Can HTC go One better?

As the company prepares to launch its next flagship smartphone, we round up the rumors and reports ahead of its official reveal on Tuesday.

As the company prepares to launch its next flagship smartphone, we round up the rumors and reports ahead of its official reveal on Tuesday.

The original HTC One is universally considered one of, if not the best, premium Android handset of 2013. Yes, the Samsung Galaxy SIV was bigger, and more feature-packed and the LG G2 has buttons on its back panel and can be unlocked simply by knocking on it (like a front door), but, what neither has but the HTC One offered in abundance was Apple levels of design and attention to detail. Those details included an aluminum -- not plastic -- casing, an almost bezel-free display and some clever camera technology that made the phone brilliant for capturing images in low light.

So HTC has a lot to do if it is to improve on the original and if it hopes to compete with the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the other premium Android handsets coming to market this year.

Thanks to a host of leaked images and specifications lists, the signs are promising. The new handset is keeping the same design as the outgoing model, aluminum build and all, but it will be slightly longer to accommodate a 5-inch full HD display.

The new phone will also do away with capacitive buttons in favor of on-screen buttons. In terms of specs, it will get the latest Qualcomm quad core processor, so it should be fast and, finally, will support internal storage expansion via MicroSD card. This omission was the only blot on the original's copybook.

Imaging performance is also cracked up a notch with the addition of a second camera on the back. The idea is that it will compensate for badly taken images and enhance depth of field for pictures with a more professional feel. There are also suggestions that the two-camera set-up will enable users to refocus pictures after they've been taken, a standard feature on a number of high-end Nokia Lumia handsets.

In terms of style, the new phone will also come with a clever case with a perforated front. When closed, the date, time and the weather will shine through the holes like an old-school digital or dot-matrix display.

Best of all, there isn't long to wait to find out how accurate the rumors are. The new handset will be officially revealed at 1pm EST on Tuesday, March 25 and is expected to go on sale immediately afterwards.