HTC has been on a yearly cycle for their One line since introducing the M7 in February last year. While they held off for just over a year to announce the One M8 in March, we can safely assume that they’re working on an M9 version of the HTC One. Chinese site MyDrivers has posted some information on what people can expect to see when HTC announce their flagship next year.
The phone will of course be high-end, with HTC apparently looking to include a Snapdragon 805 processor, apparently sticking with 32-bit architecture instead of going for the 64-bit Snapdragon 810 which should be in volume production around the time the M9 is announced. There’s still some time before any announcements are made for an ‘M9’, so this could certainly change. As an accompaniment to the processor there will be 3GB of RAM, and options for 64GB and 128GB of storage though no mention of expandable memory is made.
Following the trend in flagships phones in the latter stages of this year, HTC will move into the 2K display range, offering a 5″ 2K QHD (2660×1440) resolution display. The display will of course require extra power and HTC will apparently be including a 3,500mAh battery in the M9.
The news on the camera is that HTC may be moving away from the UltraPixel sensor that’s been included on the HTC One for the last two iterations, with a 16MP Sensor being used instead. Gone too is the ‘Duo Camera’ setup of the HTC One M8, which HTC used to achieve depth of field effects with the M8.
BoomSound is apparently still important, with HTC again going for front-facing speakers on the M9. The largest change though, after parting ways with Beats Audio, is that HTC is looking to partner with BOSE to supply the speaker technology for the phone.
A ‘Prime’ version of the M9 could also be on the cards, with a slightly different body, but at this stage, details on that development are scarce and could go the way of the M8 Prime that was rumoured earlier this year.
When HTC will launch the M9 isn’t known, but based on their general release schedule from years gone by, we should be seeing the handset any time between February and May. We’re ready to check it out as soon as they have anything to announce.
The M8 just fits in my pocket, if the M9 is any bigger it looks like I may need to make a move to a different manufacturer. Would be the first non HTC phone I have had since the Desire Z.
I believe the rumour was a 5.5″ display, not 5″. 🙂
I saw that rumour too. It’s possible this is a differently sourced rumour. If you follow the source link and translate the page it clearly claims a 5.5″ display. Unfortunately the Chinese site provides no source for their rumour so its possible they botched the screen size from the 5″ rumour that’s been circulating. I guess we’ll never know.
Guess it’s a doule-edged sword removing ultrapixel. People passed off UP because it was only 4 megapixel and just assumed it took bad photos. So they will just move their argument from the camera to bezels or some crap to keep trashing the phone. I personally liked the camera. Was second to none in night shots. Would be a shame to see it go, but I understand the decision. Brain-dead consumers just like higher numbers on their devices. I don’t really care what anyone says, the 8mp camera on the iPhone 6/6 Plus is better than the 20mp Xperia, 13mp… Read more »
Your comments and choice of words make you sound like a tool. Maybe you might want to re-think about what you write in the future. You don’t know everything and are not the expert on cameras.
We don’t care what you say nor want to hear or read it.
Well that was rude.
Andrew has a point–my M7 takes far better night photos than any other phone I’ve seen, even though daytime photos lack some detail. Megapixel count certainly isn’t everything.
I’d have to disagree on that one. I’ve owned several iPhones in the past and I hate to say it, but they really are the best smartphone cameras.
We have to admit no matter even if we don’t like them but high end Nokia Lumia series have best smart phone cameras better than all Android and Apple. Their night/low light photos blast off the competition. After playing trial and Error with Z, Z1 and Z2 camera Sony has a winner now “Z3” which is the best Android Camera Phone you can buy. Haven’t used and never will use Apple so cant comment on that.
I have a Z2 and the camera is pretty good if you get it in the right lighting. Sometimes struggles to focus in my experience. Even when it’s “focused” a lot of my photos have come out grainy or blurry.
I agree to an extent. It was a bit of a rant but your comment was certainly worse by the same metrics you judged the OP on and does nothing to add to the conversation.
The thing you forget in this rant is software optimisation. Assuming the hardware is the same apart from the number of MPixels a higher number of MPixels is better. Must companies use Sony’s camera hardware so why is there 20MPixel not the best on the market. It actually is but software let’s its down. Apple has the best camera processing algorithms and that’s more important than anything else it seems.