Rant

[GeoffBot]

I'm not really enjoying this phone. Issues:

The only keyboard that I really like is the stock one, which worked just fine on my m7, but doesn't work on the m9 - it's laggy, inaccurate (despite calibration): I end up type 'O am here' all the time which is infuriating; also it reverts to non-trace, non-word-complete mode all in loads of apps (instagram, for example) which is just bizarre. I've tried swiftkey, swype etc but they just don't work as well for me.

The screen auto-brightness worked perfectly on my m7 - it's practically useless on the m9 - it's ALWAYS too low, even in broad daylight it never turns up to the max (which is pitifully dim anyway compared to the m7).

The camera looks terrible when you're shooting (though the pictures come out fine, really); it appears to filter smooth the image when viewfinding which is just very odd - looks totally unnatural.

The power button location is silly - I keep getting it confused with the volume button. Screenshot it very hard to get right.

Apparently I have no music on my phone. I've tried all the tips - can't find a .nomedia folder etc. I can only play it through the file explorer - I've tried VLC and the stock media player but no luck.

My alarm was silent this morning - I don't know why. It went off, but didn't make a noise (the volume settings are fine).

Tempted to go back to the m7.

/rant

 

[salmonpincher]

I am really enjoying this phone.

The only keyboard that I really like is the stock one, but it's laggy, I end up typing 'I amhere' all the time which is infuriating; I've tried swiftkey but i dont like the auto space between words if using trace or the number pad.

The screen auto-brightness works fine to me.

The camera doesnt look great on screen, but come out ok - i havent put any images on computer yet to see colour saturation.

The power button location is fine - I dont getting it confused with the volume button. & the Screenshot it easy to get right. - i dont really use the power button to power up, as use double tap on screen

My alarm was silent the other morning - I don't know why. It went off (apparently), but didn't make a noise (the volume settings are fine).

I'm loving this phone, slick design & a cool piece of kit - so much better than my placky kids toy Samsung Galaxy

/rant

I've edited / replied to your post

 

[GeoffBot]

Thanks. Glad you're liking yours!

Edit: how do you lock your screen?

 

[salmonpincher]

i push the power button, or let it time out. i have literally just turned the phone off whilst mid call as my thumb pressed onto the conveniently placed power button! which wasnt clever

screen aut0-brightness - i cant compare an M7 or M8, whereas my galaxy i was always turning down as it burned my retinas at night!

 

[SolApathy]

Answer to fix everything- Root your M9 and customize to your hearts content. You could even edit the power button behavior to avoid accidental presses.

 

[HenryKrinkle]

I agree 100% with regard to the auto-brightness (and brightness in general, for that matter) and the camera. The pictures may be fine but it's hard to tell due to the dimness of the screen. And I'm afraid to turn auto-brightness off due to the battery. Had I not come from the M8 these things probably wouldn't appear so prominent. It's a great phone and I don't regret buying it (yet) but I'm not sure it's an improvement on the M8.

 

[SolApathy]

I run on max brightness (no-auto) all day. I use the pull down menu to drop it to 2 bars of brightness in the evening and never run into battery issues

 

[EarlyMon]

Did the M9 pick up adaptive auto brightness (Android standard now)?

Unlike the old auto brightness, the adaptive auto brightness takes the brightness setting and then gives a general adjustment around that point.

Iow, old way => set constant mid or lower brightness at your desk, switch to auto brightness to walk around or go outside, and the phone would adjust to full brightness as needed.

Adaptive auto brightness, same example => switch on auto while set to mid or lower, and that's going to limit the brightness to that setting, plus or minus a little bit.

I have no idea whatsoever why Google thought that would be a good idea, but the complaints here suggest maybe it's possible that's what happened here.

Something to check out.

Has confused the heck out of others, especially the LG owners who were the first afflicted with it as far as I recall.

 

[GeoffBot]

I tried the above, @EarlyMon and it does hit full brightness in broad daylight, but it's still dim in low light.

Just to add the wifi signal that the m9 receives seems much weaker than it was on the m7, and it doesn't seem to switch the 3/4g when it's low (even though I have the setting checked) like the m7 did.

I'll add that I'm an HTC fan - I had the Legend, the Sentsation, and the m7 and liked them all a lot; the m9 just seems to have some flaws - I'm not bashing it for fun.

What did the new camera update do?

Cheers

 

[EarlyMon]

The first camera update improved quality, the second one added raw image support.

I've often railed on about HTC compression ruining photo quality (I've had camera mods on M8 to reduce that and also shoot raw - it definitely makes a big difference).

If you're into raw photography and want even more control over reducing photo noise and exposure options, try "FreeDCam"

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=troop.com.freedcam

You'll need to process DNG to jpg or tiff separately with FreeDCam, there are apps for that.