HTC has a hit on its hands with its flagship HTC One smartphone. It knows this and even Samsung is rumored to be changing the design of its upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 3 from the cheap plastic is has used on all previous smartphones and copying HTC's all aluminum build. The recently leaked HTC M4 will reportedly ditch its plastic case for an all alunimum body.
I recently had a chance to use the Sprint HTC One before its release and it is hands-down the best Android smartphone on the market, in my opinion. The aluminum unibody case and design feels great and looks amazing. HTC is reportedly readying a less expensive version of the HTC One, codenamed HTC M4. An image of this smartphone was recently leaked but did not appear to have the unibody aluminum design that makes the HTC One look and feel like something on Apple's level of design and build.
HTC has reportedly decided to capitalize on the praise it has received with the HTC One and is going to wrap the HTC M4 in the same aluminum unibody enclosure. Digitimes is reporting that HTC plans on shipping the HTC M4 sometime in July and is estimating that it plans to ship 700,000 units in the second quarter.
HTC reportedly has hired Catcher Technology to be the exclusive supplier for the metal-alloy chassis that will be used in the HTC M4. HTC does not want to face any component supply issues like it had with the HTC One, and was forced to delay the smartphone for a few weeks.
The HTC M4 is expected to feature a 4.3-inch 342 ppi (pixels per inch) 1280 x 720 HD screen, Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, HTC Sense 5, 1.2Ghz dual-core Snapdragon 400 MSM8930 Krait processor, 16GB of internal storage, 1GB of RAM, 1.6M HTC UltraPixel rear camera, front-facing camera, Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 with A2DP, GPS/Glonass, and a 2,000 mAh Li-polymer battery.
HTC will probably follow suit by giving the recently leaked HTC 606w the same aluminum coat it's now believed to be giving the HTC M4. It's great to see HTC focus as much attention on design as it does features; hint, hint Samsung. The HTC One went on sale on Friday in the U.S., and if the HTC M4 is a sign of things to come from HTC, the company looks like it's well on its way to being asignificant player once again in the smartphone world.
