HTC One A9s officially revealed, features worse specs than the A9

After weeks of rumours sourced from smartphone leakster Evan Blass, HTC has officially revealed the ‘iPhone inspired’ One A9s at IFA in Berlin.

The next iteration of the One A9, as expected, adopts a form factor similar to the iPhone. The rear camera and LED Flash are again placed on the top left rear of the phone, though the HTC logo has been removed from the front of the device. The A9s, however, does feature a new dual-finish metal body on the sides and rear of the device

While this smartphone is technically a follow-up to the One A9, it’s, unfortunately, a step backward in terms of specs, at least in some respects. The phone’s 1080p display has been lowered to 720p along with its 13 megapixel camera being lowered to a f2.2 aperature with no image stabilization. Dimension wise, the A9s is also taller, wider, thicker and even heavier than the A9, coming in at 146.49mm x 71.5mm x 7.99mm and 149.8g. RAM and storage, coming in at 2GB/16GB and 3GB/32GB, however, remains the same in the A9s as its predecessor.

There are some improvements between the two devices, with the front camera measuring in at 5 megapixels instead of 4 and the battery increasing to 2300mAh from 2150mAh. The A9’s Snapdragon 615 has also been replaced with the Mediatek Helio P10 processor.

In general, the A9s seems to be less of an improvement over the A9 and more a mid-range pivot for HTC’s alternate phone line.

Pricing and a final release date have not been revealed. We’ve reached out to HTC for more information about the A9s’ Canadian release date and availability.