The HTC One X9 is a mid-range phone in premium clothing
If HTC gets the price right, the metal-backed X9 could be a contender
In a world in which nearly every mid-range phone packs features and power aplenty, what can one do to stand out from the crowd? Get some smart threads on, of course.
The HTC One X9 has done just that: its sides and back are clad in metal and its nicely rounded form and near-bezel-less front mark it out as a premium handset.
That shouldn’t really come as a surprise given that it belongs to HTC’s illustrious One family – the M7 and M8 were among the classiest smartphones of their respective generations, while the M10 looks like a return to form after the slightly strange looking M9.
Despite being a ‘One’ phone though, the X9 doesn’t have the specs to truly belong at the top table.
They’re by no means bad, just not quite flagship level. The screen, for instance, is a 5.5in Super LCD effort at a 1080p resolution – perfectly acceptable for 2014 and not bad for 2015 but falling a bit short these days.
The camera has a 13MP sensor and f/2.0 lens, plus OIS and 4K video recording capabilities – it appears to be the same sensor as that in the HTC A9, which means it should be pretty good, but again not quite top-of-the-class.
It’s the same deal with the processor – while it’s an octa-core chip, it’s made by MediaTek rather than Qualcomm. Still, 3GB of RAM should help it fly through apps, as should Android 6.0 Marshmallow, which comes installed from launch.
You get 32GB of storage space, plus more if you want it via MicroSD card, and HTC’s fabled BoomSound with Dolby Audio thrown in too.
As we said, all very nice just not quite the absolute best.
Still, it does look very nice and we’ll be putting it through its paces properly soon.
RELATED › HTC One X9 hands-on review
Marc McLaren
Contributor 
