Since HTC is not exactly having a good year, an exceptionally innovative device is probably what it needs to invigorate its less than impressive sales. If recent reports are of any indication, that is exactly what the Taiwan-based consumer electronics company is planning to do.
Its current flagship, the HTC One M9, has failed to gain traction among smartphone buyers mostly due to its unremarkable improvement over last year's One M8. Now, aside from the rumored HTC O2 (formerly believed to be the HTC M10), the company looks like it is trying to compensate by working on another device known as the HTC Aero.
The largely unknown HTC Aero has just been pictured in the wild. This time, the images come from a familiar source. The handset, which is expected to launch as "HTC A9," has been leaked by a Chinese Weibo user as well as serial leakster named Steve Hemmerstoffer via his Twitter account.
However, one thing is clearly evident in the photo -- the back side of the alleged HTC Aero looks eerily similar to the iPhone 6. The HTC device was pictured alongside Apple's current flagship, with the former's familiar golden hue a few shades more vivid than the latter.
Both devices sport almost the same metal design, a flat rear surface with white plastic breaks intended to boost wireless connectivity. The stark difference lies on the Aero's camera placement; while the iPhone 6's shooter is located on the upper left-hand side, HTC placed the camera on the upper middle portion.
This new leak does not provide any details about the model's internal specs. However, earlier reports suggested that the HTC Aero would be powered by a 10-core MediaTek Helio X20 chipset and will feature a 5.5-inch QHD display with 2.5D curved glass. It will be packed with 4GB Ram and an f/1.9 aperture main camera with an undisclosed resolution.
However, it is possible that the leak photos are not genuine as some of the earlier HTC Aero or A9 leaks turned out to be Photoshopped, according to Phone Arena. Legitimate or not, it is not entirely accurate to assume that HTC is blatantly imitating Apple's design. HTC is actually one of the first device makers to launch devices with zero-gap construction. In fact, the HTC One M7 is among the first to manifest this design concept which blends plastic and metal to end up with a premium-looking body without sacrificing network connectivity.
We have not heard anything from HTC that confirms or denies these speculations. Cher Wang, the company's CEO, previously mentioned that HTC will be releasing a "hero" handset this October. It's not clear whether it will be the rumored HTC O2 or this familiar-looking HTC Aero, but we can assure that the device will feature some state-of-the-art specs to better compete with market leaders like Apple and Samsung.
