HTC have announced its latest ‘One’ smartphone, and continued with its bracketed monikers by unveiling the HTC One (E8). The E8 will provide almost identical specifications to that of its metallic sibling the M8, but with a Polycarbonate covering, seemingly aiming at a lower prince-point demographic. One other thing that doesn’t change is the continuation of HTC to use a bracketed naming convention!
With the E8, HTC hopes to provide the flagship feel, but at a reduced cost (TBC), much like Apple attempted with its iPhone 5C. By keeping the majority of the internals of its flagship M8 in manufacturing the E8, HTC believes that this device will not only entice those with lighter wallets, but also engage with the consumers who are not overly concerned with their device being covered in an aluminium uni-body.
HTC may well have managed to pull a shrewd move here and the E8 is sure to fire warning shots across the bows of their competitors. As mentioned, the E8 houses the same internals (for the most part) as the M8 flagship, but should come in at a lower price point than the M8, and indeed it’s competitors’ flagship devices, such as the Samsung Galaxy S5.
The major change to the E8 from the M8 in terms of internals comes to the camera. Where the M8 houses HTC’s Duo Lens Ultrapixel technology providing 4MP shots, the E8 will instead stick to more conventional technology and deliver a 13MP camera on the rear of the device.
Aside from the camera, both devices will sport the same Snapdragon 801 chipset, 2GB RAM, 5″ 1080p LCD display and the same 2600 mAh battery (non-removable). The E8 will however, courtesy of it’s Polycarbonate coating, feel somewhat lighter than the M8’s 160 grams, weighing in at just 145 grams. This is echoed in the thickness of the two devices also with the E8 measuring just 9.4mm vs the M8’s 9.9mm. A significant difference on both specifications.
Finally, what of the price? Well, the M8 continues to retail around the £530.00 mark, with the Samsung Galaxy S5 hovering around £560.00, so what would be an acceptable price for the E8? All will be revealed shortly, but we expect a retail price of around the £400.00-450.00 mark to be unveiled. This would provide a significant cost saving against its own, and competitor’s flagship devices and really give consumers something to think about when purchasing their next phone.
The HTC One E8 is set for a June launch in China, with a Worldwide launch shortly thereafter.
Links: Clove Technology – HTC China
