Samsung and LG have already crossed the 5-inch smartphone screen barrier, and now it seems that HTC is planning to make a similar leap any day now. The folks at Engadget happened upon what appears to be an early press render of a hefty new HTC handheld — supposedly dubbed the HTC One X 5 because of its sizable screen — on Chinese microblogging site Sina Weibo.
But what’s that you say? The device in question looks a little familiar?
That’s not entirely a surprise. A leaked spy shot (see below) of an unknown HTC phone started making the rounds recently, and the color scheme, button layout, and placement of the front-facing camera seem to indicate that these two devices are indeed one and the same. Should that be the case, then the One X 5 may well sport a Snapdragon S4 chipset, 1.5GB of RAM, and a 1080p display, though some of the specifics don’t quite add up. HTCSource’s insider claims that the device’s display has a whopping 480 ppi pixel density — a number that doesn’t really make sense since a 5-inch screen running at 1080p should top out at 440ppi or so — but I’m willing to chalk that up as a minor goof.
The red-and-black trim also seems to point to a future on Verizon Wireless (where it could sport the Droid Incredible X moniker), but that’s not exactly a lock. Remember the similar-looking HTC Sensation XE? (Please tell me I’m not the only one.) Still, the fact that the benchmarks of a similarly-spec’d device (and clearly Verizon-bound) HTC phone first appeared online earlier this summer could mean that the One X 5 may soon appear on domestic store shelves, albeit possibly without a stylus in tow.
There’s little question that HTC has something up its proverbial sleeve, but when will it finally see the light of day? It could be awfully soon — HTC does have a big press event on the books this week — but I wouldn’t hold my breath just yet. The prevailing theory is that the Taiwanese OEM will instead unveil its new Windows Phone 8 devices, though I don’t think any of us would mind being surprised by a top-tier Android device once the event is under way.
