HTC One A9 Review: Unlocked With Android Marshmallow
HTC One A9: Final Thoughts
HTC’s One A9 has a lot of good features including an attractive design, expandable storage, and the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow. However, after perusing through our benchmarks, you’ll quickly notice the One A9 isn’t a chart-topper. If you’re using this phone for everyday tasks like browsing the web, checking email, and making calls, you probably won’t have any complaints about the One A9’s speed. Benchmarks are an indicator of relatively performance versus other device, but not necessarily on the user experience, and using the One A9 proved to be enjoyable. On the other hand, if you’re a hard-core handheld gamer you may want to look at a more powerful handset.
We appreciate the detail HTC put into the One A9's design. The phone has sleek design elements and attractive color options as well as a vibrant 5-inch AMOLED display. The microSD expansion slot is another positive feature of the One A9, particularly since it’s an option some manufacturers are choosing to leave out these days.
The rear-facing 13-megapixel camera has a lot of good features, including the ability to shoot in RAW mode and a neat Hyperlapse video feature. In our tests, images weren’t quite as sharp as we would have preferred and low-light situations often showed noise and/or camera shake. Image quality isn't class leading, but it's perfectly acceptable for social media sharing and the like. HTC has also included an UltraPixel front-facing camera to help you capture good selfies, if that's your thing.
Although the battery life of the One A9 wasn't very good, we’re glad to see HTC has utilized Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 2.0 technology to help you power up more quickly. The One A9 is also forward compatible with Quick Charge 3.0.
All in all, the One A9 has a nice, premium design and a gorgeous display, but its mid-range internal hardware combined with the somewhat small battery and higher than we expected price tag leave us wanting more. If the phone was more competitively priced (currently $499 but previously $399), and the rear facing camera took better shots, we’d be more willing to overlook its low-end performance in the benchmarks and other issues. The One A9 does offer acceptable mainstream performance for an average user in the market for an unlocked device, it's just that there are likely more competitive alternatives in its current price range.
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