HTC yesterday announced the HTC One Max, a brand new smartphone in its 'One' family of devices. This one is unique in that it has fingerprint recognition, just like the iPhone 5S. The phone's U.S. release date hasn't been announced yet, but we do know that it will arrive in the United Kingdom later this week. So how much will this phablet cost off contract?
Vodafone yesterday revealed that the device would be available for £49 up front on a two-year contract at £47 per month. However, if you want to buy the phone outright, you'll be spending £600. Crave writes that Mobilefun.co.uk is selling the 32 GB SIM-free model for £600 and that the site will have the phone in stock in two to three weeks. No word on SIM-free pricing for the 16 GB model so far.
The HTC One Max packs a huge 5.9-inch 1080 x 1920 super LCD display, making it more of a phablet than a phone, and it has the same chassis we've seen in HTC's other 'One' handsets. Under the pod, you're looking at the same Snapdragon 600 CPU that we saw in the HTC One: 2 GB of RAM, 32 GB of storage, a large 3,300 mAh battery, a 4-megapixel UltraPixel camera (again, the same as the HTC One), 4G LTE support, Android 4.3, and HTC's own Sense 5.5. It should be noted that while the back is removable (to allow for storage expansion), the battery itself doesn't come out, so that 3,300 mAh battery is not designed to be user replaceable. Our friends at LAPTOP have already gone hands on with the HTC One Max. Check out the video below and be sure to click through for first impressions!
Jane McEntegart is a writer, editor, and marketing communications professional with 17 years of experience in the technology industry. She has written about a wide range of technology topics, including smartphones, tablets, and game consoles. Her articles have been published in Tom's Guide, Tom's Hardware, MobileSyrup, and Edge Up.
This is a small tablet with a phone function. I see no advantage of this compared to the One other than the expansion slot and they should have just put a slot on the side since you can't replace the battery anyway. Just another me to device.
HTC, you just like to frustrate consumers. Great speakers, display, and chassis. You fixed the power button location and the no MicroSD issue. But why have the whole back be removable to swap something a 1/4 the size of a postage stamp and not have a user replaceable battery?
