The HTC One M8 is a great smartphone, but it’s expensive: you’ll pay almost $900 for the outright handset, or be locked into 24 months of mandatory minimum repayments as part of a contract with your telco. Buying the surely-soon-to-be-confirmed One M8 Ace should be a fair bit cheaper — the phone’s plastic body looks to shave off about a third of the price, at least in China.
It’s all but a sure thing, with leaked photos all over HTC’s Chinese website. According to Engadget, the plastic-bodied HTC One M8 Ace, also known as the Vogue Edition, has largely identical specs to the regular top-of-the-line Android phone — the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chipset, BoomSound speakers and a 5-inch 1080p display. The big difference apart from the plastic shell is the M8 Ace’s 13-megapixel camera, distinct from HTC’s UltraPixel Duo sensor in the regular M8.
For some buyers, a plastic case would be the best thing that could happen to HTC’s flagship phone. Plastic is a little more forgiving than aluminium, and while it doesn’t feel as high-end it’s a small price to pay for a much more affordable device.
If the One M8 Ace comes to Australia, it should be a significantly cheaper alternative to the regular M8, as well as Samsung’s Galaxy S5 and other high-end smartphones of that ilk. We’ve got our fingers crossed. [Engadget]