Leaked Verizon 5-inch 1080p HTC device means Canada could get it soon

Many Canadians, including myself, were shocked and excited by the sudden announcement of HTC’s 5-inch 1080p Butterfly J smartphone. While that particular device was created specifically for the Japanese market, it meant that Sharp’s 5-inch 1080p panels were entering production in earnest, and would be coming to the rest of the world shortly.

Over the weekend, Android Central received some images of a Verizon-branded HTC DLX, long rumoured to be North America’s first 1080p smartphone. Launching with Android 4.1.1, the device will likely come with a 1.5Ghz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro, 2GB RAM, an 8MP or 12MP camera sensor, and removable storage. And while this particular phone has yet to be officially announced, it’s no secret that HTC’s Super LCD 2 panel is still the best on the market even months after its debut on the One X. This 1080p Super LCD 3 screen will almost certainly continue that legacy of impeccable sharpness, excellent viewing angles and accurate colour.

So when will Canada see its first 5-inch 1080p device? Rumours of a Sony phablet have also cropped up recently, meaning that other companies are preparing for the next leg of smartphone hegemony. Whether the difference between 720p and 1080p will be as drastic as the jump from WVGA to 720p remains to be seen, but based on the force behind Apple’s “Retina” campaign, we’d anticipate a considerable amount of pushback. There’s no doubt that these new screens will be unbelievably high-fidelity, but at over 430ppi the pixel density of these new devices will be lost on many people.

Then there’s the issue of graphics. Just as Apple had to thicken the battery of the new iPad to accomodate for the increased power requirements of the ultra-high definition screen and more powerful quad-core graphics chip, so too will Android OEMs have to compensate for these extra pixels. While the Snapdragon S4 Pro incorporates Qualcomm’s new Adreno 320 GPU, itself a huge upgrade over the previous generation, its efficiency has yet to be fully tested in the mass market, and we remain skeptical that the screen credit will outweigh the battery debit.

Before the inevitable onslaught of 1080p devices, however, there are many 720p Android phones to be excited for, including the Galaxy Note II, Optimus G and Nexus 4, as well as myriad Windows Phone 8s from Nokia, Samsung and HTC.

Are you excited for the 1080p smartphone era?

Via: Android Central