HTC Corporation, (NASDAQ: HTCXF)- The Taiwanese-based phone maker has just unveiled its One A9 Aero handset, whose design resembles Apple’s iPhone 6S.

After weeks of rumors, HTC has finally announced its much-anticipated One A9 smartphone. The device belongs to the high-end entry of the smartphone market, and now accompanies HTC’s flagship phone, the One M9.

The Aero – impeccable name-picking skills by the way, kudos HTC- features an extraordinary design philosophy and a powerful spec sheet, so let’s have a closer look at HTC’s latest phone.

Design

HTC claims that the Aero was designed from scratch, while it has maintained some signature design cues of the One lineup.

The devices features a slim -brushed- metal shell with the antenna stripes wrapping the edges from one side to another, the one being placed on top and the other on the bottom of the handset.

The above description definitely resembles the one that accounts for Apple’s iPhone 6S design, so HTC might get in some trouble with the Cupertino, the latter having a tradition of taking rivals to court for the slightest suspicion of copy-pasting one of its products.

Moreover, the device measures at 145.8 x 70.8 x 7.3 mm and weighs 143 grams (5.04 oz).

Specs and software

As highlighted above, the A9 is a high-end device, hence its specification sheet is worth the look.

HTC provided the A9 with a stellar full HD 5.0-inch display, offering 441 ppi pixel density while covered by Corning Gorilla Glass 4 scratch-proof glass.

The device sports Qualcomm’s MSM8952 Snapdragon 617 chipset, which houses eight cores, four Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 1.5GHz and another four A53 at 1.2GHz, coupled with Adreno 405 GPU and 2 or 3 GB of RAM- HTC offers two different RAM variants.

Internal storage for the 2GB version is 16GB, while for the 3GB one it is 32GB. Both are expandable via MicroSD card up to a whopping 200GB.

Camera wise, the primary camera is a 4128 x 3096 pixels 13-megapixel shooter featuring optical image stabilization, autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) flash and HDR. The selfies camera shoots at 4MP. Both cameras have full HD 1080p video capabilities.

Some of the users wonder why HTC did not go with 4K video recording. The problem essentially has to do with the Snapdragon 617 chipset, which does not support the particular video resolution.

The company probably opted for a mediocre processor on a high-end smartphone in order for the One M9 smartphone to maintain its flagship ranking.

In terms of connectivity, the A9 Aero boasts 4G LTE antennas, 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth 4.1 and microUSB v2.0.

Furthermore, HTC included a 2,150 mAh battery which sports Quick Charge 2.0 (and 3.0), though users will have to purchase a proper 15W HTC charger thus making use of the particular feature.

Taken the fact that the A9 packs a full HD 5-inch screen, 2,150 mAh might prove inadequate unless the Snapdragon 617 is power-efficient enough to stabilize the battery consumption.

The One A9 is the first device after Google’s very own Nexus line-up to come with Android 6.0 Marshmallow straight out of the box. The particular version of the software is not stock Android though, as a layer of HTC’s Sense UI is placed upon it.

Fingerprint scanner

The new HTC smartphone flaunts a fingerprint scanner on the front as well.

The scanner accelerates the unlocking procedure, as the user can unlock its device directly from the scanner, without having to wake it if the display is turned off.

In addition to that, the scanner is integrated with Android Pay, allowing you to make a variety of different purchases at Google Play.

Pricing and availability

HTC will be launching the One A9 during the first week of November starting US$399 unlocked. The company mentioned that the price is promotional, hence it might rise a bit in the future. Pre-orders have already been initiated in the US.

The handset will be available in four different color variants; Opal Silver, Carbon Grey, Deep Garnet and Topaz Gold.

Are you planning on picking up the One A9? Let us know in the comments below.

Image credit: GSMArena

Update: HTC has stated on Twitter that only the 32GB/3GB RAM variant will be available in the US. Read more here.