HTC's One A9 is a stylish mid-range handset with a sky-high price
Phones
It's always exciting to see a phone arrived running the latest version of Android.
In this case, we're talking about Android Marshmallow.
And the phone in question is the HCC 1A9, but my excitement for this phone was short lived Now it's not that there's anything wrong with the phone itself.
It's got a good five inch display, which has a full HD resolution.
And on the back you can see that it has an all metal design.
Now one of my issues with this phone is that it looks very, very similar to the iPhone 6. It's got rounded sides.
It's got lines crossing the top and the bottom.
Even the camera sticks out with a little ring going around it.
It's really very, very similar.
Even on the front, ACC has removed its [UNKNOWN] speakers, and put, in its place, a physical home button, which scans your fingerprint.
This is among the first phones we've seen that arrived with the latest Android Marshmallow software onboard.
What you'll find is features like now on tap, which puts Google Now suggestions deeper into the phone.
But HTC has also slapped its Sense Seven software over the top.
So it looks pretty much the same as the M9 does.
You'll also find things like themes, to allow you to really customize the look of the phone.
It's got an optical processor inside but I didn't find it put up much other fight.
And not did the battery.
You might struggle to get a full day of use out of the thing.
Turn the photo around and you'll see a 13 megapixel camera on the back.
Now this can take photos in raw format and it can even process those photos within the phone, helping you save blown out highlights, or areas of shadows within a shot My biggest issue with this phone though is the price.
Not the HTC 1A9 has a good lineup of midrange specs, no question.
The problem is is the HTC is pitching this as a high-end phone with a high-end price to match.
It's price puts it up against phones like LG G4 which has a much better screen and a much better processor.
And even higher than HTC's own flagship M9 and this phone really does not do enough to justify that cost.
It's possible that once this phone has been on sale for a while you might be able to pick it up for a much better price.
As of right now though, your money can definitely be better spent elsewhere.
I'm Andrew Hoyle for CNET, and this is the HTC One A9 [SOUND]
