The final nail in the coffin for HTC. HTC One A9.

[Megatomic]

You can't charge a premium price for commodity hardware and software. HTC really needs to get out of the Android race to the bottom as fast as possible and give us customers something unique that makes us want to buy their devices.

When did $400 become the price of a premium device?

 

[mrochester]

When did $400 become the price of a premium device?

It's £470 in the UK ($739).

 

[Megatomic]

It's £470 in the UK ($739).

I heard about that and it really sucks. But I am in the USA and the phone is $400 USD, an amazing price for what you get in my opinion.

 

[dawheat]

International pricing does seem out of wack. But $400 in the US seems like a solid price with pros and cons vs. the Moto X and Nexus 5X. I don't think it's going to reverse their fortunes, but it's not a bad first step. Certainly more inspired than the M9 launching against the S6 and G4 at the same price.

 

[Megatomic]

I'm willing to pay a bit more to HTC for the form factor of the A9 alone. There is a not insignificant population of users in the world clamoring for smaller devices and I am one of them. I will vote with my wallet.

 

[kpkp]

No wonder the USA is one of the few markets where HTC still show up on the charts. I wonder, why are they even bothering selling in other places, they would probably lose less money by just exiting those markets all together.

 

[golem]

$400 is promotional pricing. It goes up later.

 

[Megatomic]

$400 is promotional pricing. It goes up later.

I hope it goes up AFTER I get mine then.

 

[realibrad]

$400 is promotional pricing. It goes up later.

Where did you find that out?

 

[golem]

Where did you find that out?

http://www.htc.com/us/smartphones/htc-one-a9/buy-b/

Next to the $399.99 price is a cross.

Below the pre order button it reads.
† Limited time, promotional offer.

 

[poofyhairguy]

So HTC is committing to updates on this phone 15 days after a Nexus:

http://www.androidcentral.com/htc-commits-software-updates-one-a9-within-15-days-release-nexuses

Apparently they took Sense down a notch to speed up updates.

I have to admit, this is the most tempting phone for me at the end of 2015. It is pretty much the perfect combo of features:

-Premium build
-Micro SD slot with 32GB base
-Fast updates
-A non 810 or 808 SoC
-1080p screen
-A really good camera with OIS
-Fingerprint reader
-3GB of RAM

I don't know what else you could ask for except a larger battery. If the battery life tests on this thing look good I might get one to replace my M8. This is a lot more tempting to me than the Nexus 5X with its sad 2GB of RAM.

 

[Megatomic]

So HTC is committing to updates on this phone 15 days after a Nexus:

http://www.androidcentral.com/htc-commits-software-updates-one-a9-within-15-days-release-nexuses

Apparently they took Sense down a notch to speed up updates.

I have to admit, this is the most tempting phone for me at the end of 2015. It is pretty much the perfect combo of features:

-Premium build
-Micro SD slot with 32GB base
-Fast updates
-A non 810 or 808 SoC
-1080p screen
-A really good camera with OIS
-Fingerprint reader
-3GB of RAM

I don't know what else you could ask for except a larger battery. If the battery life tests on this thing look good I might get one to replace my M8. This is a lot more tempting to me than the Nexus 5X with its sad 2GB of RAM.

Wow, it's like you read my mind, sir.

 

[shabby]

-A non 810 or 808 SoC

That's a feature? The 808 is a great chip, i would prefer that than 8 little a53 cores.

 

[poofyhairguy]

That's a feature? The 808 is a great chip, i would prefer that than 8 little a53 cores.

The 808 is a midrange chip having to be put in flagship phones because the 810 sucks so much.

The problem with the 808 is that it gets put in flagship devices (so more than 1080p res on average) with a GPU that is weaker than the high end of last gen. That isn't very optimal.

The Google 5X married the 808 to a 1080p display which would have been AWESOME if it had 3GB Ram. I will take the lessor SoC for 50% more RAM. I hit the ram limit in Chrome constantly with 2GBs.

 

[kpkp]

HTC had 2 guys sneak in the iPhone manufacturing line, :

 

[blairharrington]

I don't think HTC as we know it will cease to exist this time next year.

Fingerprint reader on the bottom front bezel plus a virtual home button is a very clunky design choice.

 

[postmortemIA]

Nexus 5x is a ploy to get you to their cloud Google music and movies. Because with 16GB (before the OS) you can't store much of your own content.
That's why other makers have no problem adding SD cards... they don't get $ from Google cloud business.

 

[foghorn67]

I was a hater. But after watching a few one day reviews, I kind of like the approach. I'll enjoy watching the real reviews a week or two from now.

 

[core2slow]

The sheer volume of people who see nothing wrong with this phone is precisely the reason why this once powerhouse company is dying.

Pricing a midrange at a flagship price is one thing, having an even smaller battery for a company that has been known to have horrible track record with battery life is another, but it's damn inexcusable to retain the front huge bezel even after they've removed the boomsound speakers just for the sake of having a fingerprint scanner.

Can't wait for some Chinese company to buy HTC and put it out of its misery.

 

[Cakefish]

Screen to body ratio;

HTC A9 - 66.8%
IPhone 6S - 65.6%

It actually has slightly smaller bezels than the iPhone.

 

[kpkp]

Screen to body ratio;

HTC A9 - 66.8%
IPhone 6S - 65.6%

It actually has slightly smaller bezels than the iPhone.

Not true, the bezels are bigger than on the iPhone 6s.

The combined side bezels are basically the same 8,54mm for HTC and 8,57mm for the iPhone.
Top+bottom Apple has a slight lead: A9 35,11mm vs 6S 34,25mm.

If we adjust for the phone size (in other words, mount a 5" display on the iPhone while keeping the same size bezels) we get a screen to body ratio of:
66,77% for the A9
67,13% for the 6S

We can conclude that A9 has barely outbezeled the iPhone.

 

[Thanatosis]

I don't understand the obsession with small bezels. Your fingers have to hold the phone somewhere, unless you plan on using it on your lap?

Aluminium unibody construction, fast updates, fingerprint reader, and $399 price tag are enough to convince me that this device will be popular and successful. Whether it brings HTC out of the doldrums will probably depend on whether Apple decides to sic its huge legal division on HTC for this.

 

[Cakefish]

I'd agree. Great phone BUT the blatant overpricing in Europe will destroy any chance it has here across the pond.

 

[kpkp]

I don't understand the obsession with small bezels.

Because I like small phones not small screens, the bigger the ratio the smaller the phone.

 

[dawheat]

I don't understand the obsession with small bezels. Your fingers have to hold the phone somewhere, unless you plan on using it on your lap?

Aluminium unibody construction, fast updates, fingerprint reader, and $399 price tag are enough to convince me that this device will be popular and successful. Whether it brings HTC out of the doldrums will probably depend on whether Apple decides to sic its huge legal division on HTC for this.

Bezels do make a big difference in larger phones (see Note 5 vs. 6P vs. 6S Plus) - but less so in phones this size. The 6S can get away with it b/c with a 4.7" screen, the phone is still pretty small. The A9 being bigger than the S6 while having a smaller screen is not so great as 5"+ is where bezel size can help one-handed use. But not a huge deal at this size, much bigger deal at 5.5"+.