Rumored HTC One Max Appears in Leaked Photos

HTC's rumored phablet version of its popular One, the aptly named HTC One Max, may have leaked in a new series of photos. The images show a super-sized version of the flagship One, right down to the dual front-facing BoomSound speakers and aluminum body. Beyond size,  there is one major difference between the One and One Max, and that is what looks to be a fingerprint scanner on the larger phone's rear panel.

The alleged photos, which were posted by AndroidCommunity after appearing on Chinese social media site Weibo, are some of the first to show the One Max powered on. The images show an Android operating system and one screen specifically shows off the HTC BlinkFeed feature. In terms of specs, the 5.9-inch One Max is expected to run a 2.3-GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM and be powered by a 3,000 mAh battery.

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HTC was expected to reveal the One Max at the IFA Berlin 2013 conference, but the company made no mention of the handset. The decision to keep the Max away from IFA, however, may have been a wise move. The phablet would have had to share the stage with the likes of Samsung's Galaxy Note 3 and Sony's Xperia Z1, not to mention both of those companies' smartwatches.

HTC has hinted at the One Max, however. In a short ad posted to YouTube in August, the company showed a brief glimpse of what could have been the One Max alongside the tag line, "Big Things Ahead." The idea that HTC would simply change the size of its popular One isn't new, either, as the handset maker has already released its bit-sized One Mini for AT&T

Daniel P. Howley
LAPTOP Senior Writer
A newspaper man at heart, Dan Howley wrote for Greater Media Newspapers before joining Laptopmag.com. He also served as a news editor with ALM Media’s Law Technology News, and he holds a B.A. in English from The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.