Gadgetory

it's always exciting to see a phone arrive running the latest version of Android in this case we're talking about Android marshmallow and the phone in question is the HTC One a9 but my excitement for this phone was short-lived now I thought there was anything wrong with the phone itself it's got a good 5-inch display which has a full HD resolution and on the back you can see that it has an all-metal design now one of my issues with this phone is that it looks very very similar to the iPhone 6 it's got rounded sides it's got lines crossing the top and the bottom even the camera sticks out with a little ring going around it really very very similar even on the front HTC has removed its boom stand speakers and put in its place a physical home button which scans your fingerprints this is among the first phones we've seen that arrived with the latest Android marshmallow software onboard what you'll find is features like now on tap which puts Google now suggestions deeper into the phone but HTC has also slapped its dense 7 software over the top so it looks pretty much the same as the m9 does you'll also find things like themes to allow you to really customize the look of the phone it's got an octa-core processor inside but I really didn't find that this put up much of a fight and nor did the battery you might struggle to get a full day of use from this thing turn the phone around and you'll see a 13 megapixel camera on the back now this can take photos in RAW format and you can even process those photos within the phone helping you save blown out highlights or areas of shadow in a shot my biggest issue with this phone though is the price now the HTC One a9 has a good lineup of mid-range specs no question the problem is is that HTC is pitching this as a high-end phone with a high-end price to match its price put it up against phones like LG's g4 which has a much better screen and a much better processor and even higher than HTC zone flagship m9 and this phone really does not do enough to justify that cost it's possible that once this phone has been on sale for a while you might be able to pick it up very much better price as of right now though your money can definitely be better spent elsewhere I'm Andrew Coyle CNET and this is the HTC One a9