It’s probably the worst kept secret in the world, but HTC has finally confirmed its brand new Android flagship device. And yes, it’s actually called the HTC One M8. Not the “new HTC One” or the “HTC One 2”. It’s just called the HTC One M8.
It is made from an aluminum unibody with a “brushed, hairline texture” finish, with a unique process in integrating as many as ten antennas in the phone (apparently). HTC also says they have reduced the number of parts needed to make the phone and improved its manufacturing process.
Hardware specs include a 5-inch Super LCD display with Gorilla Glass 3, 2GB of RAM, a 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, and a 2600mAh battery. It comes in either 16GB or 32GB variants, with a microSD card slot to expand the storage capacity and 50GB of Google Drive space for free.
Like its predecessor, the HTC One M8 uses its Ultrapixel camera – which is a 4.1-megapixel camera that uses bigger pixels to capture more light. The front-facing camera is a 5-megapixel camera, meaning that you can take selfies in a decent quality now.
The big new feature on the HTC One M8 is the Duo Camera. Basically, it combines the Ultrapixel camera with another sensor that, according to HTC’s CEO Peter Chou, “captures [the] true depth information for your photos” such as depth and focus. This information lets you make changes on the fly after taking the shot, such as changing the focus point.
The HTC One M8 runs the brand new version of its Sense UI. Reportedly redesigned from scratch, Sense 6.0 brings an updated Blinkfeed, gesture support (like double-tapping on the screen to wake it up), and a lot of customisable options. It also includes many of the features introduced with its predecessor, including a TV Remote and HTC Zoe.
HTC plans to launch this in over 100 countries in “the single largest product rollout in HTC’s history”. The phone is being launched today in the United States, with all major carriers in the US and Canada selling the device through their website. Verizon will also have the phone in their stores at the same time, with other telcos following suit by the end of April 10.
The phone maker also confirmed that Australia, Taiwan, the UK, Germany, France and China will get the device before the end of April.
The HTC One M8 will be launching in Australia on April 1, with all of the three major carriers – Vodafone, Optus and Telstra – confirming that that they will be selling the device and opening up preorders through their website. All of the carriers’ pricing are available on their respective websites.
UPDATE [9:30am]: added local availability from all three major telcos