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China just got a new HTC One M9 (and you can’t have it)

Thomas Wellburn
June 5, 2015

The HTC One M8 was a bit like the Angelina Jolie of phones, quite possibly the best looking device of its time. With the full metal unibody design and minimalistic approach that Apple pioneered, it achieved worldwide appraise and sold like hotcakes.

The M9 launch was a bit more lukewarm. A good phone that fell short in key areas, it never quite achieved the success that it would’ve liked. Overshadowed in almost every way by the Galaxy S6, the release was an unprecedented disaster for the Taiwanese firm. Revenues in April bombed  by 38.7% year-over-year and by 32.4% month-over-month. Total sales last month stood at only 4.5 million.

Well today it seems HTC has conceded in this fact and given China an upgraded model called the ‘One ME’. The screen has been bumped up to a 5.2″ Quad HD display, the processor is now an octa-core MediaTek X10 and it features a fingerprint scanner on the front for quick unlocking. Oddly, the all-metal unibody design has been downgraded to a polycarbonate rear with a metal frame. This is presumably a const-cutting measure that relates to some internal market research. Perhaps the Chinese are not as style-conscious as the west?

Regardless, the remaining specifications are the same with only a slight increase in height/width to accommodate the larger screen. Thickness is still under 10mm like the old M9.

Would you like to see this phone in the UK? Let us know in the comments below.

For more on HTC, visit What Mobile’s dedicated HTC page.

 

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