HTC debuts another One. This time it’s called the One M9s

For something that’s called the HTC One, there sure are many more than just one device. Now, with the newly announced One M9s, there is another One on the market designed to make purchases for the everyman smartphone buyer all the more difficult.

HTC’s latest One is a variant of its One M9 flagship device that retains the same 5-inch full-HD display of the phone it’s based off, unlike the bigger One M9+. The exterior continues the One M9’s beautiful premium all-metal unibody and design scheme. The One M9s also keeps HTC’s excellent BoomSound front facing speakers, something that will certainly delight those who like to consume media on their smartphones.

The phone measures 144.6 x 69.7 x 9.6mm and weighs a touch more than the original One M9 at 158g versus the base model’s 157g.

On the inside, HTC swapped out the problematic Snapdragon 810, for an octa-core MediaTek Helio X10 chip, but RAM and internal storage were bumped down to 2GB of RAM and only a tiny 16GB of internal storage. Fortunately, the One M9s will have the option to expand its storage up to 2TB via a microSD card. The device is reported to come running Android 5.0 Lollipop with HTC’s Sense on top.

The rear camera has been downgraded in terms of megapixels though, dropping from a 20-megapixel affair to a 13-megapixel one. On the bright side, the One M9s’ f/2.0 primary camera will come with optical image stabilisation (OIS), something only available in the One M9+ Supreme Camera edition.

HTC’s UltraPixel camera returns at the front, featuring the same 4-megapixel resolution and an f/2.0 aperture. HTC bundles the HTC Eye experience with the One M9s’ cameras, allowing users to use voice controls to take a photo, as well as split screen front and back camera recording.

Connectivity options are aplenty, including quad-band 2G/3G and LTE over a multitude of bands. Bluetooth v4.1, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, NFC and GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS and Beidou have also been included.

As of this moment, the device can be pre-ordered now in Taiwan for TWD12,900 (around RM1,727). Unfortunately, no word on worldwide availability has been given. Although the HTC One M9 was not officially launched in Malaysia, you can get an imported one from DirectD for RM2,699.

As a whole, the One M9s seems to be a light version of its older One M9 brother, with less RAM and internal storage, but, on paper at least, the camera should be better than the One M9 despite the drop in megapixels, because it comes with OIS.

Is that a trade-off you are willing to make? Let us know in the comments below.

[SOURCE, VIA, 2]