Theta Android News: HTC still alive, could release a 5G flagship in summer: Here’s what we know

Monday, May 25, 2020

HTC still alive, could release a 5G flagship in summer: Here’s what we know

At this point, we've mostly written off HTC. The company hasn't had mainstream success in the smartphone space in years and barely releases phones anymore at all. However, the company confirmed it will release a 5G phone in 2020 and today we heard some rumors about this HTC 2020 flagship.

Before we get into what we know so far about this, we need to clarify that the source information here was written in Chinese so some things could be lost in translation. Now, on to the rumors!

HTC 2020 flagship: What might happen

According to My Drivers, the new HTC 2020 flagship could come out as early as July. However, that would likely be just in Taiwan and China with a wider global rollout to happen weeks or even months later — if that happens at all. It's very possible this could be a Greater China-only release, it's too early to tell.

My Drivers says the HTC 2020 flagship could feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset, putting it up against flagships from Samsung, OnePlus, LG, and more. Just like old times!

For the phone's design, the translation of the My Drivers article confuses us a bit. On one hand, the text makes it seem as if the new HTC 2020 flagship could be a continuation of the HTC U12 Plus design, which would mean a large forehead/chin, a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, etc. However, the language also makes it seem that HTC could update that design with the use of more modern trends, such as a display cutout or waterdrop notch for the selfie camera. There could even be a pop-up camera.

Unfortunately, it's difficult to tell if My Drivers is saying these design elements could be a part of the phone or won't be a part of the phone. It would seem quite silly for an HTC 2020 flagship to look like a 2017 flagship, though, so we're leaning towards the design being something more akin to a logical progression of the HTC U12 Plus.

As far as other specs go — including RAM, storage, cameras, etc. — we're in the dark as of now. We also don't know anything about how much the phone would cost, although the inclusion of the Snapdragon 865 all but guarantees a high price.

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A new mid-ranger, too?

HTC 2020 Mid Ranger My Drivers

Source: My Drivers

In addition to the rumored HTC 2020 flagship, it appears the company could also launch a 4G-only mid-ranger this year. This device could be powered by a Snapdragon 600-series chipset and possibly land as a Desire device.

This supposed mid-ranger could land even earlier than the flagship, with My Drivers suggesting a June launch.

With the smartphone landscape as it is, it makes way more sense for HTC to focus on a terrific mid-ranger and compete in the budget segment rather than the premium market. So we're a bit more excited to see this 4G phone than we are the HTC 2020 flagship, but who knows: it's not impossible for the company to make a legit comeback.