HTC One M9's Design, Colors Revealed In New Press Renders

We’re just a little over a week away from the official unveil of HTC’s next generation flagship: the One M9. The smartphone will be unveiled in Barcelona, Spain at the Mobile World Congress, but that isn’t stopping new renders of the One M9 in its final form from leaking to the Internet.

German Retailer CyberPort posted press renders of the One M9 in a few different color combinations including gunmetal grey and gold/silver. Not surprisingly, the renders match up nicely with leaked photos that we’ve already seen of the One M9. For better or worse, the One M9 isn’t a drastic departure from the current generation One M8, which itself was a clear evolution of the One M7. However, the design of the One series has been generally well received by the tech press and customers, so why ruin a good thing? 

When it comes to specs, most agree that the smartphone will feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 processor, 3GB of RAM, a 20MP rear camera, 13MP front-facing camera, and a 5-inch display. As for that display, word on the street is that HTC isn’t joining its competitors in the effort to spread QHD (2560x1440) resolutions to flagship smartphones. Instead, HTC is likely looking to preserve battery life by retaining a 1080p display. 

Back in May 2014, Huawei Consumer Business Group CEO Richard Yu trashed the idea of QHD screens on smartphones, stating, “I don't think we need QHD displays on mobiles. Your eyes totally cannot identify between full HD and 2K on a smartphone. You can't distinguish the difference, so it's totally nonsense.”

Yu went on to add, “[Your] eyes cannot see the difference, so why should we do that? I think it's a stupid thing." 

We don’t know if HTC has the same strong opinions about QHD screens on smartphones as Yu, but we definitely feel that its decision to stick with 1080p will allow the One M9 to hover near the top of the charts when it comes to battery life compared to its peers.