.jpg
im so freaking disappointed man u have no idea….
Ditto bud. They could have at very least worked to get rid of the black nav bar. The one saving grace for me would be they bring out the same double dip flip case they had on the M7. That was tits.
Absolutely. Samsung might just break me of HTC at long last.
Yeah, that’s a beautiful rendering. Would have been a nice upgrade to my now aging M7. If the M9 turns out to be as posted in the videos I may have to go a different direction after being an HTC user for the past 6+ years.
I upgraded from M7 to M8 (being on a 12 mth contract) and to be honest I missed my M7 a lot. It was the best phone I ever had. The form factor at 4.7″ was just perfect. But, that being said I think the M9 would be a worthy upgrade to the M7. HTC flagships are still the best devices on the market IMO and I dont see myself moving away from them. As limited as the aesthetic changes are this time around…
i have had ab 15 android phones a handful being htc
ive had the G1-my touch -my touch slide -g2-my touch 4g -my toch 4g slide -sensation- evo 3d -one s- evo lte- M7- wasnt a fan of m8 so now galaxy NOTE 4 … i hate touch wiz and the weight of my note 4 so i was sooooo excited for the m9 ….now im ab to cry its just an m8 !!! amazing how they don take the time to just listen for 1 min NO MORE BEZEL ,BETTER CAMERA , AND MAKE THE FUCKING SPEAKERS SYMMETRICAL
Dont cry ….heres a tissue …. well you cant see it…… its a virtual tissue….. ok? lol
Same here. The M8 did nothing that the M7 did not other than those stupid duo effects. When my M7 died I decided to add a line and get the M8 and I hated it. The boomsound was not as robust IMO. Louder…. maybe…. better…. no. Same camera.
Also I hate the software buttons because they they never hid when playing games or videos.. So the 5 inch screen felt like a lower resolution 4.7 inch screen of the M7 (the M7 has 468ppi VS the M8’s 441ppi).
I’d much prefer a redo of the M8 design than the picture you posted, I *hate* the location of the front-facing camera. LOATHE IT.
HTC’s Jeff Gordon says “The best parts of HTC’s March 1st launch event are the parts you have no idea are coming”
https://twitter.com/urbanstrata
I’m hoping htc is trying to trick us. It was believable enough they had a prototype they wanted us to see, but to go the extra mile to great these fake promo videos seems like something htc wouldn’t do. Still I’m hoping this is indeed the case.
The dummy/prototype phone is believable, but to think they went as far as to make promotional videos and renders and all that….yeah that’s too far.
Unfortunately, this looks like the One M9.
The hell have HTC been doing for the last year?
For a whole year they have been sitting in a room and glorying over past accomplishments! Not realizing that times have changed and competition is fierce. So in turn, they put all hopes into this M9 and this won’t change a thing.
It took them this many years to figure out how to get the power button down from the top. Bright group of folks over there.
I wonder do Peter Chou ever look at these comments and see what the people are actually saying, he would know to stop using that dam black bar
For the love of all that’s holy –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt9zSfinwFA
Otherwise, I like it lol.
I don’t mind vertical videos when I’m watching them from my smartphone. I’d argue that’s where the majority of people are watching from, but I’ll save that for another time. :P
I hate them especially on my phone.
Vertical videos suck out loud.
Thank you for that PSA lol. Last thing we need is a re.release of star wars and old mila kunis!
I’m just here to read the comments of people upsetting themselves and reaching for ideas of hopes.
Is that the kinda sick sh*t you’re into, Nathan? :P
Gotta say I never bought the m8 it’s an excellent design …I may get it..
Haha! It sure is Chris.
What do you think about this design in the video?
… Read his thoughts about the design by scrolling up a bit (the article)
I didn’t bother to read who wrote the article. Haha. Thanks for the common sense though ;).
Phandroid doesn’t tell you who wrote an article when you’re on mobile. It’s very annoying. I do everything on my phone, and I never have any idea who wrote which article.
