14 DAY TRIAL // HTC has just announced the upcoming availability two new 4G smartphones in Taiwan, the HTC One and Butterfly S. Both devices are meant to expand the portfolio of LTE handsets available in the country as operations of 4G mobile communication services in Taiwan are expected to begin in H2 2014.
Digitimes reports that the HTC One will be available for purchase for $19,900 TWD outright, which is about $665 or €485. The second 4G LTE smartphone coming soon in Taiwan, HTC Butterfly S will go on sale for $20,900 TWD ($695 / €510).
Word is HTC is readying lots of entry- and mid-level smartphones for the Chinese market, which is why the company outsourced devices production to Compal Communications.
In order to be price competitive on the low-end smartphone market, HTC will include MediaTek, Broadcom and Spreadtrum chipset inside its handsets to reduce costs. Most of its high-end smartphones will continue to be equipped with Qualcomm processors, though.
HTC One, the most awarded smartphone last year, will ship with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean operating system out of the box, but it will soon receive an Android 4.4 KitKat upgrade.
The Butterfly S however will arrive with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and for the moment there’s no telling if it will receive another major update.
Both smartphones are equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 chipsets, but HTC One’s CPU is clocked at 1.7GHz, while the Butterfly S packs a 1.9GHz processor.
Those who favor large screens will want to pick the Butterfly S over the HTC One, as the former comes with a 5-inch Super LCD3 capacitive touchscreen display that supports full HD (1080p) resolution, whereas the latter sports a 4.7-inch display.
Other highlights of the smartphones include 4-UltraPixel main camera, 2.1-megapxiel front-facing camera, Corning Gorilla Glass, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, NFC (Near Field Communication), and 3200 mAh battery (2300 mAh for HTC One).