At a recent product and Chinese New Year media dinner, HTC surprised the journalists with not one but 5 new smartphone launches! We all expected the HTC One A9 to be the only device since the introduction late last year, but a One ME Dual and a Desire range was totally unexpected. With the flagship M10 about to be launched anytime soon, a family of One ME Dual Sim, Desire 728 Dual Sim, Desire 628 Dual SIm and 828 Dual Sim that lines up nicely along the premium model will offer customers variety that many have been longing for.
During the event PC.com had a chance to speak to President South Asia for HTC Faisal Siddiqqui who feels the investment in technology and innovation will drive the HTC brand into higher acceptance. ” “With HTC Vive we are excited on the virtual reality space and will continue to work in this space” and on the devices he added “Our customers are gradually looking for stylish smartphones with faster processors, network speeds and outstanding battery life. They are creating and consuming rich video content and want greater freedom to personalise their smartphones. We know they love the flexibility that comes with expandable memory”.
And we truly believe in the HTC journey, holding and testing the device during the dinner we were convinced the phones were as good as any premium models coming out of Korea or US and its not just now that the company has been credited with making solid phones they always have been!
Here’s 5 reasons why we think the new HTC smartphones should be on your list.
Camera- On the HTC One A9 you will find a 13 megapixel rear facing snapper and a 4 megapixel in the front which are both fairly good for selfies and quality pictures. A trade feature HTC has always taken pride of, however what sets this model apart in the photo taking category is the OIS, f/2.0 and dual led flash functions found on the phone. HTC has managed to smoothly combine the trio and give users the ability to take amazing pictures and even better shots than an iPhone in low light conditions. Oh! and another thing…on camera mode, you can also take shots from touching anywhere on the screen.
UI- Android Marshmallow 6.0 with HTC Sense 7 user interface. The A9 is the only device that comes with the latest OS out of the box apart from Googles Nexus 5x and 6P. HTC has cleverly infused the Sense 7 into Android that they work relatively seamless together. Sense Home for instance is a useful feature as it learns which apps you use most in certain locations, such as home, work or on the move, and automatically promotes them to your main homescreen when you need them. It will show Mail, Google Drive, Calendar and HTC’s note-taking Scribble apps when in the office, but swap those for Google Maps and HTC’s Music and Car apps when you’re on the way home.
Design- Aesthetics is the first impression that will grab the attention of the buyer. HTC phones have not failed in that area too, the A9 and the Desire range all have nothing to complain about. Quality metal body…check, Corning Gorilla Glass 3…check, Amoled screen…check, rectangular shape…check for the A9 and the Desire range are also not far behind with quality stacks as well. Screen is superb. Even as the A9 comes with Amoled display the One ME Dual is not deduced to lower rank, in fact the 5.2″ phone comes with 2K resolution and all the bells and whistles you will find in a mid range phone including capacitive touch screen and pixel range of 1440 x 2560.
Audio- BoomSound, HTC knew about the importance of sound to users early on, its this knowledge that enabled them to work with audio engineers in producing profoundly better sound quality in the phones. One fact buyers will notice is that the BoomSound placement has been moved to the bottom instead of front facing on the A9 possibly to make way for the fingerprint scanner. To boost quality it now supports Dolby Sound and high-resolution music which means up to 24 bit 192 kHz across all file formats.
Power- How much power? Most devices in the market phones in the market Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 chipset, Quad-Core 1.5 GHz CPU and Andreno 405 graphics processor on the One A9 and Mediatek Helio X10 on the ME Dual Sim keeps these babies humming. Battery life on the other hand starts of with 2150 mAh.
HTC smartphones are touted to be one of the most reliable and stable devices by its loyalist, ask any past and current users of Desire, Butterfly or the M series the comments would be positive at most times. Our One M9 unit that has been put through a lot over the months being used for all our app and network testing and you know what…we have still yet to send it in for service.
Price and Availability
HTC Malaysia has announced the price for the One A9 at RM2299 and will come in Carbon Gray and Topaz Gold, while the 5.2″ ME Dual Sim is priced at RM1599 and is available in Classic Rose Gold and Meteor Gray. No price were listed for the Desire 728 Dual Sim 5.5″, the 5 inch Desire 626 Dual Sim and the 828 Dual Sim.
