HTC One (M9) Leaks Were Fake: Decoy Units Shared To Hide Design Upgrades In Upcoming Flagship

The several leaked images of the upcoming flagship smartphone by HTC may have been decoys to throw competitors off course of what the Taiwanese manufacturer has planned. The HTC One (M9) may actually be different in design than older flagship models like the HTC One (M8) and HTC One (M7), tech blog HTC Source reports.

Images of a device that was supposedly the HTC One (M9) were shared by several publications, including French tech blog No Where Else last week. The leaks suggested that the M9 would have a form similar to the HTC One M8 and M7. While the M8 and M7 have been lauded as extremely well-designed smartphones in their day, pundits lamented that the design was getting boring after being seen for two consecutive years. The only differences to be found between the device in the leaked images and older HTC flagship models were the power button moved from the top of the device to the side, and the volume keys being two buttons instead of one.

However, an unnamed source told HTC Source that these images do not show the actual design of the HTC One (M9), but are decoy test units intended to hide real details about the upcoming device. The real HTC One (M9) reportedly will be reminiscent in design to the HTC Desire 826. The smartphone may feature an edge-to-edge glass panel and speakers located at the top and bottom edges of the device, rather than in the front.

In 2013, prior to the launch of the HTC One (M7), several leaks surfaced of handsets and components that many claimed came with the M7, but the smartphone looked nothing like the leaks that had circulated, HTC Source also noted.

The HTC One (M9) is expected to launch on March 1 at a World Mobile Congress press event, which HTC already has announced. The device may feature the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chip and HTC’s Sense UI on top of Google’s latest Android operating system, in addition to a 5-inch Full HD 1080p display, the Adreno 430 GPU 3GB of RAM and a 2,840mAh battery.