HTC One M9 vs Google Nexus 6

HTC One M9 vs Google Nexus 6

Introduction

You don't mess with a winning formula, wise people say, and some will point out that HTC's brand-new One M9flagship is a testament to that. But the underlying decision-making that brought us the M9 is a bit more complicated than that. A bit, not a lot.

The One M9, then, features the same distinguished metallic unibody design with front-facing BoomSound loudspeakers that won our hearts before becoming synonymous with the series, but improves upon its predecessors in controversial areas such as the camera and even adds some extra smarts to the proprietary Sense interface. The rest, however, mostly boils down to the typical for the industry specs bump – a little more RAM here, and a few more processor cores there.

Design

The unquestionably stylish pick, the One M9 makes short work of the far more conservative, bulky Nexus 6.

Few things are as characteristic of HTC as the design philosophy that serves as the foundation of the flagship One line. But if you thought that last year's One M8 was a disappointingly minor update over the 2013 One M7, then you likely won't appreciate the even smaller differences in the brush work with the M9. Indeed, by far the most visible change is the substitution of the round camera ring of old with a square cutout.

And yet, we're still looking at an undeniably stylish, sturdy metal unibody that is a delight to hold onto. Not at all surprisingly, it's also a worthy – even superior – design piece when compared with the Nexus 6.
But good-looking design doesn't necessarily translate into great ergonomics. Thankfully for HTC, the One M9 sits far more comfortably in our palm, and mostly on account of its notably smaller physical footprint and aggressively rounded rear. Indeed, courtesy of its larger display, the Nexus 6 is both considerably taller and wider, making for a shaky ride as far as one-handed usage is concerned. At 6.49 oz (184 g) and 0.4 inches (10.06 mm), Google's Nexus 6 is also heavier and even slightly thicker than the One M9, which tips the scales at 5.54 oz (157 g) and features a 0.38 inches-thick (9.61 mm) profile.

Display

HTC shuns the 'more is always better' philosophy by refusing to jump on the Quad HD display bandwagon.

HTC and Google seem to differ in their view of what an appropriate display size means for their respective flagship devices – at 5 inches, the One M9 offers a great deal less screen real estate when compared with the 6-incher of the Nexus 6. That's not all, however, as the Nexus 6's AMOLED panel is also more pixel-dense and offers a resolution of 1440 x 2560 (493 ppi) – a considerable lead on the One M9's 1080 x 1920 pixel resolution S-LCD3 display (441 ppi). Thankfully for HTC, this ostensible advantage of Google's handset doesn't really mean much in reality, as the human eye has a pretty impossible task spotting any differences in image sharpness. What's more, HTC's more conservative approach translates into less overhead in terms of performance.

Interface and functionality

No hogwash. Both devices offer a minimalist interface that is all about speed.

Manufacturer-made Android skins are nothing new, but when it comes to it, we've always appreciated HTC's light touch. Its Sense UI is minimal, straightforward, and down to the point, and that didn't change with the transition to the Android 5.0.2 Lollipop-based Sense 7.0, which debuted with the One M9. It's not in any way a departure from what we've come to expect from HTC's layout, but instead builds upon it and adds a few noteworthy features.

Processor and memory

Benchmarks are unanimous – the One M9 packs the bigger guns.

Neither HTC nor Google held back when it was time to choose the type of hardware that will power their respective flagship. As is to be expected, however, due to being released more recently, the One M9 packs superior silicon
We're talking about the 64-bit, octa-core Snapdragon 810 – Qualcomm's latest and hottest (literally, too). The chip puts together two clusters of four cores (ARM Cortex A57 and A53, respectively) in a big.LITTLE config, and pairs them with potent Adreno 430 graphics and 3GB of LPDDR4 RAM. In comparison, the Nexus 6 makes use of the Qualcomm's previous hard-hitter, the quad-core Snapdragon 805 with Krait 450 CPUs and an Adreno 420 GPU. Google's phablet also touts 3 gigs of RAM, but is using slower and less power-efficient LPDDR3 chips, again giving the edge to the One M9.

Internet and connectivity

Fat connectivity stacks with both these flagships.

Like other manufacturers as of late, HTC has ditched its own 'Internet' browser app and has now moved to Google's Chrome full-time, same as the Nexus 6. With powerful chipsets driving both devices, Chrome ensures top notch, lag-free experience that leaves little to desire. Extra features, however, aren't its strongest suite, so some of you might want to consider picking an alternative off the Play Store.

As for the connectivity stack, again – neither device disappoints. We've got LTE support over a comfortable number of bands with both devices, Bluetooth 4.1, 5GHz Wi-Fi, NFC, support for TV-out technologies like MHL and SlimPort (Nexus 6 only), and even an infrared blaster for control over home electronics with the One M9.

Camera

HTC finally gave up on the inferior UltraPixel tech, but now it's obviously outside of its comfort zone. This makes its 20-megapixel snapper an easy meal for the optically stabilized, 13-megapixel camera of the Nexus 6.

For what felt like ages, HTC was adamant about its decision not to participate in the so-called megapixel wars that every other Android maker was part of. Instead of banking on extra resolution, the company focused on pixel size, claiming that that is how smartphone cameras should be done.

Now, whether HTC caved because of the mass market's dissatisfaction with the significantly smaller images that previous One flagships delivered, or because it finally realized that it was packing an objectively inferior shooter, the company is finally in. With the One M9, we're now looking at a 20-megapixel shooter with f/2.2, 27.8mm lens and a dual LED flash – a significant step-up from the One M8 on paper. In Google's camp, we've got a more standard, 13-megapixel camera with wider, f/2.0, 28mm lens, a ring flash with two LEDs., and an optical stabilization mechanism. Up at the front, with the One M9 we've got a 4-megapixel UltraPixel camera with f/2.0 lens, while Google went for something more budget-friendly – an unimpressive, 2-megapixel selfie snapper.
The first major difference between the two shooters that you're bound to notice are the contrasting aspect ratio in which the two snap pictures in – 10:7 with the One M9, and 4:3 with the Nexus 6. But that's far from where the dissimilarities end

Battery life

Disappointing showing for the One M9

While HTC's last two flagships didn't top the charts with their battery life, they certainly performed well nevertheless. With the One M9, we're looking at a slightly increased capacity, which now clocks in at 2,840 mAh. As for the Google Nexus 6, the XXL-sized body allowed Motorola to fit in a large, 3,220 mAh juicer with Qi wireless charging built-in.

Neither of the two devices are chart-toppers, but the Nexus 6 fares far better in our grueling custom battery life test. With a score of 7 hours and 53 minutes, the phablet outdoes HTC's flagship, which clocked 6 hours and 25 minutes, and significantly. Considering its predecessor, the One M8, managed 7 hours 12 minutes with a smaller cell, one has to wonder if Qualcomm's controversial Snapdragon 810 is to blame.

Conclusion

The verdict? We're tempted to say the Nexus 6 had an easy time, but the reality is that so long as aesthetics guide consumers' purchasing decisions, HTC's One line will continue resonating well with buyers. In such a scenario, Google's device strikes us as the more logical pick for the power user crowd, especially the phablet-loving part of it, but not necessarily the masses' favorite.