Turns out that the rumors were in fact true. HTC has finally launched the better, upgraded version of its One M9. The One M9+ was finally showcased at a press event held in Beijing along with the large, physical home button look-alike sensor it incorporates.
The device which is to be available in Gunmetal grey, Amber Gold, and Silver Gold color variants is initially slated for release in the Chinese market. As for the specs, they resemble those of the One M9 with a few differances. The device runs on a 2.2GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6795T — which is a first, considering that HTC usually sticks to its favored Snapdragon — and comes with a slightly larger 5.2-inch Quad-HD (1440×2560 pixels) display . Memory wise, you have 3 GB of RAM along with 32GB of internal storage on the device further expandable upto 128 GB by an external SD card.
Camera wise, you have an Ultra pixel front shooter along side a 20-megapixel (f/2.2) back camera. A noticeable change here is that the rear duo camera — which the company discarded in the One M9 citing design issues — is back with the M9+. The company seems to be satisfied with the performance of the 2840mAh non-removable battery it used in the One M9 since it retained it for the One M9+ as well. The device also supports all standard connectivity options such as 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, DLNA, FM radio etc. and a couple of non-standard ones like NFC and Infrared.
Also, it seems that the rumors of a fingerprint sensor in the physical home button were partially true and while there is something below the screen that looks like the home button due to its large size, its non clickable and hence is merely a sensor. The sensor doubles as a biometric authenticator for China’s AliPay payment system while quickly unlocking the device.
No details about the pricing and the global availability schedule has been provided yet for the One M9+ but a tweet by HTC CEO Cher Wang may disappoint consumers in North America and Europe who were waiting to buy the M9+. According to the tweet, the One M9+ may not be available for sale in these places, at least in the near future.
HTC is excited to bring the HTC One M9+ to customers in China, where we have worked closely with mobile operators to create a phone with the right balance of screen size, processor performance, software, and radio network compatibility to meet consumers’ needs. Ranging in other markets will be confirmed locally at a later date. The One M9+ is not currently planned to be released in North America or Europe, where we believe our flagship HTC One M9 is the best choice for blazing fast performance, incredible sound, and network compatibility across the broadest range of operators.
While HTC certainly seems to have worked hard to improve upon its One M9, and while it also seems to have obtained a degree of success, the real question before us is wheather or not the consumers agree with the changes in One M9+ — Now thats a question only time can answer.
Stay tuned!!
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