Tip your phone to landscape. The author’s name appears.
Yeah. I’m just the messenger, don’t taze me bro.
Forgive the late reply, I’ve just been crying in the corner from shame.
I might have known that if I ever viewed mobile sites in landscape. It’s just that, when a site is formatted for mobile it looks better in portrait.
Edit: except for those YouTube videos that are cut in half of course. >.<
I agree with you on all counts my friend – but that’s the way they did it. I found the landscape thing by accident. :D
Now, it’s a parlor game – guess who wrote the article, turn landscape for answer. Or not. You know. ^.-
Always loved the One M8 design for the most part, so can’t say I hate what the M9 is doing (in these leaks anyway).
Overall, feeling underwhelmed with the design, especially that black logo bar. I know the excuses behind it (audio amp), but I don’t buy it.
Still have my fingers crossed HTC will throw everyone for a loop and show something completely different come March 1st, but who knows…
Ugh ok bye bye HTC phablet
I would have been real impressed if in the video video, he could zoom into her face, and eye, then into her eye and seen her brain.
Wow.. the vitriol of an unchanged design is amazing. People are seriously “angry” about that. Wow.
Because it’s a bad design.
HTC’s Jeff Gordon weighs in: https://twitter.com/urbanstrata/status/570338487901102081
So.. we know that this is the M9. And we don’t know about a HTC Smart Watch, so that’s probably something we have no idea about.
Wrong. HTC Smartcar.
O.o
Unibody, speakers right in front of the driver’s face, all the windows will have a black bottom bar with the HTC logo on it.
And a button to go home, of course.
Nah that would be Samsung’s car design (home button)
Damn, you’re right, I was thinking of Samsung. Bad on me.
That logo though…that deal-breaking logo yo! Yuck!
Both wrong. HTC voice activated food replicator, with a promise of a software upgrade to full-fledged transporter expected 90 days after final design of Heisenberg Compensators.
LOL the dash will be 5 ft long cuz AC
It is so weird that we only ‘know’ about the M9 but nothing else. Where is all the other leak. If the leaker have this this full information then why don’t we have the plus, watch/band?. Upleak could have just been troll.
Looks like i’m keeping this Droid Turbo
can we please stop saying these things are “leaked”…they’re not leaked. They are strategically released by the companies, in this case HTC, as a feeler prior to actual releases.
I think all of these videos is fake and not real first HTC don’t release everything in the same time and we all know that HTC going foyer edge to edge display , evleak is da best for me .
You know after thinking about it a little, I don’t get why everyone is mad that it looks the same or that it’s not what they wanted. M9 still looks better than almost any phone out there, maybe except the Xperia? It still has the best looking screen on the market, no other phone can even touch boom sound, and HTC Sense looks the best out of any skin.
What’s the deal?!
For me as a current M8 owner I was hoping for a refresh of a few things… (1) Larger screen with smaller bezels (2) Smaller speakers. Of course not everyone will wish for those same things, but I guess I feel disappointed that the M9 might be more of an iterative update, not enough to justify me upgrading this year. I totally agree that the M9 still looks really great and I’d tell anyone with the M7 (or any other make) to upgrade. Things like this are so subjective, but for me personally, that’s why I feel disappointed.
Yeah, I can understand that. I know the things you mentioned are the main griped with what people had with the M8. I guess I wish people didn’t forget that what HTC does right with their M series, is something that no one else has been able to even compete with. If the M9 can have better battery life and a better camera then I think I’d be happy.
An extra bonus is if they somehow made that thing a little shorter. Reaching for that status bar was a pain cuz of the bezels.
