HTC hasn't yet made the M8 (also rumoured to called the One 2 or One+) smartphone official, but we know a successor to the excellent HTC One is on its way; following a patent dispute with Nokia, a UK patent judge revealed that a new model would be launching in February or March 2014. But what will it be like? We've rounded up all the rumours and speculation here, to get an idea what to expect from HTC early next year.
HTC One 2 Name
With the previous flagship handset being known simply as the One, it's anyone's guess as to what HTC will call its successor. The company is believed to be using M8 purely as a codename, which is unlikely to stick all the way to retail, but we're doubtful that the company would launch a product called the HTC One Two - it sounds like you'd need to be a premiership footballer or a Chuckle brother to own one.
It's possible HTC will use a combination of words and numbers, resulting in the HTC One 2, use superscript (HTC One2) or subscript (HTC One2) to stylise the name, or copy Apple's iPhone 5s and use a letter instead.
The latest suggestion is the HTC One+, which came following news that the handset would be more of an incremental design than a fully-fledged successor.
Nothing is official yet, so until we hear otherwise we'll be calling it the HTC One 2.
HTC One 2 design
If there's one thing the original One handset garnered near-universal praise for, it was design. The unibody aluminium construction was almost enough to rival theiPhone 5 and made the Galaxy S4 look like a plastic toy. We're positive that the company won't take a step backwards and use plastic or polycarbonate for the successor, and early leaked photos seemingly back this up.
The pictures, discovered by Unwiredview, show a rear cover for a handset that looks very similar to the One, albeit with an additional hole towards the top (more on this below).
The design incorporates rounded edges which extend further outwards than the rear cover of the HTC One, which Engadget postulates could be a way to avoid the costly zero gap injection method used to build the One's unibody shell.
Although the images appear to show the cover with a blue colour scheme, it's possible this is just a trick of the light - the official blue HTC One is much brighter, so we expect the final result to be more in keeping with the silver aluminium first seen on the original One.
Multiple colours aren't out of the question; HTC typically launches its flagship handsets in a choice of two colours, then adds extra options further down the line. The HTC One currently has silver, black, red, blue and gold models, so we would expect a successor to follow suit eventually - although probably not at launch.
It's possible that the capacitive buttons won't be making a return; according toAndroid Revolution HD, HTC's next phone will instead use virtual buttons like theGoogle Nexus 5, potentially making way for a larger display instead.
These early reports were seemingly backed up by more leaked photos from an unofficial Russian HTC Twitter account, which posted an image reportedly showing the outline of the front of the new handset.
HTC One 2 screen
The HTC One was among the first set of Android smartphones to make the jump to a 1080p display, alongside Samsung's Galaxy S4 and Sony Xperia Z, so we're certain its successor won't be making a step back to 720p.
According to notorious Twitter smartphone tipster @evleaks, the One 2 will have the same 4.7in display as the original One, and will stick with a 1080p resolution. HTC is almost guaranteed to stick with its Super LCD panel technology too, rather than switch to OLED.
If true, the screen may be the first stumbling block when it comes to beating the smartphone competition; leaked benchmark results suggest the Samsung Galaxy S5 will have a 2,560x1,440 resolution screen. There's a possibility the screen will increase from 4.99in to 5.25in too, which would make the S5 significantly larger than HTC's upcoming handset.
If HTC does increase the size of the screen, it may need to relocate the power button or get rid of the front-facing BoomSound speakers; a top-mounted power button would be even more unwieldy and difficult to reach than it is now on the One.
HTC One Camera
HTC was the first manufacturer to use larger pixel camera sensors with the Ultrapixel camera in the HTC One, so it was widely expected the company would continue to use the technology in its new handset. This would give it fewer overall megapixels than competing smartphones, but the ability to capture more detail in low light.
Of all the leaked images seen so far, the biggest surprise was the one suggesting the HTC One 2 may ship with two rear camera sensors. This would either give the handset Lytro-like refocussing abilities, allowing you to change the point of focus after you've taken a photo for more creative shots, or improve low light performance even further than Ultrapixels alone. Toshiba has a smartphone light field camera sensor which suggests this could be a possibility, but with no further details it stays a rumour for now.
The twin LED flash could also use different coloured LEDs for more accurate low-light images, much like Apple's iPhone 5s, although they could simply provide brighter illumination when shooting in the dark.
HTC One 2 specifications
The HTC M8 will apparently use a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 system-on-chip (SoC), according to a revelatory tweet from EVleaks. This was seemingly backed up by a benchmark result for an unnamed HTC handset, which produced near identical scores to a Sony Xperia Z1 and LG's Snapdragon 800-equipped G2smartphone. This would suggest it has a similar amount of memory to these two handsets (2GB), although no firm figures have been discovered to verify the fact.
