HTC’s $399 One A9 Smartphone Looks Like An iPhone, Tastes Like Marshmallow

Alright, let’s get this out of the way: HTC’s new One A9 smartphone is, without question, heavily inspired by Apple’s iPhone. There, now let’s get onto more interesting things.

The One A9 is HTC’s second smartphone to be released this year, and it targets the ~$400 part of the Android market that’s not without a ton of competition lately. It’s a 5-inch phone sporting a resolution of 1080p, and bundles Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 617 octa-core SoC under its hood. It’ll be one of the first phones to ship with Android 6.0, aka: Marshmallow, and weighs 143g. Notably, it includes only a 2,150mAh battery, which is smaller than most batteries found on other similarly-sized phones.

Available in either 16GB or 32GB flavors, the A9 will include 2GB or 3GB of memory, respectively. It also includes Bluetooth 4.1, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, a standard micro-USB port in lieu of USB-C, NFC, GPS, and Dolby Audio. For photo taking and video shooting, it has a 13 megapixel camera at the back, and an “UltraPixel” one at the front. Interestingly, this phone does not tout support for shooting 4K video, but it does grant additional control for pro photographers, including the ability to save photos to RAW format. On the audio front, the phone has a built-in amp to deliver more power to headsets, and supports 24-bit resolution sound.

The thing that stands out to me most about the One A9 is its awesome color selection. I do believe “Deep Garnet” has to be my favorite:

Other special colors include Carbon Gray, Opal Silver, and Topaz Gold. I think I would lose it if a Lapis Lazuli Blue or Sunstone Orange were made available.

It’s not a coincidence that the colors are so great. The press release reads: “HTC One A9 draws on the natural beauty around us, by using rich, striking colors and unique finishes – an approach called ‘metalmorphics.'”, and that the finish “is painstakingly brushed with hairline detail and bead-blasted before the sides are polished, giving additional depth and richness that is unique in the smartphone market.”

This phone ships with Android 6.0, so that of course means that HTC has updated its Sense software suite for the new OS. It aims to bring a grand level of customization to your fingertips, and make it easy to use the built-in fingerprint reader and to take advantage of Android Pay.

The One A9 is going to become available soon across multiple carriers and retailers in the US, and will cost $399 USD. For those looking for an unlocked model, HTC has you covered, but that particular model will need to be purchased through HTC’s website directly. Fortunately, the unlocked model carries no price premium.