HTC One S9 Packs Watered-down Specs, Bloated Price

HTC-One-S9

Considering HTC’s departure from their “One” smartphone naming convention with the HTC 10, I would have thought that that would have been the last time I would read about an HTC One handset. Alas, it was only temporary as the Taiwanese smartphone maker has decided to release another high end handset, christening it the HTC One S9. The One S9 is something of a throwback, sporting a similar design as the old One M9. However while it is indeed a high end smartphone, it’s meant to come in right under the HTC 10, packing near flagship specs and features without leaving quite as big a hole in your wallet.

First things first, the HTC One S9 features a 5 inch Full HD display protected by Gorilla Glass. The design should be familiar since we’ve already seen it on the M7 to the M9. It also comes with dual front-firing loudspeakers, which should result in better overall sound and save you the cost of having to buy a separate Bluetooth speaker. The chip isn’t nearly as robust as you would see on the HTC 10 though. You’re getting a decent Helio X10 octa-core SoC by MediaTek coupled with 2GB RAM and 16GB of internal storage.

Interestingly enough, the HTC One S9 has some pretty solid imaging chops. It features a 13mp camera on the back with optical image stabilization that hopes to eliminate blur from shaky shots. As for the front camera, you’re getting a 4mp UltraPixel shooter with large 2 micron pixel size that are supposedly capable of capturing more visual information compared to conventional smartphone cameras with smaller pixels.

The HTC One S9 will be making its debut in Germany sometime in May where it will retail for 499 Euros (about Php26.5k) and should roll out to other regions shortly after. Unfortunately, the specs are rather lacking for what we’re expected to pay for it. This isn’t new for HTC though, and I’m not expecting it to become any more attractive should it make its way to Philippine shores.

HTC One S9

  • 5″ Full HD IPS display (1080 x 1920 resolution, 441ppi), protected by Gorilla Glass
  • 64-bit 2GHz MediaTek Helio X10 octa-core processor
  • PowerVR G6200 GPU
  • Android 6.0 Marshmallow
  • 2GB RAM
  • 16GB internal storage, expandable via microSD up to 200GB
  • 13mp autofocus rear-facing camera with OIS and dual-tone LED flash
  • 4mp front UltraPixel camera with 2 micron pixel size
  • 4G/LTE, nano SIM
  • WiFi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS
  • 2,840mAh battery
  • Price: 499 Euros (about Php26.5k)

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