 A year ago, HTC released the One M8, the best designed phone from a company that talks an awful lot about design. The One M8 was fast and beautiful, but it had a couple critical flaws. It had a too slippery finish and more importantly, a camera that just couldn't keep pace with the rest of the field. Now, HTC has launched the One M9, a successor to the M8 designed to specifically address those two faults while still keeping the rest of what made last year's phone so great. The One M9 is so similar to the One M8, it's really hard to tell them apart. Both are virtually all aluminum, both have 5-inch 1080p displays that look really great, and both have two front-facing really loud boom sound speakers. Believe it or not, the speakers are even louder this time around. The M9 is a subtle refinement of the M8's design. The sides have sharper edges and the power button has been moved from the top to the side. Even with Samsung's renewed focus on design for the Galaxy S6, HTC is still leading the Android pack in design and manufacturing abilities, and the M9 is both better looking and nicer feeling than Samsung's new models. Despite being so similar to the M8, the M9 is somehow less slippery than before, and it doesn't slide out of my hands as easily. It's slightly shorter and ever so slightly thicker than last year's model, yet it doesn't really feel any different in my hands or in my pockets. The power button on the side is much easier to reach than when it was on the top, but it's too easily confused with the volume buttons. The M9 is a new color option, it's a two-tone silver and gold finish that has more shine than the dull finishes of last year's model. HTC compares it to jewelry, but I really wouldn't go that far, it still looks like a gadget to me. If you're like me and you're not really a fan of that two-tone look, HTC is offering all gold, black, and even pink options as alternatives. But what everyone really wants to know about the One M9 is if the camera is actually any better this time around. This year the low-resolution ultra pixel camera and gimmicky dual lens system have been swapped for a more traditional 20 megapixel camera on the back of the phone. That ultra pixel camera is actually still here, it's just on the front of the M9, and it works pretty well for low-light selfies. Sadly, the main camera is a disappointment. It opens, focuses, and takes pictures quickly enough, and it has the resolution that the M8 lacked. But it just doesn't take great photos in medium to low-light conditions, and those are the areas when you're taking the most photos with your phone. There's just so much noise, noise reduction, ugly color casts, and unpleasant blooming in the highlights. It feels more like a camera from a smartphone in 2011 than a 2015 flagship. HTC's camera software is actually great to use, it gives you a lot of control over things like exposure and white balance, but the end photo result is just bad. The camera was the one thing I wish was better in the M8, but in many instances it's actually worse on the M9. Last year's M8 was a fast phone, but the M9 is a whole other level. It's easily the fastest Android phone I've ever used, I never have to wait for apps to load or home screens to redraw themselves. That's largely thanks to the new Snapdragon 810 processor and 3GB of RAM, both of which are upgrades over last year's model. HTC's software that sits on Android 5.0 Lollipop is also quick, it's a new version of Sense that looks largely the same as before. The big differences here are a new theming engine, you can customize things like your fonts, icons, wallpapers, sounds, and more with downloadable packs, or even from a picture that you take. And then there's this new home screen widget that tracks your location and tries to predict which apps you'll use when you're home, at work, or out and about. The theming feature is neat, it's fun to play with, and it's more comprehensive than I expected, but that smart widget just isn't particularly useful. It took a long time to learn my habits, and it includes a folder of suggested apps that were completely irrelevant to my interests. Fortunately you could just trash that widget or use another contextual predictive launcher that worked better to achieve the same effect. HTC's other software features such as BlinkFeed and Zoe are present and just as easily ignored this time around. There's a new photo editor, it's got various effects and filters, but it's not really any better or different from popular third party apps. The M9's battery is slightly larger than the M8's, but in my experience the phone's stamina was just about the same as last year. It goes anywhere from 14 to 20 hours depending on my usage, and it's enough to get me through an entire day, but not really much more. It doesn't have the long battery life of larger phablets, but if you're accustomed to charging your smartphone every night anyways, it'll get the job done. And that really sums up the M9. It's a beautifully designed phone that's built well, performs well, is a pleasure to use, and takes really lousy photos. It's virtually the same story as last year, which is not only a disappointment, but it won't do anything to improve HTC's position against the rest of the field. With Samsung finally paying attention to design, and the iPhone 6 taking better photos than most point and shoot cameras can do, it's hard to see how HTC's effort is going to make much of a difference. Perhaps next year they'll figure it out, but it didn't happen this time around.