HTC Hima (M9) render leaks; new flagship to be unwrapped at CES?

A tweet out of France by NWE's Steve Hemmerstoffer, states that HTC will be taking the wraps off of its new flagship model earlier than expected. While the code-named HTC Hima (M9) was originally rumored to be unveiled in March during MWC, the latest buzz has the device being introduced next month at CES instead. HTC has run into some problems with the release cycle for its flagship phones. When the HTC One (M8) was launched last March, the handset had the latest specs including a Snapdragon 801 chipset, 2GB of RAM and a 1080 x 1920 resolution on its 5-inch screen.

But the specs on the HTC One (M8) were soon overtaken by Android phones like the LG G3 offering 3GB of RAM, and a 1440 x 2560 resolution on its screen. The Hima is expected to allow HTC to play catch up by offering a 1440 x 2560 QHD screen, 3GB of RAM and an octa-core Snapdragon 810 CPU. An Adreno 430 GPU will crunch graphics. Android 5.0 is pre-installed, with Sense 7.0 running on top. A 20.7MP rear-facing camera adorns the back of the unit, with a 13MP front-facing snapper included. The 2840mAh battery could be optimized to allow a long battery life for the device, similar to how the manufacturer squeezes more cell life than expected out of the HTC One (M8).

The tweet also includes a press render of the HTC Hima which is too psychedelic to actually provide us with an image of the phone that our brain can process. We would take that image with a grain of salt. With that in mind, we are certainly hoping that the speculation is true, and that we are only a bit more than a week away from the unveiling of HTC's next flagship phone.

Thanks for the tip!

source: @stagueve