HTC launches One A9, 828 dual SIM, to reveal price in two weeks

Taiwanese handset maker HTC on Wednesday launched two new smartphones -- a mid-range phone called the One A9, and a dual-SIM budget phone called the Desire 828. The company, however, did not reveal the launch date or the prices of these phones.

The mid-range HTC One A9 features an all-metal body , a 13 megapixel camera and 3 GB RAM (HTC)

Taiwanese handset maker HTC on Wednesday launched two new smartphones -- a mid-range phone called the One A9, and a dual-SIM budget phone called the Desire 828. The company, however, did not reveal the launch date or the prices of these phones.

"We are estimating that the devices will come to the country in two weeks which is when we shall reveal the pricing and availability as there might be a surprise for buyers," Chia-Lin Chang, president of global sales at HTC, said at the company's launch event in New Delhi.

The One A9 features an all-metal body and antenna strips on the back. It has a 5-inch display, and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 octa-core processor with 3 GB RAM. It also supports Qualcomm's latest Quick Charge 3.0 technology, which makes charging the 2,150 mAH battery faster.

The rear camera is 13 megapixel with an f/2.0 aperture for better low-light pictures. The front camera is 4 megapixel with HTC's ultrapixel technology, which, the company claims, takes better pictures than regular cameras.

The One A9 comes with 32 GB of internal memory, HTC also claims that the phone supports microSD cards up to 2 TB, but good luck trying to buy anything more than 128 GB.

The Desire 828 is a budget phone that runs Android Lollipop. HTC did not specify whether the 828 would get the latest version of Android, Marshmallow, at any point. (HTC)

The Desire 828 is a budget phone that runs Android Lollipop. HTC did not specify whether the 828 would get the latest version of Android, Marshmallow, at any point. (HTC)

The Desire 828 dual SIM is powered by a MediaTek processor and has 2 GB RAM and 16 GB storage. The rest of the features are similar to the HTC One A9 except the 828 runs on Android Lollipop with HTC Sense user interface over it. HTC did not specify whether the 828 would get an upgrade to Android Marshmallow. It also doesn't support Quick Charge, although at 2,800 mAH, the battery is slightly larger than the One A9.