HTC One E9+ review: Positive charge

Positive charge

GSMArena team, 26 June 2015.

Synthetic benchamrks

Unlike the One M9, which is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810, the rest of this year's Ones, including the E9+, rely on the Mediatek MT6795 chipset. Also known as Helio X10, this Mediatek SoC is currently the company's top-end solution, at least until the tri-cluster deca-core Helio X20 comes along.

HTC One E9+

The chipset features an octa-core processor, which can be clocked up to 2.2GHz, but in the case of the E9+ clock speed is limited to 2.0GHz. It's what Mediatek calls a True Octa-core architecture - all 8 Cortex-A53 cores can work simultaneously to cover peak performance demands. The processor is joined by a PowerVR G6200 GPU and 3GB of RAM.

GeekBench 3 is a CPU-specific benchmark and unsurprisingly, having 8 processor cores toiling together helps the One E9+ wipe the floor with the S810 competition. It's still no match for the Exynos 7420 inside the Samsung Galaxy S6, which has a quad-core 2.1GHz Cortex-A57 and quad-core 1.5GHz Cortex-A53 processor configuration.

GeekBench 3

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy S6
    5215
  • HTC One E9+
    4796
  • Sony Xperia Z3+ pre-production
    3772
  • HTC One M9
    3761
  • LG G Flex2
    3604
  • LG G4
    3509
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Lollipop
    3394
  • Meizu MX4 Pro
    3386
  • Huawei P8
    3380
  • Motorola Nexus 6
    3285
  • Huawei Ascend Mate7
    3165
  • Xiaomi Mi Note
    3094
  • Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML (Z3580) retail
    2922
  • Apple iPhone 6 Plus
    2884
  • OnePlus One
    2663

Throwing graphics, memory and storage speed into the mix, Antutu is a better indication of overall performance. The scores here are more condensed, with only the Galaxy S6 in a league of its own, and the pre-production Sony Xpeia Z3+ somewhat ahead of the crowd. Other than that the MT6795 is on par with the S810 One M9 and Huawei P8 (Kirin 930), the three marginally better than the LG G4 (S808), Galaxy Note 4 (S805) and highest-specced Asus Zenfone 2 (Intel Atom Z3580).

AnTuTu 5

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy S6
    69396
  • Sony Xperia Z3+ pre-production
    55195
  • HTC One M9
    51427
  • Huawei P8
    50876
  • HTC One E9+
    50753
  • Motorola Nexus 6
    49803
  • LG G4
    49295
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Lollipop
    49273
  • Meizu MX4 Pro
    48489
  • Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML (Z3580) retail
    48361
  • LG G Flex2
    47680
  • Xiaomi Mi Note
    45632
  • Huawei Ascend Mate7
    41510

Basemark OS II 2.0 is another compound benchmark, but one that makes the E9+ look pretty bad compared to rivals. It places towards the bottom of the bunch in the overall score, with only the Huawei P8 a little behind. The E9+ is also trailing in single-core CPU performance. Those 8 cores have their say in the multi-core test though, where the E9+ comes up first.

Basemark OS 2.0

Higher is better

  • LG G Flex2
    1726
  • Samsung Galaxy S6
    1674
  • LG G4
    1584
  • Sony Xperia Z3+ pre-production
    1479
  • HTC One M9
    1365
  • Xiaomi Mi Note
    1353
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Lollipop
    1267
  • Motorola Nexus 6
    1267
  • OnePlus One
    1230
  • HTC One E9+
    1227
  • Huawei P8
    1112
  • Meizu MX4 Pro
    863
  • Huawei Ascend Mate7
    849

Basemark OS 2.0 (single-core)

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy S6
    6306
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Lollipop
    6165
  • Xiaomi Mi Note
    6068
  • LG G4
    5871
  • Motorola Nexus 6
    5624
  • LG G Flex2
    5597
  • OnePlus One
    5108
  • HTC One M9
    4688
  • Sony Xperia Z3+ pre-production
    4370
  • Huawei Ascend Mate7
    4365
  • Huawei P8
    3684
  • HTC One E9+
    3444
  • Meizu MX4 Pro
    3118

Basemark OS 2.0 (multi-core)

Higher is better

  • HTC One E9+
    28201
  • Samsung Galaxy S6
    26799
  • Huawei P8
    23676
  • Huawei Ascend Mate7
    22387
  • Motorola Nexus 6
    21026
  • OnePlus One
    19625
  • LG G Flex2
    18856
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Lollipop
    18386
  • HTC One M9
    18047
  • Xiaomi Mi Note
    17882
  • LG G4
    17739
  • Sony Xperia Z3+ pre-production
    17028
  • Meizu MX4 Pro
    12080

Moving on to graphics performance, it becomes clear what's been dragging the MT6795 down in the compound benchmarks. The PowerVR G6200 is obviously not up to the task and is proving inadequate for the smartphone's high-end aspirations. All the different generations of Adreno GPUs in the Snapdragon series are markedly better.

In Basemark X for example, the One E9+ would have been last among this year's offerings, if wasn't for the even more disappointing Huawei P8 and its Mali-T628 MP4 GPU.

