You may want to take that HTC One M9 overheating report with a big grain of salt

According to a report that surfaced earlier today from Dutch website Tweakers, the HTC One M9 running the popular benchmarking app GFXBench suffers from significant overheating issues. The website measured the One M9 along with various other high-end devices through a thermal camera, and reported each of the device’s temperatures. The One M9 became significantly hotter than all the other handsets, reaching up to extreme temperatures of 55.4 degrees Celsius, or just over 131 degrees Fahrenheit. In the image provided, no other handset even comes close to the One M9’s numbers. Take a look at the image below for more information.

The report states that these high temperatures were reached only when running the benchmark app. When playing games like Asphalt 8 and Assassin’s Creed: Pirates, the temperature stayed around 42.5 degrees Celsius.

The reasoning behind this overheating issue? Most notably, the One M9 is running on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 processor, which hasn’t exactly gotten the best track record for its performance since its release. Samsung ultimately decided to pass on the processor with the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge handsets, possibly due to overheating issues that the processor has been rumored to have.

Comparatively, a few reports have also stated that the Snapdragon 810 doesn’t cause any overheating issues whatsoever. Anandtech tested the chip, and essentially said there were no overheating issues to be found. Now, of course the processor will run differently when its performing in different handsets, so the claims against overheating issues in this instance with the One M9 don’t really stand up.

Before we get too far ahead of ourselves on the processor overheating issues, there are a few other variables that come in to play. For starters, the HTC One M9 hasn’t been released yet. The handset in the test was not running even close to final software, which likely plays a big part in its overheating troubles. HTC recently delayed the launch of the One M9 in Taiwan to make some last minute software adjustments. While there’s no information on the software fixes it’s receiving, HTC is obviously still working on the handset to ensure the device’s stability.

The last thing we need to think about is the feasibility of this data. A metal device reaching temperatures of over 131 degrees could be dangerous to the human skin, and would likely be unbearable to hold for an extended period of time. By no means am I saying that the benchmark scores are inaccurate or that the temperature is wrong. But what I am saying is that HTC probably wouldn’t release a handset that overheats this much. They’ve been testing this device for months with the exact same chipset, and have presumably made adjustments where they see fit. Especially given the company’s financial standpoint in the mobile division, you’d think HTC wouldn’t overlook an issue this major.

The device we get in our hands in a few weeks will undoubtably be different from the device Tweakers is using in their report. And although the website’s findings coincide with just about everything we’ve been hearing about the Snapdragon 810, we need to withhold our judgement until we actually get our hands on the consumer-ready devices.

HTC to announce some “BIG” One M9 news for U.S. customers on Wednesday

We may have given you a ton of information on the HTC One M9 so far, but there’s still much more to talk about. According to Jason Mackenzie, President of HTC America, residents of the United States will get some ‘BIG’ HTC One M9 news this coming Wednesday.

Going to be an exciting week. In addition to NCAA tourney, HTC has a BIG announcement for US customers on Wednesday. #HTCOneM9

— Jason Mackenzie (@JasonMacHTC) March 16, 2015

So, what could it be? Perhaps the biggest piece of information HTC left out of its announcement was the phone’s availability. While multiple U.S. carriers announced that they’ll eventually carry the One M9 sometime in “early Spring”, we haven’t gotten any information beyond that.

During the announcement on Wednesday, it wouldn’t surprise us to see pricing and availability information for the “Big Four” (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint). In addition, we may also see more information on unlocked and developer edition devices that will be sold through HTC’s website. These variants allow users to easily purchase devices without having to buy from the carrier, making the whole process much smoother for users looking to avoid carrier bloatware.

This is all just speculation for now, though we’re pretty sure it’s about time for HTC to unveil some availability info. Are there any U.S. customers waiting to buy the One M9?

HTC releases promotional videos for its One M9

The new HTC One M9 is packed full of features, including a new front and rear camera, updated BoomSound speakers with Dolby sound, new apps, and not forgetting the latest version of HTC’s Sense software. In case you missed anything, HTC has uploaded its own promotional videos for the One M9, which cover all of the big features.

Here we go:

What do you think about HTC’s latest advertising campaign? Does the One M9 have all the features that you’re looking for in a smartphone?

HTC One M9 release delayed for last minute software fixes in Taiwan

HTC delayed the release of the One M9 in Taiwan in order to apply last minute changes to the phone’s software package.

The One M9’s world debut was scheduled for today, but Taiwanese customers who pre-ordered the device were told by text message that the launch would be delayed to March 20, according to a report from Focus Taiwan. That’s for the 32GB model – the 64GB model should be released by the end of the month, according to the text messages.

HTC confirmed that it delayed the release of the M9 in its home market, in order to provide “the latest version of software.” The company has not specified when it plans to start selling the device.

For now, it doesn’t look like this delay will affect the release date of the One M9 in other countries. HTC typically introduces new flagship devices in Taiwan first, with staged rollouts to other countries over the following weeks and months. Given the rather small delay in Taiwan, it’s likely that HTC will be able to iron out any issues in time for the M9’s release in North America and Europe.

A recent leak from retailer B&H Electronics suggests the One M9 would start shipping in the US from March 25, starting from $649 for the 32GB version.

If we were to guess what issues have caused the delay, we’d venture to point towards the camera. The M9’s camera, and in particular its low light performance, was one of the few negative aspects that Josh singled out after spending time with the One M9 ahead of MWC. HTC may also be trying to apply last minute performance improvements, bug fixes, and final tweaks to the M9’s software experience.

64GB HTC One M9 confirmed during Taiwan launch

Following the official unveiling of the One M9 at MWC, the company held another event in Taiwan to announce the launch date in the country. The One M9 will go on sale in Taiwan on March 16^th, with the rest of the world to follow shortly afterwards.

HTC has already dished out the specifications and we’ve been hearing a few leaks about the price, but in Taiwan HTC’s Dong Junliang also confirmed that there will be two variants of the M9, each with different storage options. The 32GB model, which was already confirmed, is to be joined by a 64GB internal memory option, both of which also come with microSD card slots for an additional 128GB of space.

As for pricing, the 32GB One M9 will cost 21,900 TWD (roughly $693), while the 64GB will retail for 23,900 TWD (approximately $756), so there isn’t a huge price gap between the two. HTC did not confirm if the 64GB model will be made available in other regions, but we did see two options appear globally with M8.

Has double the internal memory made the HTC One M9 more appealing, or do storage options not matter so much in smartphones that have a large microSD capacity?