HTC One M9 vs iPhone 6

While HTC's sales are dwarfed by Apple's, its flagships are met with critical acclaim and a loyal following, drawn to the brand's eye for design, then married to slick performance and genuinely useful features.

The same could be said about Apple, albeit with a much larger fan base, and its latest phone has pushed the iPhone forward in so many ways.

But now HTC's latest, the One M9, is here and it's a vast improvement on the HTC One (M8). You're probably wondering whether this is the phone for you, right?

You're probably also ruminating on how it stacks up against the iPhone 6, as HTC has so much in common with Apple in terms of design.

To get the answer to that all you need to do is keep reading, as we've compared these two bastions of style in full.

Tucked deep within the HTC One M9's metal shell there's a Snapdragon 810 humming away. It's a 64-bit octa-core processor with four cores clocked at 2GHz and the other four at 1.5GHz, which, combined with 3GB of RAM, means the M9 is a real powerhouse.

The iPhone 6 doesn't sound quite so good with its 64-bit 1.4GHz dual-core A8 processor and 1GB of RAM, but Apple's handsets have always punched above their weight, thanks to the unity between hardware and software.

In practice these phones both have power to spare, but the HTC One M9 is likely to storm to victory when it comes to raw grunt thanks to the double power of two quad core brains.

For the last few years HTC has been building some of the most beautiful phones on the planet and the HTC One M9 is the most refined version of its vision yet, with a full-metal body that curves comfortably into the hand. It's chunky yet elegant and feels incredibly well made.

The iPhone 6 is a similar story. It's all metal too, but while the edges are curved the back isn't, leaving it far slimmer than HTC's flagship. It oozes quality and there's little doubt in our minds that these are the two best put together phones on Earth, but you definitely get the feeling that the HTC One M9 has a higher level of craftmanship inside.

It's absolutely subjective of course - you might like the superthin iPhone - but holding both and you get a real sense HTC's challenger is, well, a more grown up phone in terms of construction.

The HTC One M9 runs Android Lollipop, but HTC has put its Sense 7 interface over the top. That's no bad thing, as it's a stylish offering and includes thoughtful additions like a theme creator and BlinkFeed.

Lollipop itself meanwhile is the most efficient version of Android yet and includes handy features like Google Now, with enhanced notifications and less overt intrusions.

The iPhone 6 runs iOS 8 of course and it's no different here than on any other iOS device. So expect a slick, intuitive interface, bolstered by Siri, a wide selection of premium apps and an attractive design. It's not quite as customisable as Android though.

HTC was obviously happy with the M8's screen as it packed the same one into the HTC One M9. So you get a 5-inch 1080 x 1920 display with a pixel density of 441 pixels per inch. It's disappointing that there's no real upgrade but other than a slight green tint it's a fine screen, with rich, bright colours.

The iPhone 6's screen on the other hand was a big change for Apple, boosting its flagship up to 4.7 inches for its 750 x 1334 display with 326 pixels per inch. So it's not the sharpest screen around, but the contrast ratio is sublime and it sports great colour reproduction too, so it's certainly a strong competitor to the HTC One M9.

After making a big deal about UltraPixels for the last couple of years HTC has seemingly lost faith in the technology, as the rear camera on the M9 has a standard 20.7MP sensor which based on our first impressions we're not that thrilled by.

That said, the company hasn't totally ditched UltraPixels, instead sticking them in the 4MP front-facing snapper, which does impress as selfie cams go.

The iPhone 6 only has an 8MP camera, but Apple has really made the most of those pixels as it can take some great photos, helped along a little by Focus Pixels, which allow for faster autofocus and improved clarity.

It's almost certainly better than HTC's snapper in terms of picture quality, but its 1.2MP front-facing camera loses out to the selfie-proud One M9's Ultrapixel option, which excels in low light and therefore key when there's not front flash.

HTC has never gone big on battery size, but at 2800mAh the unit in the HTC One M9 isn't a bad size at all. In practice based on our early impressions the M9 holds on to battery well, so it shouldn't be a phone that you'll have to plug in every night.

The Apple iPhone 6 has a far smaller 1810mAh battery and while it makes the most of its limited capacity it's still not up to the standards of the longest-lasting Android phones, which the HTC One M9 is shaping up to be among.

Apple still hasn't solved its battery woes (there are questions over whether it even wants to - after all, the promise of longer time between charges will always keep people upgrading) and is almost certain to last for a shorter time than HTC's finest.

HTC hasn't added a huge amount in the way of features to the One M9, but software additions like its theme creator are welcome and its BoomSound speakers now have virtual surround sound powered by Dolby, so they should be better than ever. The HTC One M9 also supports 24-bit audio, so it's put a real focus on music.

The big feature on the iPhone 6, other than a bigger screen than its predecessor, is arguably its upgraded Touch ID fingerprint scanner, giving you a convenient way to keep your phone secured and coupled with Apple Pay it's a futuristic way to spend money too.

The HTC One M9 comes with 32GB of storage, which isn't bad but it's not a huge capacity for a flagship either. Fortunately it also has a microSD card slot with support for cards of up to 128GB, so invest in one of those bad boys and you shouldn't be in danger of running low.

The iPhone 6 can come with far more built in storage, as there are 16, 64 and 128GB varieties, but with no microSD card slot that's necessary and unfortunately it also means you might have to shell out extra for more capacity up front, rather than waiting till you hit the storage ceiling.

The HTC One M9 and the Apple iPhone 6 are both undeniably true flagships. They're also two of the most beautiful phones we've ever laid eyes on.

But they're not equal in all areas. The One M9 has more power, a sharper screen and a bigger battery, while the iPhone 6 almost certainly has a superior camera and a display with more natural colours, alongside eye-catching features like its Touch ID fingerprint scanner.

And we can't forget the age-old Android vs iOS debate... everyone has a vague idea of which is best, and the internet is a perfect forum to tell us just why.

In terms of working out which phone is for you, well, we urge you to head down to your local phone shop to hold them both before buying. HTC's charm is in its premium finish, the clear attention to premium materials and quality manufacture, where Apple has made a lighter and more toy-like device in comparison.

That's not a bad thing, but make sure you give yourself all the info you need before shelling out a large wedge of cash each month.

• We've compared the Samsung Galaxy S6 with the iPhone 6 too.