9 Reasons You'll Want the HTC One M9

The new HTC One M9 is a very subtle, but important upgrade to last year's all-metal One (M8). As Samsung pounds down its gauntlet into the all-metal Android phonesphere, HTC needed to come out at MWC with some big advances or risk Nokia-ing-out altogether.

To be sure, the M9 isn't as bold an update as rival Samsung's Galaxy S6 (let alone the multi-paned edge iteration), but it is a step forward all the same. For this year's update, HTC kept all of the One M8's best features and added some of its own—both in hardware and in software.

If you are looking for a new Android phone, these nine features (one for each "M?") just might be enough to sway your dollars over to the sleek, sexy M9.

Click though our slideshow for the nine coolest features in HTC's latest flagship.

1. Much Better Cameras

"Ultrapixels" were a brave try, but four of them just weren't enough to go into the main camera of a flagship phone. So HTC swapped the bright, 4-"ultrapixel" camera over to the front, where it will enhace low-light selfies, and put a more detailed 20-megapixel camera on the back.

2. Sapphire Camera Lens

The 20-megapixel camera bumps out from the body a little, so HTC covered it with sapphire glass to prevent scratches.

3. Community Themes

HTC is building a library of themes that completely change the personality of the phone. These themes change not only fonts and icon styles, but icon shapes and even the action buttons at the bottom of the screen. That makes the M9 more customizable (for non-geeks) than most other phones.

4. Selfie Themes

If you take a picture of yourself, it restyles the phone with colors that go with your wardrobe. Yeah, sure, that's frivolous. It's also fun, stylish, personal, unique, and easy.

5. Location-Enabled Custom Widget

HTC’s location-enabled widget shows the apps you most commonly use at home, at work, and on the go, based on your GPS location. That’s a good start. But HTC also intends to tie it into a points-of-interest database, so you’ll get tip calculators in a restaurant, train schedules on the platform, and Waze on the road.

6. Localized Lock Screen

HTC’s BlinkFeed app and its lock screen react to your location and the time of day. So at dinner time, you’ll see Yelp reviews of tasty meals near you.

7. MicroSD Card Slot

The One M9 manages to keep an expandable memory option in a metal unibody device. That means you can buy a 32GB model and jazz it up with a 64GB or 128GB card for much less than you’d probably pay for a phone with that much integrated storage.

8. BoomSound

Front-facing BoomSound speakers have been a mainstay of the HTC One line since the M7. In this case, HTC didn't mess with success, and the M9's front-facing speakers are still louder and richer than the competition's.

9. All-Metal Body

Another case of not messing with success, HTC kept the all-metal body from the M8. The M9 doesn't have a perfectly smooth side, though - there's a bit of a lip around the edge to allow for the two-tone, silver and gold treatment.