HTC has announced the One A9, a stylish handset that offers top-notch build quality and is among the first to ship with Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
The A9 takes HTC’s design in a slightly different direction when compared to the One M9 and M8. HTC retained the unibody metal construction, but flattened out the rear surface, rounded off the side edges, and curved the glass display slightly to meet the metal frame. The A9 is slim and, thanks to the 5-inch full HD display, smaller than many of today’s flagships.
HTC is positioning the phone as a sub-flagship. Rather than rely on the fastest silicon from Qualcomm, the A9 runs an octa-core Snapdragon 617 processor (four cores at 1.5GHz, four cores at 1.2GHz) paired with 3GB of RAM an either 16GB or 32GB of storage. The A9 supports memory cards up to 2TB.
The phone has a 13-megapixel main camera with optical image stabilization, pro mode, timelapse capture, and Zoes. The front camera relies on HTC’s UltraPixel design; both the front and rear can capture 1080p HD video. HTC added a fingerprint sensor to the front of the phone, which can be used to secure the handset or authorize Android Pay transactions.
The phone has a non-removable 2150mAh battery that supports QuickCharge 2.0 and is forward-compatible with QuickCharge 3.0 for rapid charging. The device offers Dolby audio, but it doesn’t have stereo speakers like some older HTC handsets.
HTC added its own Sense 7.0 user interface to the Android 6.0 Marshmallow platform, though HTC says it is somewhat toned down compared to previous versions.
The phone is available for order directly from HTC.com beginning today. It costs $399 and is sold unlocked and with Uh Oh Protection. HTC said U.S. carriers will announce pricing and availability separately. It will initially be available in gray and silver, with garnet and gold to follow.
