It’s Christmas Eve for many folks around the world, and HTC is giving us the gift of a shiny new Android phone with the reveal of the HTC One X9.
The One X9 is now live on HTC China’s website, complete with a bevy of product shots and spec details. The HTC One X9 boasts a 5.5-inch 1920x1080 display, and HTC says that at 75.9mm wide, the One X9 should be comfortable to use with one hand even with that large display.
Also on the front of the One X9 are two of its other notable features. The first are its front-facing BoomSound speakers, which were absent on the One A9, an omission that some folks weren’t happy about. And then there are the capacitive navigation buttons below the X9’s screen. These buttons used to be prevalent in the Android world, but most device makers are now opting for on-screen buttons, which Google prefers. However, HTC’s roughly translated web page says that consumers wanted the always-visible capacitive buttons on a device, so they’ve returned on the One X9.
Around back, the HTC One X9 has been equipped with a 13-megapixel camera with dual flash, optical image stabilization, and RAW photo support. There’s also a 5-megapixel camera around front.
Rounding out the One X9’s spec list is an octa-core MediaTek Helio X10 processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, a microSD slot that supports cards up to 2TB, dual SIM slots, 4G LTE, and a 3000mAh battery. All of those goodies are wrapped in a metal body that measures 7.99mm thick.
The HTC One X9 is launching in China at a price of 2399 Yuan ($370 USD), which is actually a bit cheaper than the One A9, HTC’s other recent hero phone that costs 2799 Yuan ($432 USD). At that price, the One X9 is entering the affordable smartphone range, which has gotten fiercely competitive lately thanks to other Android device makers. We’ll have to wait and see if the One X9 can take the fight to those phones, but on paper, it looks like a respectable device for the money.