Everything We Think We Know About The HTC M8 / HTC One 2

The HTC One received favorable reviews when it launched back in April but its sales slumped and as a result, HTC had a worse than expected year. HTC is trying to turn things around however, with the HTC One’s full fledged successor, currently known as the HTC M8. Nothing is officially known about the phone, it hasn’t even been announced to the public, but a series of leaks have given some things we can go off of. This is everything we think we know about the HTC M8.

Keep in mind that everything below is a rumor and should be taken as such. With that said, some of the leaks come from fairly reputable sources, not the least of which is the leaker extraordinaire @evleaks, who has been spot on in the past and has been following the HTC One 2 for a while now. Still, everything here should be taken with a grain of salt.

The Name:

First, we are almost certain that the final name of HTC’s upcoming flagship phone will not be the HTC M8. The M8 is supposedly the internal codename for the device at HTC. That isn’t hard to believe because the HTC One was codenamed the HTC m7.

There are several names besides the HTC m8 that have been floated around the internet. The HTC One+ and the HTC One 2 are the most common. The HTC One 2 name, for as awkward as it sounds, just got a bunch of credibility. GSMarena is reporting, just hours ago, that a French governmental website, meant to let users check their phone’s compatibility with their 3G network, has “HTC One 2″ listed as a selectable device.

Not exactly a confirmation, but it is the biggest hint yet of what the device might be called.

The Screen:

The HTC One had a 1080p 4.7 inch S-LCD3 screen that was called “gorgeous” by critics. To follow it up, HTC appears ready to make a jump in screen size, to 5 inches. That has been nearly confirmed by several image leaks that seem too common to be completely false.

Less assured is a leak coming that states the screen will not only see an increase in size, but resolution. According to their sources, GSMinsider says the phone will sport a 2k (1440×2560) screen. If those rumors end up being correct, it would put the phone on par with the Samsung Galaxy S5’s rumored screen.

The Hardware:

The aforementioned @evleaks is responsible for this rumor. The phone is expected to house the Snapdragon MSM8974, AKA the Snapdragon 800. The Snapdragon 800 is a quad core CPU that can be clocked up to 2.3Ghz. The HTC One had a Snapdragon 600 quad core CPU that could be clocked up to 1.9Ghz. In addition to the @evleaks tweet, the Snapdragon 800 has shown up as the CPU in several purported HTC m8 AnTuTu scores that have floated around the web.

The same leak that seems to confirm the HTC One 2 name, also confirmed that the device will have a dual SIM version.

Thanks to @evleaks and those aforementioned AnTuTu stats, we also (think) we know that the HTC One 2 will sport 2GB of RAM, just like its predecessor.

As for the battery, there have been some numbers floating out there, a 2,900mAh being the most common, but we have yet to see anything definitive or even convincing.

The Camera:

Cameras have always been a big part of HTC phones, even before the HTC One. So it should come as no surprise that the HTC One 2 / HTC m8’s camera has had a myriad of rumors swirling around it.

HTC’s Ultrapixel technology has given it an edge over its competitors. While on paper its phones have weaker cameras than their competitors, in practice they perform admirably.

The most recent rumors have the phone sporting two Ultrapixel cameras on the back end to give better resolution and depth of field. Previous rumors have it sporting a 10MP “Ultrapixel” camera with swappable lenses. And others still had the HTC ImageChip 3 being debuted with the phone.

None of these rumors are contradictory necessarily, but it is unlikely all of them are true. It would simply be too expensive. Regardless of which of them are true, it seems clear that HTC is putting a lot into its next flagship phone’s camera.

The Build:

Like the HTC One, the HTC One 2 / m8 is expected to have a case made of molded metal. HTC’s CEO said that all their upcoming flagship phones would be designed in this way, so this “rumor” is almost certainly true. It is also backed up by the leaked images of alleged HTC One 2 / m8 cases.

Looking at those images, it seems clear that HTC isn’t changing much from its original design, other than increasing the size.

What should make it stand out from the HTC One however, is its heavily rumored Sapphire fingerprint scanner. This seems likely as the HTC One MAX (the slight upgrade of the HTC One) featured a fingerprint scanner.

Software:

The HTC One 2 / m8 is expected to run Android 4.4 (Kit kat) and HTC’s update on its custom skin, HTC Sense 6.0.

Neither comes as a surprise. The Kit Kat update has been rolling out to HTC One users early this month, so it wouldn’t make sense to ship their next phone without it. Additionally, it just makes logical sense for HTC to showcase its next custom skin on hardware designed specifically to run it.

Reveal and Release Dates:

Many were hoping to see the phone at last month’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, but that ended up not being the case. The Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is a good bet, but as ubergizmo points out, HTC may reveal it a week early. The recent appearance on that French Government website seems to add credence to that.

As for when we will actually get to buy the HTC One 2 / m8, rumors have had the phone coming out in the 1Q of this year, and that still seems likely. The HTC One was originally released in March, which would be an ideal time to launch its successor.