The HTC One A9 might be
best known for its closeness to the iPhone 6 in design, but there's a lot about
this phone to love. It runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow, with a stripped down
version of HTC Sense, resulting in a lovely overall experience, full of refinement.
The design is great, it
feels lovely in the hand and surprisingly, the performance is very good for a
handset that has mid-range hardware.
The AMOLED display is
great and there's an improved camera that beats that of the M9, although it
still struggles in low light conditions. There is also an excellent fingerprint
scanner.
However, the HTC One A9
is expensive for a device at this level, priced over £400. You might get a
premium body, but it's still a mid-ranger at heart and that's reflected in
performance in some areas.
An Air Of iPhone
HTC has always had a
flair for design, but with the One A9, it's going to be impossible to talk
about it without a mention of the iPhone. There is a resemblance between the
One A9 and the iPhone 6, thanks to the same techniques used in machining and
construction.
At first glance, many will think it's a copycat design. Whether that was HTC's
strategy or not is something of a moot point, however it's worth saying that
this is very much about taking the HTC Desire family design and applying HTCOne
family techniques to it: the A9 brings the profile of recent Desire devices and
applies that to a full-metal body.
The result might have a resemblance to the iPhone, but it's easy to see that
this hasn't been plucked out of thin air. After all, the metal HTC One (M7) was
launched in 2013 and Apple's metal-bodied iPhone didn't appear until 2014, and
there's nothing on the One A9 we can't recognise from previous HTCdevices.
So yes, these devices look similar, but we've also said that we think the
iPhone6/6S is one of the best designed and most premium smartphones around.
Apple and HTC might come to blows about it, accusations about originality might
be cast, but we love the look and feel of the HTC One A9.
Display
The HTC One A9 has a 5-inch Full HD display on the front. HTC is known for
using LCD panels on its devices with some great results, but the One A9 is
equipped with an AMOLED display instead.
The resolution fits the size, offering 1920 x 1080 pixels over that 5-inches to
give you a 440ppi density. Where some competitors might be pushing higher
resolutions, we've little to criticise with this resolution choice at this
size.
The display is topped with Gorilla Glass 3, so should be nice and safe from
scratches, plus the 2.5D curves to the edges make for a lovely smooth finish
when swiping across the display.
As smartphone fans will know, AMOLED is the display of choice of Samsung, but
HTC's display doesn't quite have the impact of the Samsung Galaxy S6. It's a
little warm, so the whites aren't as bright, with things being a little towards
the yellow end of the colour spectrum.
Hardware And Performance
While everything we've seen so far on the HTC One A9 is undoubtedly premium,
many will look at the hardware to decide exactly where this handset should sit
in comparison to its rivals, particularly the One M9.
The HTC One A9 comes equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 chipset. This is
one of Qualcomm's latest chipsets, offering 64-bit octo-core power. It might be
a step down in some senses from the 800 series you'll find in many flagship
handsets, but as we've seen over the past 12 months, the experience of using a
device is so much more than just how powerful the hardware is.
The remarkable thing
about the One A9 is that it doesn't feel lacking in power. It's very slick and
smooth, and fast to navigate around the HTC Sense user interface. It feels like
HTC's experience with the Android operating system is coming to the fore here,
as the A9 is faster than many more powerful rivals, such as the Sony Xperia Z5.
It's also worth considering that this HTC is a light version of Sense running
on Android Marshmallow, which helps in that regard. We'll go into more detail
on that later.
Unlike the HTC One M9, the A9 doesn't get excessively hot when charging, or
when under higher load. Yes, it doesn't have the raw power of the M9, so those
interested in getting the best from the latest games, or who want 4K video
capture, might find the One A9 lacking, but as a daily phone it's perfectly
powerful enough. We had no problem playing games like Real Racing 3, and
although they open a touch slower and consume the battery faster than some
rivals, the A9 doesn't overheat and the game runs smoothly.
There will be two different models of the One A9, depending on which territory
you reside. The first offers 2GB of RAM with 16GB of storage, the second (which
is reviewed here) offers 3GB of RAM with 32GB of storage. Both will offer
microSD card expansion up to 2TB. As we understand it, the UK version will be
the 2/16GB and the US will be getting the 3/32GB edition.
As the A9 launches on Android 6.0 Marshmallow, you'll also find it offers Flex
Storage. This little-talked-about feature will allow you to expand the overall
storage of your phone, formatting the microSD card and using it for all the
tasks you'd normally use internal storage for. It becomes seamlessly integrated,
encrypted, and part of your device storage.
That might mean an end to hot swapping storage cards (do people do that?), but
there's no need to worry that the 16GB model won't give you space for huge apps
- because the microSD slot gives you plenty of scope for cheap storage
expansion.
Battery Life
The HTC One A9 has a 2,150mAh battery capacity, which sounds a little on the
low side, especially when many competitors are pushing 3,000mAh. However,HTC is
promising that thanks to the efficiencies of the chipset and the software
optimisation of Android 6.0 Marshmallow, you'll get good life out of it.
There's a little HTC magic going on here, because the battery performance is
good. We've seen plenty of devices with nearly a third more battery capacity drain
within a working day. Thanks to those optimisations, however, we've had the HTC
One A9 reach the end of the day and into the next without needing a charger.
