The hotly-anticipated HTC One M9 is finally official, boasting impressive specs and features all around, but is it a big enough improvement compared to its predecessor?

Last year's flagship HTC One M8 was widely considered one of the best smartphones on the market and many still see it as a real powerhouse. The new-generation flagship One M9 naturally packs a number of neat improvements, so here's a brief comparison between the two.

Design

The new One M9 sports the same design language HTC fans have become accustomed to, as it looks nearly identical to the One M8. In other words, those who loved the design of the HTC One M8 will love the design of the new iteration as well, while those hoping to see something different may find themselves disappointed.

The HTC One M9 is also very similar in size to the One M8, albeit it's slightly shorter and narrower. At the same time, the One M9 has more pronounced edges, more reminiscent of the older One M7.

The biggest design difference, however, can be noticed on the rear camera. The new One M9 has a square camera module that's slightly protruding as to fit the larger sensor, and has no accompanying depth sensor as found on the One M8. Moreover, the HTC One M9 also has the power button relocated to the right side now, as opposed to the top as found on the One M8.

Display

In this department, sadly for some, the HTC One M9 sports no difference compared to its predecessor. The new-generation flagship has an identical display to the One M8, meaning the same 5-inch screen with a full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels.

Hardware specs

The HTC One M9 comes with a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 octa-core processor, with four 2GHz Cortex-A57 cores and four 1.5GHz Cortex-A53 cores, paired with a hefty 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage capacity, expandable via microSD.

Last year's flagship One M8, meanwhile, came with a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor clocked at 2.3GHz and paired with 2GB of RAM.

Not only does the One M9's processor boast double the number of cores, but it's also easier on the battery thanks to heterogeneous computing. The four Cortex-A57 cores and the four 1.5GHz Cortex-A53 will work simultaneously, and Android will choose the best core combinations to be utilized for various tasks.

Speaking of tasks, the new HTC One M9 should deliver a blazing-fast and smooth performance thanks to the 64-bit Lollipop and 64-bit Snapdragon power combo, albeit it remains to be seen whether Qualcomm's chip really has issues with overheating.

As for the battery unit, the HTC One M9 packs a 2,840 mAh battery, while the One M8 features a smaller 2,600 mAh unit.

Camera

The new HTC One M9 sports some big changes in the camera department compared to its predecessor. More specifically, the new flagship now comes with a 20-megapixel rear camera instead of the 4-megapixel UltraPixel shooter found on the One M8, and it doesn't feature the Duo depth sensor of the One M8, as previously mentioned. The 20-megapixel rear shooter of the One M9 has an f/2.2 aperture, a sapphire lens cover, 4K video recording capabilities, and a slew of neat features so users can capture high-quality photos.

On the front, the HTC One M9 has an UltraPixel camera with an f/2.0 aperture, 26.8mm lens, 1080p video recording capabilities, and other features found on the UltraPixel rear shooter of the One M8.

Software

The new HTC One M9 comes with Android 5.0 Lollipop out of the box, with the latest HTC Sense 7.0 on top. Software improvements include an enhanced app launcher, Blinkfeed integration into the lock screen, complete with contextual updates, and a new Theming app that aims to deliver a more appealing visual experience.

Conclusion

All in all, the HTC One M9 is a new and improved flagship, boasting some notable improvements over its predecessor. It has a more powerful processor, more RAM, and a new camera, among the highlights, which should attract plenty of HTC fans. If you don't need the extra horsepower, however, the HTC One M8 may suffice, as it's still an impressive smartphone.