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HTC One A9 review: Like an Apple, but with a different core

SINGAPORE — While HTC was one of the forerunners of Android smartphones circa 2013, its recent track record has not been as impressive.

Blink fast enough and you may mistake the HTC One A9 for an iPhone. Photo: HTC

Blink fast enough and you may mistake the HTC One A9 for an iPhone. Photo: HTC

SINGAPORE — While HTC was one of the forerunners of Android smartphones circa 2013, its recent track record has not been as impressive.

Following the rather disappointing HTC One M9, the One A9 offered the Taiwanese manufacturer a chance to redeem itself. So, despite its claims to the contrary, we suspect that is why HTC decided to take a huge departure from its signature curved-body design and turn the One A9 into a blatant iPhone clone instead.

Like its iOS competitor, the One A9 is light, thin and fits snugly in your hand.

Unfortunately, because of its smooth aluminium texture, it is more slippery than most handsets.

HTC has added some personal touches, such as a ridged power button that is easy for users to find in the dark, and a small capacitive home key/fingerprint scanner that makes unlocking your phone with your fingerprint feel natural.

While HTC’s signature Boomsound stereo speakers are markedly absent, HTC’s focus on providing users with a high-end audio experience persists in the form of under-the-hood additions. These include both high-res audio and Dolby Surround Sound support, as well as laying the internal circuit board to ensure little electrical distortion.

Like most recent devices, the One A9 sports a 5.0-inch full HD AMOLED screen.

At maximum brightness, it is noticeably dimmer than other sets we reviewed, but otherwise, it worked splendidly on all counts.

Though the One A9 is not fitted with top-of-the-range specs, it performed decently with an onboard Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 processor, 3GB of RAM and comes with enough memory (32GB, up to 2TB more with a microSD card) for the average multimedia junkie.

The one thing that disappointed is its 13-megapixel camera. It is not as bad as the one in the BlackBerry Priv, but it is mediocre compared with competitors in its class.

At 2150mAh, the One A9’s battery capacity is significantly less than those of other recent Android devices.

Predictably, the phone only managed to last about five hours on maximum brightness, with usage that included surfing the web, photo-taking, constant Facebook, Twitter and email updates, and messaging.

The battery drains extremely quickly (almost 20 per cent in 30 minutes) with intense use, such as constant video playback.

With the power-saving Doze feature running on the Android 6.0 One A9, users may be able to stretch it to last for at least one working day if the phone is left unused for the most part.

If you are in the market for an iPhone-inspired Android smartphone, the One A9 certainly meets your criteria. However, if you are looking for an Android 6.0 device, we would recommend the far-superior Huawei Nexus 6P. The latter may have a steeper price tag, but it gives you more bang for your buck.

The HTC One A9 is available in Carbon Grey and Topaz Gold at S$798 from Singtel, M1, and StarHub, as well as major consumer electronics stores and authorised retailers.

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