A One M8 Eye phone was one of two devices we expected HTC to announce at its October event, but instead, only the Desire Eye made it on stage. The One M8 Eye has turned up in HTC’s online webstore in China though, proving the phone wasn’t simply a figment of someone’s imagination.
It looks identical to the current One M8, and comes with a 5-inch, 1080p screen, a Snapdragon 801 processor, and 2GB of RAM. Android 4.4 KitKat is installed, and HTC’s Boomsound speaker system is fitted to the front. The only hardware difference is the UltraPixel camera has been replaced by a 13-megapixel camera, while the depth-of-field sensor and the 5-megapixel front camera remain unchanged. On the software side, the new Eye Experience package will be installed, including the Face Fusion app, the four-face recognition video call system, and Split Capture too.
The One M8 Eye is another subtle take on the One M8, incorporating the 13-megapixel camera used on the HTC Butterfly 2, but avoiding the plastic body shell, and water resistance seen on that device. The phone will be released on October 15, and has an approximate unconnected price of $650. Due to the small differences between it and the One M8, we’d be surprised if the One M8 Eye ever made it on sale outside of certain international markets.
We’d seen the One M8 Eye leaked early on, when a promotional image on the Chinese social networking site Weibo gave us a glimpse of the phone’s design, and possible features.
