HTC’s next flagship is coming soon. It’s called the One A9, and early impressions have been very favourable – great performance, excellent software and a reasonable price. The only thing in question is the design — which is an interesting mixture of past HTC phones and a rather more obvious influence.
HTC are well known for their aluminium unibody One phones, but this one looks a lot more like an Apple product than its predecessors. The design includes a flat iPhone back instead of a curved One-style one; a circular two-tone flash instead of a lozenge-shaped one; plastic antenna lines top and bottom; even the front-facing BoomSound speakers of previous One phones has been replaced with an iPhone-style downward-firing speaker behind a series of circular holes. Lined up with two recent iPhone models, the One A9 doesn’t look out of place at all.
The Verge compares the iPhone 6 and 6S Plus (left, right) to the One A9 (centre)
Still, if you don’t mind the iPhone look then the One A9 seems like a very capable phone. It runs the latest release of Android, version 6.0 Marshmallow, and comes with solid mid to high-end specs including a 5-inch 1080p display, octa-core Snapdragon 617 processor, fingerprint sensor and 13-megapixel rear camera.
See One A9 cases and acccessories now >
Of course we’re already preparing a range of accessories for the One A9. Our best recommendation at the moment is a Quick Charge 2.0 charger, which will allow you to recharge your phone significantly faster than the one in the box. That’s essential if you want to recharge your phone during your commute or before you go out for the night, letting you recharge fully in about an hour rather than closer to two. The phone will benefit from a One M9 case or cover too, preventing its metal body from getting scratched and dented from everyday use.
The One A9 is coming out next month in the UK, although it’s more expensive here than in other regions at £430 – compare that to a US price of $400 (£259). This is compounded by the fact that the phone will come with 32GB of storage and 3GB of RAM in the US, but only 16GB of storage and 2GB of RAM in the UK. This might be a good one to import if you have a friend in the US!