HTC One A9s announced at IFA – A tweaked, lower priced A9.

HTC One A9s announced at IFA   A tweaked, lower priced A9.

E36 – HTC One A9s – Handset – Image – Global

We liked the HTC One A9 and gave it a glowing review. However, one thing I did point out at the time was the cost of the thing. My closing comments were…

HTC are back. Just a shame about the price for the spec we’re getting in Europe 🙁

HTC One A9s announced at IFA   A tweaked, lower priced A9.

The original HTC One A9

So HTC have gone away, done some tweaking, and today announced the HTC One A9s. It has, according to the press release below, been “Inspired by nature” and has the same premium feeling metal chassis that the HTC One A9 has. Although we don’t have any pricing showing on their site, it’s expected to be cheaper than the A9 because, well .. the specs are a tad lower. Instead of the 5″ Full HD 1080p AMOLED unit we have a 5″ Super LCD 720p and instead of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 64-bit octa-core CPU, we have a MediaTek Helio P10 octa-core CPU .

HTC One A9s announced at IFA   A tweaked, lower priced A9.

E36 – HTC One A9s – Handset – Image – Global

The same 2GB or 3GB of RAM (depending on the storage option) is present and we’ve got the fingerprint sensor plus the same rear camera resolution at 13 megapixel, although it lacks OIS and is f/2.2. The front shooter is now 5 megapixel (instead of the UltraPixel unit on the A9) with f/2.8 aperture and 1080p video recording.

The battery is bigger at 2,300 mAh and the body will “glisten light from the frame” in a “nature-inspired dual-finish” coating. Basically, they’ve taken the HTC One A9 and swapped some of the kit around to try and bring it in at a better price-point. To be honest, why not? I was impressed with the A9 and they should’ve sold more of them, but the mobile landscape is constantly shifting and there’s now lots of competition out there who are fighting hard on price. Let’s just hope that the 720p screen isn’t too much of a distraction and the price is right…

Head down for the full specs too…