Every year, like clockwork, every company that makes smartphones releases a successor to their “old” model. In six months we’re going to see Sony’s replacement to the Z1, Samsung’s replacement to the S4, and HTC’s replacement to the One. Images of the device that will replace the One have surfaced on the Chinese site ePrice, and unfortunately it looks like HTC isn’t going to try anything new in the design department. About the only thing that’s different about the “Two” compared to the One is the color of the battery cover. It’s now black.
Moving on to the inside, however, that’s when things start to get a bit crazy. Supposedly the “Two”, which goes by the codename M8, will have a Snapdragon 800 and 3 GB of RAM. If you recall, those are the same specs of the Galaxy Note 3. But it’s the display that’s set to get the biggest boost, with a “2K resolution”. What does that actually mean? Likely WQHD, which is 2560 x 1440 pixels. Technically that should be known as 1440p, but I’m not a marketing person.
Personally, I’d like to see HTC address the two main issues of the One that turned me off from the product. One, the camera. The concept of UltraPixel is sound, but the implementation in the One was a bit off. Color accuracy was inconsistent between images, and the results just weren’t sharp enough. Two, the battery life. Back in the spring, when everyone was comparing the One to the GS4, everyone came to the same conclusion regarding the battery: Samsung was clearly better.
If HTC manages to nail those two complaints, then maybe they can turn themselves around. Oh and please, HTC, cut the crap with the fingerprint scanner. The entire internet is making fun of you for the terrible sensor you put in the One Max. You should be embarrassed.
