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Gigantic HTC One Max officially launches with fingerprint scanner

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Calling all supersize phone lovers: The HTC One Max is finally official, rocking a huge 5.9-inch display and fingerprint scanner.

The giant phone, effectively a larger version of the HTC One, will propel HTC into the ‘phablet’ market which its rival Samsung carved out for itself with the Galaxy Note a few years ago. It’s HTC’s first proper attempt at a large phone, though it has already dabbled in screen sizes around the 5-inch mark – the Butterfly and Butterfly S being recent examples.

Running Android 4.3 paired with HTC’s own Sense 5.5 user interface, the One Max operates in much the same way as its smaller and perhaps more refined brother, the HTC One. It also looks very similar, keeping the same stylish aluminium unibody design but stepping things up in the size department considerably – this thing measures 164.5 x 82.5 x 10.3 mm and weighs in at a hefty 217g.

The One Max keeps the impressive UltraPixel rear camera from the original One but unfortunately loses optical image stabilisation, so you’ll need a slightly steadier hand to get those sharp snaps. Up front is a 2 megapixel camera which sits atop the huge 5.9-inch Full HD display. Beats Audio isn’t present for the first time in a while for HTC, though its new BoomSound tech with dual stereo speakers either side of the screen certainly is.

HTC’s new phone is mostly a much bigger version of the popular HTC One, though it does carry one interesting new feature that’s exclusive and not particularly on any other recent Android phones; a fingerprint scanner. Situated just below the rear camera is a clear square panel, designed to recognise the user’s fingerprint in a similar way to the iPhone 5S. We’ve not yet been briefed on exactly what this sensor will be used for, though unlocking the phone and authorising apps would be our educated guesses.

Inside is a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 chip beating away in conjunction with 2GB of RAM and either 16 or 32GB of storage and unlike the HTC One, there’s a micro SD card slot for expansion thanks to the One Max having a removable back cover. Whether the switch from a solid, unibody aluminium design to a removable rear cover will have any effect on the overall feel of the phone in the hand remains to be seen.

The phone has been officially announced today in the Far East and is headed to Europe and Asia almost immediately after the launch, so expect to see it in stores and online within a week or two. The US will also receive the gargantuan phone, with Sprint and Verizon Wireless already signed up to stock it from late November time. Prices are yet to be confirmed.

In case you were wondering just how big this baby is in comparison to the original HTC One, check out this comparison shot, courtesy of The Verge.

UPDATE: Vodafone UK will be exclusively stocking the HTC One Max as of this week from £47 per month, with the phone itself costing £49 up front.