As we already knew, HTC was preparing to take a leaf out of Apple — which offers low price variants of the iPhones — and some other major smartphone manufacturer’s book as it geared up for the release of a mid range version of the HTC One M8. However, this device is expected to completely replace the latter as HTC plans to stop selling the M8. The spec sheet for the device is expected to mirror that of the One M8 with a couple of significant changes in the main hardware and in all probability it will even look like the M8.
For example, the device will employ a 64-bit octa-core Snapdragon 615 CPU instead of the Snapdragon 801 used in the original M8 which packs quite a bit more processing power implying the new phone will be a tad slower. Similarly, instead of the Adreno 330, the graphics will be catered to by an Adreno 405 GPU —  yes we know what you are thinking, but no the 330 is in fact better than the 405. Ah well, you can’t have everything, and just look at the bright side, the device is expected to be priced about EUR 250 lower than the new One M9.
There is however, still some mystery surrounding the name of the device. According to leakster upleaks the device will be named the HTC One M8i but a recent report out of the Netherlands citing HTC Benelux Director, Mark Moons pointed towards the device being called the HTC One M8s. It just maybe that HTC plans to call the device by different names in different regions.
Up until now there is no official position as to where the M8s/M8i will be launched, but the initial contenders include Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg while there is certainly a lot of potential for a phone similar to the One M8 at a lower price range in India as well.
The company hasn’t shared the pricing and availability details up till now. We will let you know more as soon as we get it.
