The HTC One has a horrible name, but itâs also a fitting one. Itâs HTCâs One saving grace, the One thing that almost single-handedly gave an injection of adrenaline to its dying corpse. Itâs also the One Android phone that changed how Android handsets were madeâmetal beats plastic.
And now a new One is coming, and it could be One of the most exciting phones of 2015. HTCâs big announcement is coming up on March 1 at Mobile World Congress, and rumors say that it could be a conservative update, building on what worked so well with the M8. Other rumors say that that HTC is planning a drastic rework. We could be in for a surprise.
Whichever winds up being the case, the M9 will almost certainly be a great phone (like its predecssors) and a potential candidate for your next Android smartphone.
What will it be called?
Leaks concerning HTCâs new flagship have been floating around for months, and at first it seemed like the phone was getting new everythingâeven a new name. Back in December, the somewhat reliable @upleaks said via Twitter that HTC was actually ditching the M9 naming convention for something else entirely, âHima.â Buuuuut then it turns out probably not:
https://twitter.com/embed/status/562882251160313856
Even though the new One may be sticking with the (bad) âM[X]â naming convention, at least they took a bold step toward rationality by getting rid of the dumb parentheses. Thatâs something.
Now, there are also rumors of something called the âHima Ace Plusâ (M9 Prime?) floating around, a 5.5-inch deal. However, itâs not expected to launch this March but in August or September. This might just be early rumblings of a new HTC Max, but for now we wonât worry about it.
Design
I think we can all rest easy and say the M9 will be made out that same chiseled block of aluminum, just like its two predecessors. After all, why fix what isnât broken? For the front of the device, leaks of prototypes show a few nips here and some tucks there. Take a look for yourself.
The photo above, from nowhereelse.fr, certainly looks like a One M-something. In fact, it looks suspiciously like the M8. Duo speakers resting on the top and bottom, relatively the same size, with maybe a slightly lighter color palette. Here are two the two phones together, comparing the slight differences.
So a slight re-imagining of the HTC branding band, slimmer bezels and a little bit different take on the front-facing camera (which is additionally rumored to have HTCâs totally fine but also not revolutionary UltraPixel tech inside). Phandroid also has a similar image for the M9, and this one of the back:
Youâll notice one particular feature missing, which is an absent second camera to complete the Oneâs typical Duo Camera setup, hardware that gave the M8 Lytro-like after-the-fact focusing, gave the phone digital (instead of optical) image stabilization, and let you do fun tricks like this:
Weâll be sort of sad to see it go! While it wasnât always super useful, the Duo Camera was one of the most interesting and unique things about the M8, but GSM Arena reports that of all the M9 cases already posted on Amazonâusually a good source of leaked informationânone of them have the appropriate holes for a Duo cam. Additional leaks showing the M9 Dot View case, the nifty flip cover that turns the main screen into a retro-y display, seems to confirm the same.
These leaks are in-step with Bloombergâs report that the M9 would resemble the M8 in both size and design. So this is most likely the phone weâre looking at.
There are other, more far-fetched possibilities. One designer pulled together a render of the new M9 based on current leaks, which completely re-imagines the the BoomSound speakers, making them look more like the subtle, almost invisible edge-mounted speakers on the Nexus 9, which was also made by HTC.
And to throw a whoa-if-true wrench in everyoneâs careful leaking, Evan Blass, the famous leaker formerly of @evleaks (who says the image on the right is âofficialâ), wrote on HTCSource that HTC has been outfitting the M9 with decoy bodies when handing the phone to hardware partners who needed pre-launch access. So if Blass is right (He could be? Itâs a toss-up) all the real photos are wrong and weâll see something completely different (and more like the renders above) come March 1st. It would also mean that HTC is being preeeeetty damn secretive and savvy. Weâll see!
Update: Leaked renders now show HTCâs new phone from all angles.
Specifications
HTC has done a good job keeping the look of the M9 a secret, but its done a less-than-stellar job keeping the specs on the down-low. Bloomberg ruined a lot of the surprise, saying the M9 would have a 20Mp rear camera, a new Snapdragon 810 processor. Once again, @upleaks fills in the rest saying we should expect a 5-inch 1080p display, 3GB of RAM, and 4 UltraPixel front camera, 32GB or 64GB on-board storage, a microSD expansion slot, BoomSound dual speakers, and a 2,840mAh battery.
Now that screen resolution is sort of low. Most smartphones seem to be making the evolutionary leap to Quad HD. The LG G3 launched with such a pixel-packed LCD in the spring last year, and the new Droid Turbo and Note 4 followed suit. But! If these rumors hold true, HTC will be bumping up battery capacity from the M8 while keeping the same full HD LCD panel, meaning even better battery life than last yearâs. If you ask me, thatâs way more valuable than a more pixel-packed screen.
Software
The same source who delivered hardware specs also told Bloomberg to expect the One M9 to ship with Android 5.0.2 with HTCâs Sense 7 UI on top. If youâre really interested in knowing every single app that will probably ship with the M9 you can already take a look. I would also suspect that there will be a heavy influence on camera software since the M9 will be upgrading the sensor and also expanded Sense photo capabilities as with the Desire Eye last year.
Other than camera speculation and that detailed list of applications, thereâs not much else out there on what the M9âs Lollipop/Sense 7 Frankenstein software will look like, but you can take a look at these purty, rumored stock wallpapers the M9 may come with:
It also looks like HTC may put out a Windows Phone version of its new flagship much faster this time around, instead of waiting a few months and then putting in under a temporary exclusive with Verizon. If they do run a Windows Phone variant, it would most likely be an exact hardware copy of the M9 (just like the M8 for Windows), only dressed up in Windows Phone clothing.
Cost and availability?
All rumors point to the M9 coming to all major U.S. carriers, including AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile. And if history is any indicator (and it usually is), the M9 will arrive at around $200-$250 range, just like its predecessor. That price seems to make the most sense as it competes with the iPhone 6 base model as well as the rumored price for the upcoming S6.
Bonus Round: HTC Petra
But perhaps HTCâs most anticipated âmythicalâ device is its wearable. After all, everybody is doing making one. No, literally every company including Motorola, Samsung, ASUS, Sony, LG, Huawei, Apple, and Microsoft is doing it. HTC is the noticeable holdout, and Mobile World Congress 2015 might be when weâll finally see something.
For one, the name is up for debate. âPetra,â much like âHima,â definitely sounds like a codename. The most interesting part is that the wearable may be OS agnostic, meaning it would be both Android and iOS friendly (no word on WP). Other than that, this mystery wearable is said to have 1.8-inch flexible display and last for 3 days on a single charge. In some ways, it kind of sounds like a Microsoft Band, and may also be focused on fitness as well. That makes sense considering HTCâs recent partnership with Under Armor, which just bought MyFitnessPal, MapMyFitness, and Endomondo.
Honestly, all of this sounds a little light at this point in the game for the wearable to be ready for MWC. Unless HTC wants to pull an Apple and announce a product that wonât come out for half a year. Letâs hope not.
So lots of questions still need answering before March 1 rolls around, or else we may just have to be patient and see what HTC says. Wouldnât that be just the worst?