HTC announces the HTC One (E8) - the HTC One (M8) re-imagined in plastic

UPDATE: The HTC E8's retail price in China (unlocked) became clear - it is 2799 RMB, or about $447 USD / £267 / €329. Not bad for a pristine set of specs and stereo speakers, but not exactly a Xiaomi killer, either.

Formerly known as the HTC M8 Ace, the HTC One E8 has virtually the same dimensions as its metal-clad brother, but its weight has been reduced by roughly 15 grams to 5.11 oz (145g). You'd be hard-pressed to find significant differences in terms of hardware, too. The One E8 has the same 5-inch 1080p display and runs on the same Snapdragon 801 quad-core CPU with 2GB of RAM. It has 16GB of storage on-board, along with a microSD slot with support for up to 128GB cards. As we mentioned, the main camera has become a 13MP snapper with a BSI sensor and f/2.2 aperture, capable of 1080p video recording. The front camera remains the same 5MP selfie champ. The battery capacity is a decent 2600mAh, and since the E8 is a unibody phone, it won't be user-replaceable.

In terms of connectivity, the One E8 will function on 2G/2.5G (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), 3G (850/900/1900/2100 MHz with HSPA+ up to 42 Mbps), and 4G (China: FDD 1800/2100; FDD-B1/B3; TDD-2600; TDD-B41; Other markets TBA) networks. The phone has two nano SIM slots.

The HTC One E8 runs Android 4.4 KitKat with HTC Sense 6 on top, and includes other HTC staples such as BoomSound front stereo speakers and Sense Voice.

So, is a great design able to transcend such important factors as build materials? Judging by the product images, HTC has done a banger of a job with carving the M8's unmistakeable looks from a material that has nothing to do with metal. Then again, we cannot make final conclusions before we've held the One E8 in one hand, and the One M8 in the other. Although plastic cannot replicate the sturdy feel of cold aluminium in your palm, it has given HTC's designers the liberty to paint the One E8's body in four different colors - namely, Polar White (glossy finish), Electric Crimson (red, glossy finish), Maldives Blue (matte finish), and Misty Gray (dark gray, matte finish, available with either gold or silver-colored ring around the rear camera).