We’ve not heard a great deal from HTC since earlier in the year when it launched the trio of One series smartphones; the One X, One S, and One V.
The only murmurs we’ve heard since then have been in regards to the One XL; a supercharged version of the One X for 4G markets. Now, with the company’s profits rumoured to be slipping, we’re hearing of a new gadget on the block from HTC; the ‘Proto’.
According to The Verge, the HTC Proto is going to be aimed at the budget to mid-range market, and is looking to be an improved version of the current One V model. For starters the screen size has been bumped up to 4-inches, and although it retains the same 800 x 480 resolution as the One V, the panel itself is a superior Super AMOLED one.
HTC looks to be keeping things unchanged in terms of camera and storage, with a 5-megapixel rear shooter and 4GB of internal memory. RAM remains identical at 512MB which is unsurprising for a phone in this area of the market, and the HSPA radio tops out at speeds of 7.2Mbps – our main gripe with the One V.
Speed wasn’t the One V’s strong point – as we explained in our video review – but thankfully the new Proto model will improve on that with a 1GHz dual-core chip from Qualcomm. For those who really know their Snapdragons from their S4s, the chip used is said to be the MSM8225, which resides in the low end of the S4 chip family.
Beats Audio branding is apparently going to be there, although with the expected price range for the phone we’re certain you won’t be getting any Beats headphones bundled with it. Finally, the Proto is said to be a slender 9.62mm thick, which is ever-so slightly thicker than the One V.
No price or release date has surfaced yet, although autumn is pinned as the general time frame for the Proto’s launch.
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