14 DAY TRIAL // HTC India has just announced the upcoming availability of its latest flagship smartphone, the One (M8). The handset will hit shelves in India on May 7 and will go on sale via major online retailers for no less than Rs 49,900 ($820 / €595) off contract.
According to fonearena, customers in India will be able to pick the HTC One (M8) in Gunmetal Gray, Glacial Silver and Amber Gold color options.
Although HTC India initially confirmed that the Google Play Edition of One (M8) would go on sale in the country as well, the company backtracked on the original statement and announced that HTC One (M8) GPE would not make it to India.
It appears that this was a PR mistake, though even Chai-Lin Chang, president of global sales and CFO, confirmed at the launch event that HTC One (M8) Google Play Edition would be available in India next month, AndroidOS reports.
Anyway, as with all the HTC smartphones that get released in India, the standard version of HTC One (M8) has been overpriced, so there’s no telling how many units the Taiwanese company will be able to sell in this country.
Even though the One (M8) is made of premium materials, unlike the Galaxy S5 which uses slightly better plastic than the previous version, ultimately the price is what really counts for most consumers.
However, those who are still looking to purchase the HTC One (M8) when it becomes available in early May should know that the smartphone will ship with the latest version of Android, namely KitKat 4.4.2.
It also comes equipped with a powerful 2.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, which is complemented by an Adreno 330 graphics processing unit, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory.
Unlike the HTC One (M7), the new flagship smartphone packs microSD card slot for memory expansion (up to 128GB). The One (M8) also boasts a stunning 5-inch full HD (1080p) capacitive touchscreen display that supports Corning Gorilla Glass 3 coating for extra protection.
Another selling point of the HTC One (M8) may be the Duo camera on the back, which includes a UltraPixel primary photo snapper with dual LED Flash, BSI Sensor, F/2.0 aperture and 28 mm lens, along with a secondary shutter meant to capture depth information.
The smartphone does not come with dual-SIM support, but offers LTE, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi support, along with dual front-facing stereo speakers and high-capacity 2600 mAh battery.