HTC isn’t really known for its specifications or hardware. Their devices are considered among the most decorated or elegant among all Android powered devices. Not only do they focus on the outer looks of the device, but also the user interface. The Sense UI, at one point, was the defining look for Androids. I personally loved the HTC Sense clock and widgets. HTC One A9 is taking the One to a new dimension by introducing a new series. The A9 attempts to revamp the One M7 (the original HTC One).

In terms of design, the One A9 certainly looks different from the traditional look of HTC Ones, from the front. On the back, the phone seems to have a hint of iPhone 6’s looks but it’s definitely all HTC. The phone has a 5” AMOLED display that is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. It has a Full HD resolution which is the same as that on its predecessor. The A9 has a Nano-SIM port instead of the Micro-SIM port found on the M7.

Under the hood is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 that is definitely an improvement over the M7’s 600. The new chipset has double the processors with two quad-core Cortex-A53s, side by side, joined by Adreno 405 graphics. The phone comes in two variants with 16 GB or 32 GB internal memory options, having 2 GB and 3 GB of RAM respectively. The A9 also provides a microSD slot for memory expansion up to 200 GB.

The camera department is where there has been a lot of improvement over the One M7’s Ultra-pixel camera. The Ultra-pixel camera was fast and could capture a lot of light with optical image stabilization keeping the photos as sharp as possible but it was only a 4 megapixels sensor. The A9 receives the Ultra-pixel camera as well but on the front side which makes the front camera a really great one. On the rear is a 13 megapixels sensor with Dual-LED flash that lights the darkest of areas and the wide aperture helps in capturing beautiful pictures.

The A9 definitely takes the series to a new path making some much needed improvements over the conventional Ones. The battery’s amperage is slightly lesser than the predecessor but the Quick Charge feature covers for it.