The HTC One A9 has been officially launched in Malaysia. Here are 3 reasons you might want one

HTC are a falling company and it isn’t hard to see why. Disappointing flagships paired with high price tags go a long way in getting people to shy away from them. In an attempt to bounce back, HTC pulled back the covers of their new midrange smartphone, the One A9.

While the One A9’s specs are nothing to shout about, there are some reasons why you would want to get your hands on this shiny new device. Since it just got its official launch here in Malaysia, we thought we’d take a look at what some of those reasons are.

If you didn’t already know, the HTC One A9 is already on sale here in Malaysia via DirectD and SuperBuy for a whopping RM2,199. That’s a lot to shell out for a mid-range device and there is no denying that this is a device for the middle of the smartphone pack.

For starters, it is a 5-inch smartphone with a full HD panel tucked under Corning Gorilla glass. On the inside, it’s powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 617 processor (a notch up over the usual 615/616 mid-range processors) paired with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable (via microSD) internal storage.

Optics are taken care of with a 13-megapixel f/2.0 primary camera with optical image stabilisation (OIS) located in the top center at the back of the smartphone while selfies are taken care of with HTC’s UltraPixel “UltraSelfie” front facing camera.

That said, the One A9 has a bunch of goodies too, like a fingerprint scanner hiding under its home button on the front, but HTC’s signature BoomSound speakers are not on the list. The speakers do have a DAC that does Dolby Audio with 24-bit Hi-Res Audio. Keeping the lights on is a 2,150 mAh battery. It is a single-SIM smartphone, though, so if you have multiple numbers, you might have to look for another one.

The One A9 then is not off to a good start. That said, here are some of the things we do like about HTC’s new baby.

1. Build

HTC is renown for their ability to build quality smartphones. They basically reinvented the “premium” smartphone with the One M7 back in the day, and this exquisite build finish carries on into the One A9.

It comes together fantastically. Its rounded edges are awesome and the metal feels exquisite. What’s more, it’s a handsome looking device, a little too close to the Apple iPhone 6/6S for my taste but if you dig that but want an Android OS, this is the device for you.

2. Marshmallow out of the box

Speaking of the Android OS, this smartphone comes with the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box, so you don’t have to wait around and hope that it hits your device soon.

Marshmallow brings a host of goodies, including the very fun and useful Now on Tap and Doze. Now on Tap is a function where you can simply hold down the home button and allow Google to “read” whatever is on your screen.

Then, Google will provide you with the necessary Google Now cards related to specific information on the screen. Doze, on the other hand, puts the smartphone in a state of low power when not in use to conserve battery. Think Apple iPad.

3. The best camera on an HTC smartphone

According to DxOMark that is. The renown camera testing site tests a whole bunch of smartphone and rates them according to their performance. The higher the number, the better the camera and with a respectable score of 78, the HTC One A9 is the best performing HTC smartphone camera on the list.

Are you sold? Do you want to get your hands on the device? Well, in conjunction with the HTC One A9’s official launch, which is going for a recommended retail price of RM2,299, HTC are also having a Chinese New Year promotion.

By shopping with HTC, customers can stand a chance to take home gold bars, shopping vouchers and limited edition merchandise. The promotion will last until 29 February and if you’d like to know more you can head on over to their website.

Alongside the star of the show, the One A9, HTC are also officially launching the HTC One ME Dual SIM (RM1,599), HTC Desire 728 Dual SIM, HTC Desire 828 Dual SIM, and the HTC Desire 626 Dual SIM.