The first time we held the HTC One M9+, we weren't sure if it was a new phone or not. It seemed a dead ringer for its predecessor, the M8. Then we looked closely and found the home button-cum-fingerprint scanner below the screen, which splits the bottom stereo speaker into two.
Then we noticed a few more things. While the unibody design of last year's flagship is retained, some subtle changes have been made. On the right is the nanoSIM slot, below which is the volume rocker (split into two) and the power/lock button. On the left is the microSD slot. The top edge is covered by the infrared blaster, while the bottom edge has the microUSB and headphones port.
The front face is dominated by the 5.2-inch QHD screen, with the four-megapixel (MP) front camera on top of it, next to the notification LED and speaker grille. The home button/fingerprint scanner sits just below the monogram. The rest of the face is devoid of buttons.
The back face has the Duo Camera, with an LED flash. But for the second lens on top (the Duo Camera set-up has two lenses), the back panel seems identical to that of the M8.
Switching on we come across HTC Sense 7 running on top of Android Lollipop. It is set up in a jiffy, though the phone does heat up during the process. A special shout out to HTC for the smooth process to set up the fingerprint scanner.
The screen looks crystal clear and sharp, even in direct sunlight. Reading on the Kindle app in the direct sun was enjoyable (the reading, not the summer sun!). The dual lenses are a good aid to focus on shots with depth while the front cam takes selfies in detail. The sound is also quite loud.
The nearly identical design notwithstanding, the HTC One M9+ impresses. The price, however, hurts.
