HTC has just unleashed the One A9, a phone that checks all the boxes for what you want and some that you didn’t know you wanted. They are really pushing that this is the phone for everyone and it was inspired by the One family, along with an evolution of an all metal design.
The A9 features a 5-inch AMOLED Full HD edge-to-edge display with a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass. The all metal design will come in your choice of Opal Silver, Carbon Gray initially, Deep Garnet and Topaz Gold. The back or main camera on the HTC One A9 is 13 megapixel lens with Optical Image Stabilization. The front camera is an UltraPixel lens that can capture capture 300% more light then a traditional front facing camera. Both the front and back cameras will support HTC Zoe, which is similar to Live Photos on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus.
You can get the A9 with either 16GB or 32GB of storage, plus it has a micro SD card slot. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 processor with integrated X8 LTE and 64-bit octa-core CPUs. It will also support the latest LTE standards, so you can get the fastest and most reliable network connection possible.
The device features an an all metal design, with glass being molded into the body. It comes in several colors, including Topaz Gold. HTC is also collaborating with Google, as it is running Android 6.0 Marshmallow. It is the first non-Nexus product to have 6.0 out of the box and will give you features like Android Pay and Now on Tap out of the box. The One A9 features higher fidelity audio both from the headphone jack and with the built-in speakers. HTC BoomSound is back again and this time it is adding Dolby Surround Sound.
The main camera on the back features Optical Image Stabilization along with a feature similar to laser auto focus from LG. It will also support RAW images, allowing you to capture a large photo. Plus, you can edit these large photos on the phone, with out the need to edit on your computer. The HTC One A9 comes with HTC Themes, a new feature that was launched in the Spring. It will you pick many different themes to choose from, and some of them are user created.
The One A9 looks very similar to the iPhone and has some similar color offerings. With that being said many have said if you make an Android phone that looks like an iPhone, with an Android operating system, you might just have a winner.
HTC is launching the One A9 worldwide in the first week of November. Specifically for HTC.com in the United States, you will be able to get the One A9 unlocked. It will be SIM unlocked, supporting many carriers, and will have an unlockable boatload, which won’t violate your warranty. The unlocked edition will be covered by HTC’s Uh-Oh protection and you will get 6 months free of Google Music. Even better, the HTC One A9 unlocked edition will get every Android software update within 15 days of Google pushing it out to Nexus devices.
You can pre-order the Unlocked HTC One A9 from HTC’s website now and you get a 30-day trial period. If you don’t like it, you can send it back to them. The Unlocked edition will be available today for $399.99 which is a limited time promotional price of $399.99.
