Hands on with HTC One A9: Looks Like an iPhone, works like an Android!

By Vijaykumar
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HTC has recently announced the much-rumored One A9 smartphone, the company's first A series smartphone and the first non-Nexus smartphone to launch with Android 6.0 Marshmallow on board. Consequently, this device has now reached Indian boundaries, last week.

 

Rating:
4.0/5

HTC One A9 First Impression

The HTC One A9 may have an iPhone look-alike, but it has some unique features like all-metal body to make it clearly HTC handset. The smartphone comes with a 5 inch full-HF display, 13 megapixel primary camera and has an option to expand memory up to 200GB using a microSD card.

 

We got our hands on the Carbon Gray 32GB variant of HTC One A9 and here is the first look of the device. Read on to know more.

HTC One A9 First Impression

Design and built

There is no denying that HTC One A9 is an iPhone look-alike, including the rounded edges and slightly rectangular sides. Well, in terms of design, the One A9 is a distinct mix of One M8 and the iPhone 6/6s.

The One A9 comes with an all-metal unibody design similar to rest of HTC's One series. The rounded sides and corners, along with a panel of 2.5D glass on the front makes the device to hold comfortable in hand.

HTC One A9 First Impression

The 5 inch display in the front also makes it perfect for one-handed use. On the right-hand side you will see power button along with the volume rockers, while on the left hand-side you will see the SIM and microSD card slot tray. All other ports including Micro USB, 3.5mm headphone jack and speaker girlls are found at the bottom of the device.

On the back you will find a 13 megapixel primary camera along with LED flash and the HTC's logo sits in the middle of the device. On the front, there is a fingerprint scanner embedded on the home button just below the display and a 4 megapixel front-facing UltraPixel selfie shooter.

HTC One A9 First Impression

Lets talk about the design, the HTC One A9 looks like the iPhone 6/6s. It seem like HTC has inspired directly from Apple iPhone design, but the company claims that this handset is an evolution of the iconic HTC One family design.

Well, spending some time with the One A9, it can be said that the handset has smoothened out and rounded edges, which together with that smooth back, makes for exceptional slipperiness. Moreover, the One A9 really feels good in the hand and the 5 inch display neither too tiny to use and not too unwieldy to grip.

HTC One A9 First Impression

Display

The best part is that the company chose to include a 5 inch display on the One A9, which give a great one-handed usability in the smartphone. It has an AMOLED 2.5D panel with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels resolution that translate to impressive pixel density of 441ppi and has Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protection on top.

It can't be said that the One A9 has the crystal clear display when compared to other smartphone on the market, but it has plenty good stuffs like black levels and contrasts that gives a great color benefit, including a decent viewing angles.

HTC One A9 First Impression

Under-the-hood

In terms of specifications, the HTC One A9 is powered by a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 octa-core processor at clock speed of 1.5GHz and 1.2GHz quad-core modules, paired with Adreno 405 graphic processing unit.

The handset come in two RAM and storage variant: the 2GB RAM model is backed with 16GB of internal storage, while the 3GB of RAM has 32GB built-in storage. It One A9 also comes with an option to expand memory using a microSD card up to 200GB.

HTC One A9 First Impression

Further, it packs a non-removable 2,150mAh battery, which the company claims to juice up the device up to 16 hours over 3G. The handset also features HTC Rapid Charger 2.0 to charge the device up to 75 percent faster charging and all new power-saving feature to maximize battery life to last throughout the day.

The handset has a pretty decent specs, we got out hands on with the One A9 and have not came across any major issues, thanks to the octa-core processor and 3GB of RAM, for smoothly managing the performance. Stay tuned for full review.

HTC One A9 First Impression

Software

HTC One A9 is the company's first A series smartphone and the first non-Nexus smartphone to launch with the newest Android 6.0 Marshmallow out-of-the box, which brings Google's new Now On Tap and other features with it. The Marshmallow is brushed up with HTC Sense 7.0 user interface on top.

HTC One A9 First Impression

Camera

When it comes to the camera, HTC has done a great job in the One A9. It comes with an front-facing UltraPixel 4 megapixel selfie shooter. The front-facing camera does a great job with some great looking selfies.

It has a 13 megapixel primary camera on the back, and it does a good enough job. It camera comes with a Optical image stabilization, BSI sensor, true-tone LED flash and phase detection auto focus. The best part is it allows you to save images in RAW format.

Spending some time with the HTC One A9, we felt that the camera is better than what we have seen on the HTC One M9 Plus. Well, the UltraPixel selfie camera softens the images more than required.

HTC One A9 First Impression

Verdict

Overall, the device has some interesting features like fingerprint scanner, all-metal body, and the first non-Nexus smartphone to have Android 6.0 Marshmallow on board. There are things about the HTC One A9 that many may like, but, the fact that it has an iPhone look-alike.

In India, the company has not announced the pricing of the One A9, the price will be revealed only when the device is available for purchase in about two weeks. Well, going by the price and reviews in the U.S. and other countries, it look like the One A9 will be priced higher than what it deserves to be.

We will soon review its performance and features in depth. Stay tuned with GizBot for the full review.

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