Welcome back to another round of Mobile Madness. Today’s match-up features the HTC One M9 and the Microsoft Lumia 950 XL. Where will your vote go?
We know that the HTC One M9 is nearing the end of its life cycle, as HTC has already begun teasing its successor’s arrival. The One M9 still has a lot to offer. HTC has always kept its OS skin to a minimum with Sense and the hardware is certainly one of my favorite designs, even if we’ve seen similar iterations of it. Clean, smooth, and metallic, even before metallic was trendy. The display is 1080, and in the world of 2K and 4K displays, doesn’t really play nicely. However, I could make the argument of whether we NEED 4K displays on 5-inch screens. 1080P is just fine in most cases. The camera? I don’t love it. But it isn’t the worst. As far HTC phones are concerned this is the company’s best, so far.
What about the Lumia 950 XL? You know I’m one of the few people that really like what Windows Phone has to offer. The apps are still lacking, but with Windows 10, Microsoft swears we’ll see more apps enter the ecosystem. We’ll see. Continuum is a really strong selling point. Is that a computer in your pants? Yes, well sort of. Windows Hello is pretty much the coolest unlocking tool around, be it on a phone or PC. It is so quick and who needs fingerprints when you really just have to face something for half a second. If Microsoft sticks with mobile devices, I’m excited to see what else is around the corner.
Check out the galleries, specs, and coverage below, and submit your votes. Have fun!
HTC One M9
The HTC One M9 is a great phone, but it’s so much of the same. In a lot of ways, this is almost like a One M8+, which would be fine, except we essentially saw this same device when the M7 came out two years ago, too. The specs are better, and HTC added some neat software tricks. However, if you were looking for a major upgrade over last year’s model, you won’t find it here, especially if you plan on cozying up with a lengthy contract.
That said, I’m not upset the hardware hasn’t changed, though I would prefer a home button with fingerprint sensor rather than BoomSound speakers. The two-tone color scheme does give the M9 a more elegant look, and the brushed aluminum and flatter sides means it’s not quite as slippery as last year’s M8. Good news if you don’t use a case on your device. But the strong design is no longer a standout feature when many of the top OEMs have their own aluminum wonders… read more
Lumia 950 XL
The phone felt really light in the hand — you can tell it’s made out of polycarbonate and not a really strong metal, but that’s fine. It packs a ton of power, including a water-cooled processor (a Snapdragon 810), which itself is enough to make the inner geek in me excited for its launch, a 20-megapixel camera, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage and a microSD card slot for adding more.
I really love Windows Hello and how the iris scanner on the front of the phone can identify the user and automatically unlock the device without any need for a fingerprint sensor. And I love that Microsoft is sticking by with its dedicated camera button, which I wish more manufacturers would continue to add… read more
HTC One M9 |
Microsoft Lumia 950 XL |
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| Display Size | 5-inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel display (441 ppi) | 5.7-inch, 2560 x 1440 pixel display (515 ppi) | ||
| Display Type | N/A | QHD AMOLED | ||
| Operating System | Android 5.0 (at launch) | Windows 10 (at launch) | ||
| Processor | 2.2 GHz Quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 | Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 | ||
| RAM | 3GB | N/A | ||
| Storage |
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| External Storage | Yes | Yes | ||
| External Storage Specs |
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| Main Camera (Back) | 20MP | 20MP | ||
| Secondary Camera (Front) | HTC UltraPixel | 5MP | ||
| Networks |
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N/A | ||
| Wi-Fi | 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 & 5 GHz) | 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac | ||
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 4.1 | Bluetooth 4.1 | ||
| Battery | 2840mAh | 3340mAh | ||
| NFC | Yes | Yes | ||
| Connectivity |
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| Sensors |
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| GPS |
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| Height | 144.6 mm (5.69 inches) | 151.9 mm (5.98 inches) | ||
| Width | 69.7 mm (2.74 inches) | 78.4 mm (3.09 inches) | ||
| Depth | 9.61 mm (0.38 inches) | 8.1 mm (0.32 inches) | ||
| Weight | 157 g (5.54 oz) | 165 g (5.82 oz) | ||
| Colors | Gold, Grey, Silver, Pink | Black, White | ||
| Supported Audio Formats | .aac, .amr, .ogg, .m4a, .mid, .mp3, .wav, .wma, .flac | N/A | ||
| Supported Video Formats | .3gp, .3g2, .mp4, .wmv, .avi, .mkv | N/A | ||
| Other Features |
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N/A | ||
| In The Box | N/A | Array |
This poll closes within 24 hours (2:00 PM PT, the following day).
*Winners from previous rounds are marked bold.
Play-In
| March 17 | BlackBerry Classic | vs | OnePlus X |
| March 18 | Nexus 6P | vs | Sony Xperia Z5 |
| March 19 | Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge | vs | OnePlus 2 |
| March 20 | Samsung Galaxy Note 5 | vs | HTC One A9 |
| March 21 | Nexus 5X | vs | Sony Xperia Z5 Premium |
| March 22 | iPhone 6S | vs | Microsoft Lumia 950 |
| March 23 | LG G5 | vs | Samsung Galaxy S7 |
| March 24 | iPhone 6S Plus | vs | Nextbit Robin |
| March 25 | HTC One M9 | vs | Microsoft Lumia 950 XL |
Round 1
| March 26 | Motorola Droid Turbo 2 | vs | Winner of March 17 (BlackBerry Classic) |
| March 27 | Winner of March 18 (Nexus 6P) | vs | Winner of March 19 (Galaxy S7 Edge) |
| March 28 | Xiamoi Mi 5 | vs | Winner of March 20 (Galaxy Note 5) |
| March 29 | Winner of March 21 (Xperia Z5 Premium) | vs | BlackBerry Priv |
| March 30 | Huawei Mate 8 | vs | Winner of March 22 (iPhone 6S) |
| March 31 | Winner of March 23 (Galaxy S7) | vs | LG V10 |
| April 1 | Moto X Pure Edition | vs | Winner of March 24 |
| April 2 | Winner of March 25 | vs | Motorola Droid Maxx 2 |
Round 2 – Quarterfinals
| April 3 | Winner of March 26 | vs | Winner of March 27 |
| April 4 | Winner of March 28 | vs | Winner of March 29 |
| April 5 | Winner of March 30 | vs | Winner of March 31 |
| April 6 | Winner of April 1 | vs | Winner of April 2 |
Semi-final Round
| April 7 | Winner of April 3 | vs | Winner of April 4 |
| April 8 | Winner of April 5 | vs | Winner of April 6 |
| April 9 | Winner of April 7 | vs | Winner of April 8 |
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