With the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus now released as of last week, the major mobile manufacturers have all put out their flagship devices for 2014. That means it's time to start looking forward to next year's lineup of high-end phones, and perhaps no phone was more well received this year than the HTC One M8, the followup to last year's highly successful HTC One M7.
So while there aren't many credible rumors yet on what exactly we can expect from next year's HTC One M9, that doesn't mean we can't make educated guesses as to what might be on board. Also, we've been inspired to focus on the HTC One M9 in large part due to the amazing concept renders by Ashik Empro. Check them out below.
Camera Upgrade
One of the weak points of this year's M8 was poor camera performance and HTC knows it. That's why they are re-releasing the M8 next month with an improved camera. The original M8 featured a disappointing 4 megapixel shooter on the rear. According to leaks the new version of the M8 is known internally at HTC as the M8_EYE. It's supposed to feature a new 13 megapixel camera. So, if HTC is adding a 13 MP shooter mid-year to the M8, look for the M9 to have at least as good of a camera when it launches next year, if not better.
QHD
The 2014 HTC One M8 had a great full HD 1920 x 1080 display, but there's no reason to be satisfied with what they achieved with this phone's display, especially when competitors Samsung and LG are already including qHD, or super high definition displays, in their phones. A 2560 x 1440 pixel display is now not out of the ordinary, and it's only a matter of time before 4K displays become the norm; some phone cameras can now shoot video at 4K, so it makes sense that their screen would be able to play those videos back in their native resolution. 4K phone displays might be more common next year than 4K TVs.
A Bigger, Better Battery
Admittedly, the battery life on the HTC One M8 was fine, above average even, but that doesn't mean it can't be improved. Samsung's Galaxy S5 and the Sony Xperia Z2 were two phones that had better battery life than the M8. As every other component in smartphone tech get progressively better, it's not unreasonable to expect the same incremental improvements from their batteries. Getting 1.5 to 2 days of batter life would be outstanding. Here's to hoping HTC makes it happen on the M9.
Thinner Profile
Given the M8's massive height, thanks to its amazing front-facing speakers, it's really a bulky handset. Now, we wouldn't want HTC to sacrifice the M9's speakers one bit by shrinking its height, but making it slightly slimmer than the M8 (9.4 mm) would make it slightly more manageable in one hand, especially for those with smaller hands. By comparison, the GS5 is 8.1 mm thin and the iPhone 6 is 6.9 mm thin.
Sapphire Glass
If HTC can put sapphire glass on the M9 next year, before Apple can put it on their next phone, this would be quite a feat because it would both boost HTC's reputation and simultaneously take some of the wind out of Apple's sails (and sales) when they no doubt include sapphire displays on next year's iPhone. If Apple has proved anything by their dominance in the smartphone market since the iPhone launched in 2007, it's that people are willing to pay more money for the appearance of high-end build quality. So, releasing phones hopefully the One M9) with higher-end compnents than even Apple, HTC could increase its market share dramatically.