It's possible that HTC is working to include Qualcomm's Snapdragon 805 instead of the 800, with the latest round of rumours suggesting the company is awaiting drivers from the manufacturer before they can proceed with the swap.
Other specifications mentioned so far include a larger 2,900mAh battery, up from 2,300mAh in the HTC One, and a microSD card slot. This is only a little surprising, as clearly there was enough demand for expandable storage that HTC brought itspreviously Asia-only HTC One DualSim to the UK earlier this year.
HTC One 2 Android
HTC doesn't have the greatest track record when it comes to updating its devices with the latest version of Android - just look at the company's update tracker to see how many handsets are still languishing on Android 4.2 or even 4.1. By the time the HTC One 2 arrives, it will hopefully be running 4.4 KitKat, most likely with a new HTC Sense 6.0 custom user interface on top.
HTC One 2 fingerprint sensor
HTC took a leaf out of Apple's book when it added a fingerprint sensor to the HTC One Max - just a few months after the iPhone 5s introduced TouchID. It's currently one of the only Android handsets with biometric security, but there's a good chance the HTC One 2 could join its ranks.
Based on the leaked rear cover photos seen above, a third cutout above the camera sensor and flash could indicate presence of a fingerprint reader. Moving it above the camera, rather than below it like on the One Max, would better suit a smaller handset as your index finger naturally rests toward the top of the handset. It would be easier to reach and you'd be less likely to wipe your finger over the camera sensor.
HTC One 2 Wi-Fi
The new handset has now been Wi-Fi certified and appears in the Wi-Fi Alliance certification database, as PhoneArena.com reports. As we'd expect from the latest smartphone, the HTC One 2 supports both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. We'd have been shocked if this phone wasn't a dual-band model.
The certificate lists the handset has being 802.11ac certified. In our tests we've seen laptops with 802.11ac manage transfer rates of near-on 300Mbit/s, so prospective HTC One 2 owners can expect faster speeds than regular 802.11n if they have a compatible router.
While the type of Wi-Fi in the phone is interesting, the fact that the handset has been certified means something more important: the HTC M8 or HTC One 2, whichever you prefer, is due for release very soon. This should mean that it's ready to be launched early next year, with Q1 being the most likely launch date.
Given that the CES show in January will take up most people's time, we'd say a February or March launch is on the cards for this smartphone. The only question is, can HTC launch its smartphone before the Samsung marketing juggernaut kicks into gear for the Galaxy S5 launch?
HTC One 2 Mini
With almost every manufacturer now making a smaller version of its flagship handset, it should come as no surprise that HTC is expected to do the same with its new smartphone. Another leak from @EVleaks suggests that the HTC One 2 Mini is on the way, potentially with a 1.4GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor in place of the dual-core model found in the HTC One mini.
With the One 2's screen size still up in the air, but expected to arrive at between 4.7in and 5in, the One 2 Mini could see a 4.5in, 720p resolution screen. It should also ship with Android 4.4 KitKat, along with HTC's Sense UI in its 6.0 incarnation.
If the HTC One 2/M8 dumps capacitive buttons for on-screen ones, we would expect the One 2 Mini to do the same. Also rumoured for inclusion are a 13-megapixel camera (no ultrapixels here, it seems), 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage and microSD expansion.
With few details and no leaked images to date, the One 2 Mini could be further away than the One 2. We won't know until HTC makes it official (see below).
HTC One 2 release date
Even before a release window was revealed during a patent dispute with Nokia in early December, the common consensus was that HTC would release its next flagship handset on the one year anniversary of the introduction of the One. That was February 2013, so the One 2 is very likely to arrive in February or March 2014.
When lawyers representing Nokia presented evidence to the UK court as part of a patent battle with HTC suggesting the Taiwanese company would release its next flagship in either February or March, HTC's own lawyers didn't deny it. Although not an outright confirmation, it's the firmest evidence we have yet. Basically, if your contract is about to run out in the next month or two, it's a good idea to wait and see what HTC reveals come the Spring.
We know know exactly when HTC will make the handset official: the 25th of March. The company sent out Media invites to two simultaneous briefings in New York and London, confirming that the phone won't be making an appearance at February's Mobile World Congress trade show after all.
HTC One 2 price
When it first went on sale, the HTC One cost around £500 SIM-free and was available for £40 on a monthly contract. These prices quickly fell, and after just a few weeks you could get a contract handset for under £30 or a pay-as-you-go model for £350. We would expect the HTC One 2 to follow a similar patten, starting at the top end of smartphone prices and sticking there until a worthy competitor arrives.
The HTC One was a 4G handset, so we would naturally expect its successor to be the same - meaning it will appear on all of the major 4G networks, including EE,Vodafone, O2 and Three.
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