Basemark X

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy S6
    27169
  • Sony Xperia Z3+ pre-production
    23334
  • Motorola Nexus 6
    20901
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Lollipop
    20043
  • HTC One M9
    19848
  • LG G Flex2
    19360
  • Apple iPhone 6 Plus
    18297
  • LG G4
    15090
  • Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML (Z3580) retail
    13414
  • OnePlus One
    13129
  • Xiaomi Mi Note
    13075
  • HTC One E9+
    9639
  • Meizu MX4 Pro
    9111
  • Huawei Ascend Mate7
    6501
  • Huawei P8
    6307

GFXBench tells the same story, only darker. In the offscreen part of the T-Rex test (run at a standardized 1080p resolution) the One E9+ scores only 15fps, which is half of what even the Zenfone 2 manages. The Snapdragon 810 rivals are all in the high 40s, while the Galaxy S6 is alone at the top at 59fps.

In the tougher 3.0 Manhattan test the proportions are similar, and although the Galaxy S6' lead isn't as pronounced, the E9+ is still second to last.

GFX 2.7 T-Rex (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy S6
    59
  • HTC One M9
    49
  • LG G Flex2
    49
  • Sony Xperia Z3+ pre-production
    46.5
  • Apple iPhone 6 Plus
    44.6
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Lollipop
    40
  • Motorola Nexus 6
    38.9
  • LG G4
    34.5
  • Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML (Z3580) retail
    30
  • OnePlus One
    28.3
  • Xiaomi Mi Note
    28
  • Meizu MX4 Pro
    26
  • Huawei Ascend Mate7
    16.4
  • HTC One E9+
    15
  • Huawei P8
    10

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy S6
    24
  • HTC One M9
    23
  • LG G Flex2
    22
  • Sony Xperia Z3+ pre-production
    20.7
  • Motorola Nexus 6
    18.6
  • Apple iPhone 6 Plus
    18.6
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Lollipop
    18
  • LG G4
    14.9
  • Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML (Z3580) retail
    13
  • Meizu MX4 Pro
    13
  • OnePlus One
    12.1
  • Xiaomi Mi Note
    11
  • Huawei Ascend Mate7
    8
  • HTC One E9+
    6.6
  • Huawei P8
    5.4

The onscreen tests are carried out at the respective devices' native resolution, which doesn't do the QHD One E9+ any favors - a solid last spot in both routines.

GFX 2.7 T-Rex (onscreen)

Higher is better

  • HTC One M9
    50
  • LG G Flex2
    48
  • Sony Xperia Z3+ pre-production
    46.8
  • Samsung Galaxy S6
    38
  • Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML (Z3580) retail
    30
  • OnePlus One
    30
  • Xiaomi Mi Note
    28
  • Motorola Nexus 6
    27.4
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Lollipop
    26
  • LG G4
    24.7
  • Huawei Ascend Mate7
    17.4
  • Meizu MX4 Pro
    17
  • Huawei P8
    10.7
  • HTC One E9+
    10

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

  • HTC One M9
    24
  • LG G Flex2
    22
  • Sony Xperia Z3+ pre-production
    20.5
  • Samsung Galaxy S6
    14
  • OnePlus One
    12.9
  • Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML (Z3580) retail
    12
  • Motorola Nexus 6
    11.9
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Lollipop
    11
  • Xiaomi Mi Note
    11
  • LG G4
    9.4
  • Huawei Ascend Mate7
    8.5
  • Meizu MX4 Pro
    7.8
  • Huawei P8
    5.7
  • HTC One E9+
    5.4

Browser performance on the HTC One E9+ is yet another letdown. The JavaScript-focused Kraken 1.1 yields a score, which is on par with the Motorola Moto E and HTC Desire 616, an entry-level result.

The broader BrowserMark benchmark is a bit less stressing on the E9+, meaning it's trailing less behind the bunch. In all fairness, it may be an HTC thing, because even the S810-powered One M9 isn't on par with the rest of the similarly equipped devices.

Kraken 1.1

Lower is better

  • LG G4
    4085
  • Samsung Galaxy S6
    4154
  • LG G Flex2
    4621
  • Apple iPhone 6 Plus
    4650
  • Sony Xperia Z3+ pre-production
    4745
  • Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML (Z3580) retail
    5057
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Lollipop
    5181
  • HTC One M9
    5500
  • Huawei Ascend Mate7
    5567
  • Motorola Nexus 6
    6088
  • Xiaomi Mi Note
    6382
  • OnePlus One
    7008
  • Meizu MX4 Pro
    10193
  • Huawei P8
    11867
  • HTC One E9+
    17430

BrowserMark 2.1

Higher is better

  • Apple iPhone 6 Plus
    3389
  • Samsung Galaxy S6
    2718
  • Sony Xperia Z3+ pre-production
    2337
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Lollipop
    2232
  • LG G Flex2
    2086
  • LG G4
    1990
  • Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML (Z3580) retail
    1853
  • HTC One M9
    1681
  • Motorola Nexus 6
    1447
  • OnePlus One
    1339
  • HTC One E9+
    1279
  • Huawei Ascend Mate7
    795
  • Huawei P8
    764
  • Xiaomi Mi Note
    748

So our first encounter with the Mediatek Helio X10 left us with mixed feelings. Yes, it does have very good raw CPU performance thanks to its True Octa-core architecture. But it lacks the GPU to match, and it would have been a bottleneck for a FullHD display, let alone a pixel-rich QHD.

And it's not just graphics, the browser scores reveal there's a lot to be done in terms of optimization. The chipset obviously has power to spare, it just doesn't deliver it.

Reader comments

  • SAM
  • 25 Dec 2020
  • 6PC

it is the issue of wifi and blutooth IC. you need to change it than it will work

  • Bristo
  • 13 Jul 2020
  • DkZ

The screen is weak

  • kamgera
  • 03 Oct 2019
  • NvT

my htc e9+ is 3years old my bluetooth and wifi stopped working why? please help.