HTC One M9?

[brookline]

Hi everyone,
My iPhone is nearly dead & I'm seeking a more frugal alternative that can do the same stuff. I found my iPhone difficult to repair or even replace a battery & saw that the HTC might be relatively easy to fix/maintain. I'm looking closely at the HTC One M9. Does this seem like a good frugal choice? Any thoughts? I saw some alarming reviews on amazon in terms of hardware & software issues.

[C40]

Check out this phone: BLU R1 HD. Login with an Amazon Prime and get the one with ads. It's only $60. I bought one a couple months ago and I like it a lot. The hardware is probably every bit as good as you need on a phone. I had an iPhone 6 before. I wouldn't pay over $120 for ANY phone on earth right now when I can get one of these for $60.

I had a $50 LG before. It's hardware wasn't as good and the phone regularly annoyed me. The BLU never annoys me.

[brookline]

Hi C40,
Thanks for your response. I took a quick peek at the phone. I'm concerned it has insufficient storage & RAM. Can you or someone else recommend a phone that is easy to DIY fix, permits DIY memory upgrades, & would let me run memory-intensive apps?

[BRUTE]

brute would be surprised if any modern HTC was easy to DIY fix. the M9 is also quite old, isn't it? wouldn't that make it slow as well?

[C40]

Hi C40,
Thanks for your response. I took a quick peek at the phone. I'm concerned it has insufficient storage & RAM.

The storage is expandable with a micro SD. Up to 64gb I believe. Do you need more than that? I've found the RAM plenty enough for anything I think is reasonable on a phone, plus some games on top of that. What apps do you use that are really memory intensive?

Can you or someone else recommend a phone that is easy to DIY fix, permits DIY memory upgrades, & would let me run memory-intensive apps?

No. I don't think phones are generally designed to be upgraded or even maintained much. AFAIK, Batteries are about the only thing expected to be replaced.

[distracted_at_work]

I've had the M9 for the past 12 months so I feel I could speak to this.

It gets warm if in use for an extended period of time. I use the SD slot for 64 gb card that holds all my music. The camera is decent but nothing to write home about. Overall I'm happy with it. I bought mine used on Kijiji (Canadian Craigslist). I'm not sure how old the model is but I haven't noticed a decrease in performance in the time I've owned it.

Android is my preferred operating system so if you are coming from an iPhone I think you will be happy.

I use the Nova Launcher which is an app that changes the layout of the phone. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND. You will notice a significant speed up in the phone and a longer lasting battery as it removes a lot of the annoying default settings.

[brookline]

I've had the M9 for the past 12 months so I feel I could speak to this.
It gets warm if in use for an extended period of time. I use the SD slot for 64 gb card that holds all my music. The camera is decent but nothing to write home about. Overall I'm happy with it. I bought mine used on Kijiji (Canadian Craigslist). I'm not sure how old the model is but I haven't noticed a decrease in performance in the time I've owned it.
Android is my preferred operating system so if you are coming from an iPhone I think you will be happy.
I use the Nova Launcher which is an app that changes the layout of the phone. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND. You will notice a significant speed up in the phone and a longer lasting battery as it removes a lot of the annoying default settings.

Hi Distracted,
Thanks very much. This is really helpful! I appreciate your recommendation about the Nova Launcher app. That sounds really valuable.