Of course, it very much depends on what you're doing with your phone. If you're
working it hard playing games, then you'll see the performance quickly dip, but
in general email, mapping, browsing and taking calls territory, we've found the
HTC One A9's performance to be surprisingly good.
There's no wireless charging, but not only does it support Quick Charge 2, but
there's support for Quick Charge 3 in the future as well. You will have to buy
that quick charger yourself however, as there isn't one in the box, but thanks
to the small capacity, you'll be able to recharge the One A9 very quickly.
Fingerprint Scanner
The fingerprint scanner has become 2015's must-have Android feature, with
native support in Android 6.0, and appearing on the Nexus 5X and 6P devices,
along with lots of others. We'd now struggle to recommend you buy a new device
without one.
The implementation of the fingerprint scanner on the HTC One A9 appears to be
identical to that of the One M9+ we previously reviewed. It's placed centrally
beneath the display, supporting up to five fingerprints for unlocking.
The fingerprint scanner is really fast, and the position is natural enough for
unlocking. The scanner can also be used as a home button, returning home from
any screen with a tap - much like the OnePlus 2. It's not a clickable button,
though, so not as versatile as the Samsung Galaxy S6 implementation, but it's
lightning fast and we've found it faster than the Nexus 5X, for example.
Boomsound Speakers
One of the big changes from previous One devices is that the BoomSound speakers
have now gone. That gives for slicker lines, and a design that's more compact,
but some will say that this is HTC leaving out one of its signature features.
There's a single speaker on the bottom and it's average in performance, but in
reality, you'll be pushed towards using headphones for this device, where you
aren't always with something like the One M9.
HTC is looking to ramp up the headphones, now saying that BoomSound is in the
headphone experience. As with the One M9, there's Dolby Audio looking to add a
lift to your music, with the option of engaging HTC BoomSound with Dolby Audio
when your headphones are connected.
There are a range of settings specifically for HTC's headphones or an
"other" setting if you're using a different pair. We found that the
"other" setting worked the best for the Grado headphones we tested
the phone with, but you're free to choose whichever you prefer. There's no
freeform EQ to tweak the sound though, it's BoomSound or nothing.
We fired up Tidal, streaming in hi-fi quality, and found the performance more
natural without engaging HTC's BoomSound enhancement, although the boost to the
bass may well suit those who want a little more drive.
HTC also says that the One A9 is equipped with a higher quality DAC, aiming to
upscale your music to 24-bit and with a higher power output - so it will drive
more demanding headphones. We've certainly no complaints about the sound
quality from this device through headphones, but do rue the passing of
BoomSound speakers.
Camera
The camera on the HTC One A9 is perhaps its most anticipated aspect. As with
many of HTC's previous devices, the HTC One A9 has the UltraPixel sensor on the
front for all your selfies. That gives results that are typical, natural, with
the option for a makeup mode to smear yourself into generic conformity if you
want.
We've had some good quality selfies, but have noticed that in low light they
can take on something of a pink tinge - the same affliction that blighted the
OneM9. There's now the option for HDR on the front camera, a useful option for
balancing out some scenes you might find yourself in.
On the rear of the One A9 there is a 13-megapixel camera with optical image
stabilisation (OIS). It's been a while since we've seen OIS on an HTC handset
(mostly thanks to a number of other technologies, like Duo Camera) and it's a
welcome addition here.
The camera is placed centre top on the rear of the One A9, accompanied by a
dual tone flash. It's slightly raised, but topped with sapphire crystal to keep
it free from scratches.
The HTC One A9 suffers for not having auto HDR, which the likes of the
SonyXperia Z5 or Samsung Galaxy S6 really benefit from, by boosting dynamic
range without your constant intervention. On the A9, that results in scenes
that are dominated by the highlights, or stuck in the gloom of the shadows,
leaving the user to poke the HDR option in the camera app to balance things
out.
Colours are a little flat from the A9 camera in auto mode, a step behind the
best, leaving us wanting a little more richness. Autumnal hues looked a little
muted, lacking punch and the contrast they really need. At least that can be
changed post-shooting for best results, but this isn't the strongest camera out
there.
One of our criticisms of the M9 was that the camera resulted in slightly
yellowy images and the A9 doesn't seem to suffer with quite the same
affliction, giving slightly cooler results, although on a bright day out the
One A9 seems to struggle, a little like the M9 did, by failing to make the most
of the scene presented before it.
Android Marshmallow With Sense 7
It's something of a coup that the HTC One A9 launches with Android 6.0
Marshmallow. There are other devices just launched or about to launch on
Lollipop, but with the A9 you have the very latest from Google.
Not only that, but the One A9 launches with a version of Sense called Sense
7_g. That _g part refers to Google, as this is a special build for this device,
rather than a dot increment you'll find rolling-out to older phones. The big
difference is that this is closer to stock Marshmallow, and a lighter offering
than previous HTC Sense iterations.
That's a good move in our book, because there's less duplication and bulk, an
overall reduction in bloatware and features, with HTC only adding the elements
that it sees as essential. There's no HTC music player, for example, and the
phone doesn't come preinstalled with Facebook or other apps. Like a
Nexus device, you're left to make the decisions about what you want
yourself.
However, this is still a Sense device, so you get some of the great features
that HTC offers, like Themes and BlinkFeed. In the apps tray you still get
to customise things, make folders and change the grid size, which we've always
liked.
