Earlier we reported that the HTC One M9 or "Hima" might debut at CES. Unfortunately, that is not the case. HTC did announce the HTC Desire 826, which kept their promise of "Always Desire More" online flyer about CES 2015. However, there remains an ever-growing speculation on the HTC One M9 or "Hima", including rumors abounding about the release date, specs, price, and availability.
One thing we have heard from PC Advisor is that the HTC One M9 might not even use the "M" name. It could be known as the HTC Hima or HTC One Hima, and this could signal some sort of rebranding from HTC's side.
There has now been new speculation that the rumored HTC Hima handset might be receiving a high-end MeidaTek system-on-a-chip, according to Trusted Reviews. MediaTek is a Taiwanese firm that supplies SoCs worldwide, and it was the 4th largest integrated chip designed globally in 2013. What is not confirmed is whether or not all of the HTC One M9 handsets would carry the newly tipped chip, or that it would only be available to Chinese models only.
HTC has used MediaTek chips before, and last year, the HTC Desire 820 carried a Snapdragon 615 chip. The 820s did use a 64-bit octa-core MediaTek 6752 processer. The Snapdragon 810 is expected to appear on many smartphones this year including the Sony Xperia Z4, the LG G4, as well as the Samsung Galaxy S6. All phones are expected to appear at Mobile World Congress sometime in March, which is when the HTC One M9 is expected to make its debut.
Considering that HTC has sort of settled into a pattern of launching the HTC One series of phones in the spring, it is clear that the Hima will probably launch in the first week of March with availability in the UK a few weeks later, according to PC Advisor. PC Advisor also reports a possible Windows version of the HTC One M9 to launch in the middle of next year.
As far as the price is concerned, HTC is usually pretty good about keeping its prices on its top end HTC One smartphones consistent. The HTC One M7 was £500 upon its release and eventually came down to £450. The HTC One M8 started at £550 but was then reduced to a cheaper price. Calculating the advances with inflation, along with the cool specs, the estimate according to PC Advisor is within the range of £500 to £600.
As far as the specs go, we already reported that the Hima should have a very clear 1440 x 2560 QHD screen, 3 GB of RAM, plus an Adreno 430 GPU with crunch graphics. As for the camera, expect a 20.7 Megapixel rear-facing one, and then a 13 Megapixel front-facing one. The battery intends to be a 2840 mAh job that will more than likely squeeze as much power as it can into the M9 for longer life in between charges. What we didn't say is that it will probably very slim at 7mm. The display, according to the Latino Post could range from 5 inches to even 5.5 inches.
