HTC One – The Metrognome

The HTC One is priced at Rs 49,900, the Desire 816 at Rs 23,990, and Desire 210 at Rs 8,700.

by Manik Kakra | @Manik_K on Twitter

HTC launched the new One in India yesterday. The One (M8), following the same form factor and design on the original One (M7), is the company’s latest flagship device that is already available in several international markets for about three weeks now.

Running on Android 4.4.2, this is HTC’s first device to run their new Sense 6.0 UI, which has been tweaked for better performance, as per the company.

Continuing with the trend of going larger on screen sizes, the new HTC One has got a 5-inch full HD SLCD 3 in place. HTC’s new One is powered by the Snapdragon 801 chipset (2.5 GHz quad-core processor, Adreno 330 GPU), along with 2 GB of RAM. Sporting BoomSound speakers on the front, the new One has supposedly better loudspeakers than the One, following the same placement. On the back, HTC put a 4 MP ‘Ultrapixel’ camera, plus, there’s also a secondary sensor on the back that is called a ‘depth sensor’; it is a 2 MP sensor that measures field depth in an image in order to make focus changes as post-effects., The front side has a 5 MP, which is a higher resolution sensor, camera with wide-viewing angle.

Connectivity-wise, there is Bluetooth 4.0 (with LE deployed), WiFi a/b/g/n/ac, NFC, Infrared port on the top, 3.5mm headset jack at the bottom, and microUSB 2.0. The phone comes loaded with 32 GB of storage, and this time HTC also equipped the standard model with a microSD card slot, allowing you to expand storage up to 128 GB. Also, you get 65 GB of free storage space on Google Drive for two years.

The One (M8) comes in silver, gunmetal grey, and gold colour options, and has been priced at Rs 49,900.

HTC’s Desire 816 (in pic on left), previously seen at this year’s MWC, is company’s mid-range Android 4.4.2 device that boasts a 5.5-inch 720p screen. It’s equipped with BoomSound speakers, and packs 2,600 mAh battery. This dual-SIM Sense 6 phone has got a 13 MP (BSI sensor) rear camera as well as a 5 MP front-facing camera that can shoot HD videos.

For connectivity, there is Bluetooth 4.0 (with LE deployed), WiFi a/b/g/n/ac, NFC and 3G. Powered by the Snapdragon 400 SoC, along with 1.5 GB of RAM, this HTC device comes in Purple, Green, Red, White and Black colour options, and will go on sale in early May at a price of Rs. 23,990.

HTC has also launched its new budget Android phone – HTC Desire 210. This is the company’s first phone to launch under Rs 10,000. Running Android 4.2 with Sense 5.0, it comes with 4-inch 800 x 480 TFT screen; while there is a 5 MP rear camera and a VGA front-facing camera. Under the hood, there is a MediaTek 6572M chipset and 512 MB of RAM. This dual-SIM handset packs 1,300 mAh battery, and supports Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi b/g/n and microUSB. It will, too, be available in early May for a price of Rs 8,700.

HTC’s newest phone is priced at Rs 56,490; the phone’s high price could be accounted for by fluctuating rupee-dollar rates.

by Manik Kakra

HTC has just officially launched its One Max in India. This phone boasts a 5.9-inch 1080p LCD 3 touchscreen, and is touted as the One’s big brother. Under the hood, there is Snapragon 600 (.17 GHz quad-core Krait 300) SoC, along with 2 GB of RAM. On the back, there is a 4 MP ‘Ultrapixel’ camera as well as a fingerprint scanner mainly for unlocking the screen and launching three apps with a finger swipe (three fingers pre-assigned by the user). The front side sports a 2.1 MP wide-angle camera and dual speakers. It runs on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean with HTC’s Sense 5.5 UI on top.

Weighing 217g, the One Max features Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi a/b/g/n/ac, NFC, a microUSB 2.0 port and 3.5 mm headset jack. The phone is powered by 3,300 mAh battery, and is available in 16 GB and 32 GB storage options, expandable up to 64 GB via microSD card.

First showcased back in October, HTC has priced the phone at a whopping (MRP) Rs. 61,490, and it’s now available in the market for Rs. 56,490. Users also get 50 GB of free Google Drive storage space for two years. The company also unveiled the official Power Flip Case accessory for the One Max, which aims to provide 1,200 mAh of juice while providing for protection to the device as a shell.

It is evident that the rupee-dollar exchange rate has really made phones prices rocket in the last couple of months or so, and it’s hurting. It’s hard to imagine people going for this phone for over Rs. 55K, maybe once the price goes under the 50k mark, it may well attract a lot of user looking for a large-screen phone.