Following right behind Google’s announcement of the Galaxy S4 Google Edition, it seems HTC is considering a stock Android variant of the One for release in the US.
HTC certainly put their best foot forward with the HTC One. It’s a beautiful, fast smartphone with incredible speakers and a decent camera. While we can sit here for hours and debate whether or not the HTC One is a better phone than the other really great phone on the market right now, the Samsung Galaxy S4, it can’t be denied that the One is the best thing HTC has made in a while. It’s still not for everyone, especially if you’re one of the now more than 5 million strong who prefer their Android have a little more Google in the software department. To address this growing niche, multiple sources are now claiming HTC has a build in the works for a vanilla HTC One running Android 4.2.2.
HTC OneHTC’s developer arm has worked long and hard at building strong relations with the Android modder community. Their efforts with the HTC Dev program, including an unlock mechanism to make it easy to flash custom software is to their credit, but the fact remains that if you want Google’s vision for Android on your HTC phone you’ve got a little bit of work ahead of you. The positive response to Google announcing a vanilla Android phone that wasn’t a Nexus was likely all the push that was needed for the conversation surrounding a vanilla HTC One to become a lot more serious inside HTC, leading to sources now claiming that a US launch of such a phone is now imminent.
It’s unclear if a stock Android HTC One would be sold in the Play Store, or how exactly it would get to consumers. Sources claim that the phone is going to be make available in the US first, just like the Galaxy S4 Google Edition, which could mean that it is being sold by Google. If HTC does release a vanilla HTC One, it will be interesting to see how the software compares to HTC’s heavily augmented version of Android. The speakers and camera on the phone have been celebrated as being special because they rely on HTC software, specifically BeatsAudio and HTC’s ImageSense software.
If a plain Android version of the phone is going to provide noticeably worse photos and audio, it wouldn’t be doing the company any favors. If the phone performs similarly, it will leave enthusiasts to wonder why the HTC software is needed in the first place. Basically, if not handled delicately, this phone could spell a lot of trouble for HTC.
Furthermore, HTC could be seen as weak for releasing a vanilla Android variant of their flagship just to compete with Samsung. The Galaxy S4 Google Edition fills an empty space in the Samsung device lineup, and no such gap exists in HTC’s lineup as they already have a Developer Edition of the One.
Sources claim this vanilla HTC One will be announced within the next two weeks, with potential release slated for sometime this summer. This falls in line with claims from HTC that production for the One will be doubling soon, as well as plan to have the HTC One updates to Android 4.2.2. in the same time frame.
