HTC One M9 update promises fixes to phone’s troubled camera

Let alone what you know about HTC’s previous two phones and look objectively for a moment at the One M9. It’s beautiful – stunning even – with dual-toned metal framing a high-resolution screen, high-capacity battery and 20MP camera, all running Android 5.0.2 with one of the most bearable Android skins around, Sense 7.0. Sounds pretty good, right?

But all hasn’t been well with the One M9. First, it was accused of overheating, leading to a software update that while turning down its thermal output also heavily impacted its processing power. Then, its 20MP Toshiba sensor and F2.2 lens was found to be underwhelming, with poor colour output, terrible dynamic range, laughable subject tracking and unfortunate low-light performance.

Since then, the company has been working hard to fix many of those mistakes – the ones that can be fixed with software updates, at least. A new build rolling out to One M9 units in Asia and parts of Europe has tweaks for the photo processing in the camera app:

• Greater auto-exposure balance algorithm to improve overall dynamic range, so images appear more detailed and balanced, especially in bright light conditions
• Additional improvements for pictures taken in low light, so images are clearer, detail is more apparent, and colors appear truer to life

There are also battery improvements:

• Overall improvements to battery life, which reduce power consumption by YouTube, Facebook, and other popular social apps like Skype and Google Hangouts, so you can watch more videos or have video chats with your loved ones for longer periods of time
• Improved smart charging, so your phone stays cooler while it’s being charged

HTC says the update will come to the North American HTC One M9 SKUs “within the month,” though it’s unclear when carriers will roll it out in Canada.

[source]HTC[/source]