HTC One A9 is a midrange iClone that costs half as much as its inspiration

HTC today took the wraps off the heavily leaked One A9, a new midrange smartphone that abandons much of the Taiwanese manufacturer's aesthetic lineage for a seemingly iPhone inspired design.

Much like this year's One M9, the HTC One A9 is a 5-inch smartphone with a 1080p display. HTC has however eschewed staples such as its front-facing, stereo BoomSound speakers, which have resulted in a slimmer, shorter form-factor. Under the hood, the One A9 is powered by a Snapdragon 617 eight-core processor and a 2150 mAh Quick Charge 2.0 enabled battery. Two configurations will be available: one with 16GB of expandable storage and 2GB of RAM, and another with 32GB of expandable storage and 3GB of RAM..

In terms of cameras, the One A9 has a 13MP rear shooter with optical image stabilisation and an aperture of f/2.0, and an "UltraPixel" front-facing camera.