Are you thinking of upgrading? It looks like the M9’s camera will be a significant improvement. I think more than anything I am hoping for them to release a plus-sized version of the device this year since they skipped out on a new generation of the One Max in 2014. I like to tweak my DPI settings to fit more icons and widgets on the screen so it would be awesome to have a plus-sized version of the M9 this year. That I would definitely consider getting…
Spigen just release this a few hours ago….there is hope…
Spigen is a troll… can’t trust them. They’ll turn a render into a case if possible, just to generate hype for themselves
Spigen usually isn’t wrong though. I believe IF there’s a phone that looks like the M8 it would be the “M8i” and the M9 WILL look like the image above.
The only thing is the only renders with the full glass front I have seen has a lock button on the top and side, so lets just hope..
Yes, and whats more you can purchase it. I doubt they would sell a case to a fake phone. It would be stupid, and bad for business, and they do make awesome cases. I doubt they would damage their bottom line. Really, the Spigen case should be considered the real “leak”
I though my dreams were shattered with the latest leaks of the M9 but you gave me hope again Acid. Thanks for that !!!
Spigen is not to be trusted. They just change the design according to latest leaks.
I feel like there’s a huge troll going on. Like with Google and Kit Kat. How Google gave all these clues that it was going to be Key Lime Pie.
I feel like HTC is “letting” these fake leaks get out to find out who’s doing the leaks. IDK… Something doesn’t make sense here. (pun intended)
Is this really a huge deal? The M8 is STILL the most beautiful phone on the market. With enough software upgrades, I’d be happy to have the M9 with the same look for another year. If the M10 or whatever it’s called next year is the same again… THEN I’ll have a problem (and it’s what made me sick of Samsung, the S3 was great, the S4 was the same, but slightly uglier, and the S5 is the same yet the ugliest of them all).
I was really hoping that those renders were real that phone was sexxxy a.f… But oh well, hopefully the m9 plus is real if so its between that and the oneplus two for me.
It’s 2015 now and I buy a phone based on the UI and how it looks externally. Internal specs are advanced enough for me not to notice a significant difference between different phones.
And you know what really grinds my gears? Black bars that are useless to the user, non-symmetrical speaker grills (in fact in a direct comparison to the M8, these grills are even less symmetrical), and protruding cameras.
Also, in my opinion, which may be unpopular, side power buttons are bad. I think I can get used to the square shape of the camera though.
Hoping this is still a decoy, but that seems unlikely at this point.
IM A HUGE HTC ADVOCATE (SINCE MY G1 ) BUT DAMNNNNN THIS IS TERRIBLE NEWS THE M9 LOOKS AWFUL !!!! i was really lokking forward to ditching my note 4 for a m9 but it looks like ill go galaxy 6 DAMN U HTC DAMN YOU
Dont know what to think
I honestly don’t care that it looks the same as the M8 since I’m coming from a DNA and not a M7 or M8. That said, I don’t really understand why HTC would make this move. They have to know that recycling designs is one of the things phone enthusiasts complain about the most. Both Samsung and Apple have received those criticisms and both are doing better than HTC right now. HTC struck gold with the M8, so you’d think they’d want to keep that going. Oh well, I’ll still be getting it either way.
Bring back the EVO line with kickstands and put it on all carriers!
Don’t be an HTC apologist folks. It’s not even necessarily about aesthetics, the design of the M8 was just bad. That black bar doesn’t just look terrible, it makes the phone way taller than it should be. The screen to bezel ratio on this phone is simply unforgivable. Boomsound doesn’t even begin to justify it. At least they moved the power button though…
Just got to wait 5 days people.
The rumor was there that HTC was using decoys several weeks ago so I hope they used those decoys to create these promotional videos
I sincerely hope that it’s still going to be evleaks leak of the design because I am 100% sure I will not even look at the HTC as a possible upgrade if these leaks from upleaks hold any truth :(
Make sense of this please
these leaks are fake.
htc is going to have a HORRIBLE year.
based on the bezel in those videos (especially that no good awful never should exist additional top bezel) ONE of those previous statements is true.
This would be real…for sure
I really like that. That would be nice.
STILL SO MAD