HTC One M8

HTC One M8 Ace release date, news and rumors

IN DEPTH The plastic fantastic One M8

By John McCann  

Can HTC make the One M8 into an Ace phone? (credit: ifanr)

The HTC One M8 is an excellent smartphone - so good in fact it's one of only a handful of mobiles to garner a 5 star TechRadar review and claim the title of the best smartphone you can buy in 2014.

It's odd then, that we're hearing reports of a new variant of the One M8 which HTC is apparently making worse on purpose.

Considering we already have the HTC One Mini 2 as well as reports for the even more premium One M8 Prime, yet another handset looking to steal the show from the M8 appears confusing, not to mention rather Samsung-esque.

• What is the HTC One M8 Prime?

Some reports have referred to the plastic M8 as the "HTC One M8 Vogue Edition", which is pretty terrible and we hope that particular rumor doesn't ring true.

HTC has teased another "One" handset, with the Taiwanese firm taking to Chinese social site Sina Weibo with a series of images bearing the slogan "To win a war you have to start ONE" and references about fashion.

Cut to the chase
What is it? A cheaper, plastic One M8
When is it out? It may arrive in June or July
What will it cost? Less than M8, more than One Mini 2

HTC One M8 Ace release date and price

According to Taiwanese and Chinese retailers the HTC One M8 Ace could arrive as soon as June 3, although with the date rapidly approaching we've not heard anything from HTC itself which hints at a possible launch.

In terms of the One M8 Ace price, one leak points quotes 3000 Chinese Yen (around $480, £285, AU$520) - although those conversions look widely off as they are much cheaper than the One Mini 2.

HTC One M8 Ace design

Unsurprisingly the HTC One M8 Ace is tipped to borrowing the stylings of its namesake - although the big difference here is the material used in the body.

We lauded the One M8 for its sultry metal chassis, but it appears the M8 Ace will have to settle for a plastic shell, which appears to be the main component in making it a cheaper handset.

Various images have leaked claiming to show the One M8 Ace, with our first glimpse given to us by @evleaks whose shot appeared blurred and very grainy.

Is this really the One M8 Ace? (credit: @evleaks)

The handset in this image does bear a resemble to the One M8, although the Boomsound speaker grilles on the front appear different. Some have suggested this is in fact the red version of the One M8, but those speakers suggest otherwise.

A more intriguing image leak of the One M8 Ace came via Chinese site ifanr, which showed a render of an HTC handset.

It's not clear whether the handset is sporting the Duo Camera setup or purely just a camera lens with elevated flash, while the power/lock key has been centralized on the top of the device with no sign of an IR blaster.

This could be the plastic clad M8 Ace (credit: ifanr)

The body doesn't appear to be metal in the render, and it's missing the horizontal black bands which appear towards the top and bottom of the One M8.

After leaking the red version of the One M8 Ace, it appears the same site has also managed to come across a render of the white version.

Now in white (credit: ifanr)

This time we can see the front of the handset, complete with Sense 6.0 and Blinkfeed on screen and Boomsound speakers above and below it - although the rumored speakers look different.

It's been suggested that the plastic casing will provide a wider range of colors to consumers, with red, white, black and blue all touted for the M8 Ace.

A whole host of screenshots claiming to show off the HTC One M8 Ace have also found their way onto the web via a Chinese source, and the microSD slot appears to be present along with the nanoSIM port.

It's worth noting this top image has more in common with the Desire 816, with the less rounded edges covered in glossy plastic, so it's worth taking these with a pinch of salt.

Just the one camera (credit: twhook)

Oh look, it makes calls (credit: twhook)

This looks familiar (credit: twhook)