HTC has just announced an update to its One M8 phone from last year, under the entirely logical moniker of the HTC One M9.
So what's new? What's not so new? And is this the handset that restores HTC to its former status as Android's leading light, a position long ago ceded to Samsung.
Read on to find out. Or head to the foot of the page where you can watch our exclusive hands on video.
Design
HTC has reworked the design of the HTC One M9. It's now shorter, thinner than the M8 and weighs in three grams lighter.
The rear does protrude a little, with a bit of a bevel, which is down to the need to accommodate a better camera with a higher megapixel count.
It still has that trademark all-metal body, which wraps around the entire frame and has now been mimicked by everyone from Apple to Samsung.
HTC has perhaps started another trend, in adding two-tone colours to the actual frame. This is said to have been inspired by watches, such as the Montblanc range.
The different colours available at launch are the familiar looking gun-metal grey, which is now slightly darker - only with silver sides.
There's also a silver variant, with subtle rose gold coloured sides. This will be the lead model this year. And finally, there's a gold version.
HTC has told us that it wants to the phone to look good on day 221, as it did on day one. And to that end, it has added a scratch-resistant coating to the rear.
It's an improvement we feel was very much needed. At uSwitch Towers, we have experience of how the M8 could easily be scratched.
The attempt to make the phone more hard-wearing extends to the camera, with a robust sapphire glass lens.
Elsewhere, there are minor tweaks to the design, such as the relocation of the power button from the top to the side.
Once again, it's an HTC innovation that's been adopted by rivals.
The overall design improvements build on from the HTC One M7 and One M8. The only downside is that we can't help thinking it lacks a little hardware innovation. More of which later.
Software
HTC Sense, which sits on top of Android Lollipop, enters its seventh iteration in the One M9.
The big difference this time around is that Sense 7 is all about personalisation, from the way it looks to the apps that show up.
This starts with the addition of a theme generator, with access to tons of themes from HTC.
These offer different wallpapers and sounds and deeper levels of personalisation too, with icons, fonts, skins, clocks and caller ID all available in the HTC theme store.
You can create your own themes too.
Or the One M9 can analyse pictures you've taken and suggest different colour options of on new themes, with new fonts, and everything throughout the system - all based around your photo.
This can then be edited, for you to create an entirely bespoke theme.
HTC told us that the lock screen photo is the most customised screen on handset, but that personal touch is lost when users drill down into app menus or other screens.
However, with the HTC One M9 the idea is that the lock screen picture can be experienced throughout the device.
The new ethos of increased scope for personalisation is also seen in this new ‘location aware’ features, which extend beyond the usefulness of Google Now.
HTC Home is a new app launcher to Sense, which caters for your needs in different locations, providing different apps on the home screen as determined by your usage habits.
So for the sake of example, if you're at home the TV remote launcher will automatically be on the launcher – for control of the TV.
But when you're in the office, that icon will be replaced by email, which you're more likely to make use of.
It seems a great way to have a non-cluttered screen at all times, with only the apps you really want, when you want them.
Blinkfeed will also present pictures you've taken at a location, if you are nearby. And you'll even get a notification when the sun is setting.
HTC has also addressed the issue of viewing your pictures from multiple locations. In its new One Gallery app, you can access your pictures on Dropbox, Google Drive, Flickr and Facebook in a single location.
It syncs all pictures from the above, creating a thumbnail of each shot. This allows you to see them all and search by image, tag and by gallery.
Updates are also present in the picture-editing software, offering the ability to create prismatic effects, double expose, merge two pics together and much more.
All in all, the M9's software has seen some enhancements worthy of a new version of HTC Sense and these will undoubtedly, be coming to the M8
Hardware
The One M9 packs a 5-inch 1080p display, the same one found in the M8, which offers a good, sharp picture but it isn’t outstanding.
This a little disappointing in view of other manufacturers opting for higher QuadHD/2K screens, such as the LG G3 and Samsung Note 4.
HTC has switched around the 4MP UltraPixel camera from the back of the M8 to the front of the M9.
Helpfully, the front-facer lets in 300 per cent more light than other snappers. Ideal for all those selfies, usually taken in low lighting locations.
Supporting this camera is an ‘auto exposure’ algorithm. HTC claims this mimics the human eye and captures not just a single exposure, but multiple exposures at once.
It will also adjust different aspects of the picture to make sure you get every detail of the shot - working on the colour saturation and gammas.
This function extends to the main camera, which is now 20 megapixels. That puts it on par with Sony, Nokia and Samsung's recent smarties.
The front-facing BoomSound stereo speakers in the M8 brought in an equaliser, offering better sound quality than we'd seen before on handsets.
The One M9 goes one better by bringing Dolby Audio into BoomSound, delivering a richer, deeper audio experience whether you're listening through the speakers or thorough the audio jack.
Want to easily export music to a remote speaker? You can now do that with HTC Connect.
In a similar way to casting video, with a three-finger gesture, you can use Connect to simply swipe music off to a Bluetooth speaker.
This even works with the other protocols used in the market, such as Qualcomm's AllShare and Harman Kardon and Blackfire.
It is even possible to play multiple tracks on different speakers in different rooms - and have other HTC device owners cue-up tracks
Making all this happen is the new Octa-core Qualcomm 810 processor, as well as 3GB of RAM, 32GB of on-board storage expandable to 128GB and 100GB of Google Drive storage.
Battery life has been increased from the HTC One M8, with the cells going from 2600mAh to 2840mAh.
No details have been shared on its longevity, but expect it to be a provide a substantial increase on the M8's battery's 496 hours standby, and 20 hours talktime on a single, full charge.
Accessories
The DotView case has been rethought for its a second coming and now offers a clear back that shows off the One M9's design.
With this, are some additions to the software, such as scrolling text and playable games, all through the case.
There will also be an IP68 case on available, making the phone almost waterproof, even though it isn’t natively on par with the likes of Samsung or Sony phones.
Conclusion
HTC has made some improvements from the M8, most notably the inclusion of the rear-facing 20-megapixel camera.
We are unsure if it’s worthy of a whole new number as a release, and shouldn’t just be called HTC One M8s or One M8 Plus.
Then again, Sony, for some years has proffered new phones that are only incremental improvements over their predecessors and billed them as new generation devices, so maybe we're being a bit unfair to HTC.
What's really missing for us is a 2K screen, when the likes of LG and Samsung have moved on to this standard, leaving HTC to play catch up – as it had to with the rear camera, until now.
Check out our HTC hands-on video below
