HTC's One A9 is a stylish mid-range handset with a sky-high price
HTC's One A9 is a stylish mid-range handset with a sky-high price
2015-10-29
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
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