Images leak of purported HTC One M8 'Prime'
Alleged supersized successor to flagship One M8 appears to sport larger screen and a protruding camera lens, perhaps addressing one of the few complaints of its predecessor.
HTC may be getting ready to give its flagship One M8 a supersized makeover.
Recent rumors have suggested that the Taiwanese handset maker was developing a larger, faster version of the One M8, a smartphone purportedly dubbed One M8 Prime. An animation posted by @evleaks Tuesday allegedly shows a 360-degree view of the apparent companion to the One M8, which was just released in March.
In addition to what appears to be the much-rumored 5.5-inch QHD display, trumping the 5-inch display on the One M8, the most obvious difference for the handset depicted in the animation is a camera lens that protrudes from its body rather than the typical recessed camera. The quality of the images produced by the One M8 was one of the few complaints expressed by reviewers, who said the handset's camera image quality was less sharp than competitors and sometimes " muddy ."
The One M8 Prime is also said to be HTC's first water-resistant handset, addressing another complaint with its predecessor. The handset maker is said to be using an "exotic material" to make the body waterproof -- essentially a composite of aluminum and liquid silicone.
Other rumored improvements to the One M8, which topped the CNET 100 list in April, include a Snapdragon 805 processor, an increase of RAM from 2GBs to 3GBs, and support for category 6 LTE connectivity, which promises download speeds of up to 300Mbps.
The images included no suggestion of when consumers might expect the alleged handset to hit the market. CNET has contacted HTC for comment and will update this report when we learn more.