HTC scraps HTC One M9 launch for India; HTC One M9+ thats being released by HTC

HTC One M9+ launched in India for Rs.52,500, to be available in early May to Indian buyers

While the tech world was agog with the HTC One M9 being announced today to Indian buyers, for some strange reason HTC has decided not to release the flagship smartphone in India. Instead it has launched the bigger variant of its flagship One M9 smartphone called HTC One M9+ today.

The smartphone was unveiled at MWC, last month. The HTC One M9+ is a premium smartphone but its going to dazzle you with its jewelry grade dual-metallic unibody design. The larger variant of the flagship HTC One M9, the HTC One M9+ features a 5.2-inch Quad-HD (1440×2560 pixels) display and runs Android 5.0.2 Lollipop with HTC Sense 7 UI on top. The big home button on the One M9+ is a fingerprint sensor that will also support biometric authentication for the AliPay payment system in China.

It is powered by a top of the line octa-core 2.2GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6795T with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage capacity.

Unlike the earlier HTC M8, the phone doesn’t come with a dual camera at the rear and instead sports a 20MP rear shooter (f/2.2) along with a depth-sensing camera. And if you are looking for an selfie camera, you will be amaze to know that the HTC M9+ will be featuring 4MP Ultra Pixel camera. The phone will also be the first to feature the HTC Sense 7 user interfaced based on Android 5.0 Lollipop and will give users a lot more curated options in everything from content to apps.

The HTC One M9+ is going to set you back by around Rs 52,500.00 and will compete with Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S6. The One M9+ draws heavily from the experience and expertise of high-end watchmakers when it comes to using jewelry metal finishing. HTC is now introducing a dual finish metal uni-body design with a single-part front bezel and better assembly quality.

The volume rockers have been separated to ensure better usability and stability of your mobile device. But the buttons too have a brushed feel that is One and only HTC.  It will be available in three jewelry metallic finishes —Gunmetal grey, Amber Gold, and Silver Gold. HTC claims it is one of the optimum use of resources, the phone’s design takes 70 steps and 300 production minutes, at the end of which only 5 per cent of the raw material survives.

Hardware

The HTC One M9+ is a dual-SIM smartphone will be compatible with LTE category 6 standards and TDD for India. One of the biggest hardware improvements will be seen is the rear camera which will now sport a 20MP sensor. HTC’s Ultra pixel technology will now power the front camera and offer the best selfies even  in dim light. The sensor is larger than the M8. Leveraging on the its Boom Sound dual speaker abilities, the HTC One M9+ will now feature surrounding  sound powered by Dolby.

Software

The M9+ will usher in HTC’s latest Sense UI version, the Sense 7. Though it is packed with new features, Sense 7 will stand out for making better use of the lock screen to push much more than notifications. The company is tying up with partners like Yelp to offer city guide like restaurant contextual suggestions based on where the user is. There will also be an aggregator built into the screen giving a morning news digest for users, this is one of the step ahead towards greenery by changing news papers and magazines into digital page.

This very new M9+ is going to be more user friendly as this urge to curate flows into the new Sense Home, where the phone will start recommending apps based on what the user is doing. For now the recommendations widget, which takes up half the screen, can suggest apps for work, home and out. Users will be able to pin apps that they want to stay, while others apps here will start appearing based on usage patterns.

HTC has also removed the Google Play Store by default for adding new apps to the home screen by pushing new apps into a download folder. The company claimed it is working with a third party partner to push app suggestions.

Sense 7 also brings in richer, deeper customizations for everything from  icons and fonts, while ushering in a new HTC Themes community for creators. There is one more interesting feature is that the phone can now create multiple themes based on any photograph. This photo-based theme feature will pick dominant colors in the photo to suggest themes. Users will also be able to customize navigation buttons, even add a fourth one if needed.

The camera app too can undergo drastic changes, and there will be separate Editor app, which will allow you to access from the Gallery. While there are lots of new filters users will also be able to add prismatic effects to your device, animations as well as shape masking and blending to make their photographs more interesting. There will be RAW photo capture, but as an additional download.

Another new feature will be the three-finger gesture to send music to wireless speakers supporting many standards including some new ones. Plus, there is a new One Gallery app that will pull images from all top photo locations like Facebook, Google Drive, Dropbox and Flickr.

Specs of HTC One M9+:

Display: 5.2 inch, Full HD 1080p 2K display
Android 5.0 (Lollipop) with HTC Sense 7
Qualcomm Snapdragon 2.2GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6795T processor 64-bit processing
3GB RAM
32GB internal storage (up to 128Gb expandable)
2G/3G/4G- Nano SIM
Bluetooth, NFC
HTC BoomSound with Dolby Audio
20MP rear camera
HTC UltraPixel front camera
2840mAh battery