HTC
File photo of customers looking at HTC smartphones in a mobile phone shop in TaipeiReuters

Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC has launched two new handsets -- One A9 and Desire 828 -- in New Delhi, India.

The new HTC One A9 falls in the upper mid-range phone category. It was originally unveiled last month in the US and got panned by critics for its design, which is kind of similar to Apple's iPhone 6 series.

HTC One A9's all-metal body with curved corners and also the white antenna strips (top and bottom) on the rear-side are uncanny. The only difference is that the HTC phone houses the primary camera module in the top centre, whereas the Apple device features the camera on the top left-corner.

However, the company refuses to accept the accusation instead says it's the other way around claiming iPhones' designs are copied from HTC's One series.

That being said, HTC One A9 thankfully houses different internal hardware. It comes packed with new Snapdragon 617 Octa-core processor backed by 2GB/3GB RAM, 16GB/32GB inbuilt storage capacity, 2150 mAh battery, which can keep phone running for close 18 days.

It has to be noted that HTC One A9 ships with the Android v6.0 OS, making it the first non-Nexus series ship with Marshmallow OS out-of-the-box.

The company has also confirmed that HTC One A9 will get the new Android updates within 15 days after Nexus series gets them.

As far as Desire 828 is concerned it is a mid-range handset. It sports 5.5-inch full HD screen and run on the Android Lollipop OS powered by MediaTek Octa-core processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB inbuilt storage, 13MP camera, 4µp front-snapper and 2800 mAh battery.

HTC One A9 and Desire 828 availability:

The company has confirmed that both the HTC One A9 and Desire 828 will hit stores in India in December, but declined to reveal the cost of the devices. HTC has said that the prices of the smartphones will be announced during the official release date, which is expected to happen in a couple of week's time.

Key features of HTC One A9 and Desire 828:

Models HTC One A9 HTC Desire 828
Display 5.0-inch full HD (1920x1080p) screen with Gorilla Glass 4 shield
  • Pixel density: 441 ppi (pixels per inch
5.5-inch full HD (1920x1080p)screen
  • Pixel density: 401 ppi (pixels per inch
OS Android 6.0 Marshmallow with Sense UI Android 5.1 Lollipop OS with Sense UI
Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 Octa-core SoC (1.5GHz quad-core +1.2 GHz quad-core) 1.5GHz MediaTek(MT6753) Cortex A53 Octa-core CPU
GPU Adreno 405 Mali-T720MP3
RAM 2GB/3GB 2GB
Storage 16GB (2GB RAM)/32GB (3GB RAM), expandable up 2TB 16GB expandable up 2TB
Camera
  • Main: 13.0-megapixel camera with sapphire cover lens, f/2.0 aperture, auto-focus, LED flash, BSI, OIS (Optical Image stabilisation), full HD (1080p) video recording
  • Front: HTC UltraPixel camera with fixed focus, f/2.0 aperture, full HD (1080p) video recording
  • Main: 13.-megapixel camera with autofocus, OIS (Optical Image Stabilization), LED flash
  • Front: 4µp (HTC UltraPixel) camera with fixed focus, f/2.0 aperture, 1.3-inch sensor, full HD (1080p) video recording
Battery 2150 mAh with Quick Charge 2.0 (forward compatible with v3.0 with future software upgrade)
  • HD video playback: up to 12 hours
  • Audio playback: up to 60 hours
  • Internet use on WiFi: up to 9 hours
  • Talk time on 3G network: up to 16 hours
  • Standby time on 3G network: up to 18 days
2800 mAh
Network 4G-LTE 4G-LTE
Add-ons Finger-print scanner (on home button), Nano-SIM slot, Bluetooth v4.1, Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac; 2.4GHz & 5GHz), micro-USB 2.0 port, Dolby Audio with Hi-Res Audio, Internal GPS + GLONASS Dual-SIM (Nano+Nano) slots Wi-Fi, FM radio, Dolby Audio with HTC BoomSound technology, Bluetooth, GPRS/ EDGE, GPS + GLONASS, A-GPS
Dimensions 145.75 x 70.8. x 7.26 mm 157.7 x 78.9 x 7.9 mm
Weight 143 g 143 g