Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

The physical button at the bottom acts as both a home button and a fingerprint scanner.
Spot the Difference

HTC's new hope for its smartphone range looks virtually identical to its biggest rival

(In case you haven’t guessed, we’re talking about the iPhone 6 and 6s).

HTC IS HOPING to turn around its smartphone fortunes around with a new mid-range device that looks very similar to one of its biggest rivals.

Called the One A9, the 5-inch device is separate to the company’s One M range released at the beginning of this year.

The 5-inch device has 2GB of RAM, 1.5 GHz and 1.2 GHz quad-core chips, and a 2150 mAH battery. It starts with 16GB of storage (but you can use a micro SD card to expand that) and can deliver audio at 24-bit.

It’s one of the first phones to run on Marshmallow, the latest version of Android, and it comes with features like a fingerprint scanner, Now on Tap (allowing you to search key terms on screen) and expandable storage (using micro SD cards to expand internal storage).

But the most tantalising prospect of the device is the camera, something the company is placing an emphasis on. It comes with a 13MP with f/2.0 lens for low-light situations. It will also come with auto-raw processing, image stabilisation and the ability to create a hyperlapse out of any standard videos you record.

While it does look virtually similar to the iPhone (its CEO has talked about creating a real alternative to the iPhone), you could argue that Apple has taken numerous design features from HTC and incorporated it into its own phones so this is revenge.

IMG_20151014_115749 On the outside, it looks virtually identical to the iPhone 6, but not on the inside.

While we had a brief moment to try out the phone, early impressions are positive. The design is practically identical to the iPhone 6 and 6s but the software is solid and creating timelapse videos with the camera is easy to do.

The price for an unlocked version of the One A9 is expected to cost €549 but if you’re getting a bill-pay version, you can get it for free with certain providers. It will arrive in Ireland and globally on 2 November.

Read: The company behind Tinder says its dating services are ‘frequently under attack’ >

Read: Apple bans hundreds of iPhone apps that secretly spied on users >

Your Voice
Readers Comments
34
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.