HTC One M8s is a cheaper variant of the One M8 for Europe
HTC has announced a cheaper version of its last year flagship, the One M8, for the European market powered by a 64-bit processor — the One M8s.
The M8s looks exactly like HTC’s last year flagship handset, but sacrifices the Snapdragon 801 chipset for a newer 64-bit octa-core Snapdragon 615 processor. Other changes include a beefier 2840mAh battery, and a 13MP rear camera with a secondary depth sensor, which allows it to retain all the gimmicky “Duo” effects found on the M8. The handset is also a tad thicker (9.55) than the original M8 (9.4mm).
Other specs of the handset remain the same, which includes a 5-inch 1080p S-LCD3 display, 2GB RAM, 16GB of storage space, a microSD card slot, a 5MP selfie shooter and front-facing BoomSound speakers. On the software side, the One M8s will be running on Android 5.0 Lollipop with Sense 6.0 on top of it.
The handset is expected to launch in the U.K. soon with the SIM-free variant coming in at £379.99 (~$550).
HTC will be replacing the One M8 with the M8s, and the lower price tag should actually make the handset a decent mid-range offering. The Snapdragon 615 chip inside the M8s might be a tad slower than the Snapdragon 801, but the difference is hardly going to be noticeable in day-to-day usage. Additionally, the chipset should deliver better battery life than the One M8 because of the slightly bigger battery and reduced power consumption.