HTC M4 is a stylish, underpowered version of the One

First there was the HTC One (model name: M7), now there’s the HTC M4, the not-so-mini version of the One.

If HTC is going to take away anything from Samsung, it’s that creating a similar but less powerful device with the same look and interface is a good thing. A great thing, thinks HTC as the M4 is a 4.3-inch screened device with a 720p display and a 17oomAh battery. With no release date except for a possible Q2 launch (which is hearsay, according to phonearena.com), the HTC M4 is going to be have to seriously impress to warrant a purchase. With both handsets apparently “impossible to differentiate”, perhaps the M4 will allow those who can’t afford the One to at least pretend that they just spend US$650.

The 4.3-inch 720p screen will be a major step down from the 4.7-inch full HD super-display of the One. Seeing is believing, and it’ll be hard for a 720p display to match the 1080p output of the One. As for the CPU, it’s got a dual-core  CPU (speed unknown), a very promising 2GB RAM and 16GB internal memory. It’s even got the same UltraPixel camera tech — the 4MP camera that’s “not about pixel count”.

There’s not much else known of the M4, other than that it’s going to have a 1700mAh, non-removable battery which is almost the same as the 1800mAh battery on the Z10 (which also shares a 720p screen) — this means we can expect up to ten hours of battery life. The mobile OS is Android 4.2, and the M4 will be an LTE device. That’s all for now, but let’s bet on a price of roughly US$350. Anything more and the M4’s going to be a tough cookie to sell.