Unannounced M7 touted as 2013 flagship HTC handset

With the HTC Butterfly officially unveiled recently, rumours about HTC’s 2013 flagship smartphone are already beginning to do the rounds. A report by HTCSource claims that the 2013 flagship smartphone from the brand is named M7 and it is expected to be launched in the first quarter of 2013.

As far as specifications of the handset go, there is nothing much to go by except for the M7 reportedly possessing a 5-inch 1080p display, a Qualcomm APQ8064 quad-core processor, a 13MP rear camera and a uni-body aluminium casing.

The report states, “According to multiple sources, HTC is working with semiconductor and casing suppliers in an effort to secure enough components to manufacture 4 to 5 million units of the HTC M7 in Q1 of 2013.”

Will HTC have a good 2013 with the launch of the M7?

The report notes that sources have informed them that HTC will aim to get the M7 in the market in the first quarter of 2013, prior to the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S IV. HTC has typically used the Mobile World Congress event to showcase its flagship devices and last year, at the event, HTC introduced the One series of smartphones, with the HTC One X being its flagship device.

However, if HTC plans to grab a significant share in the market from Samsung, then an earlier launch date would be viable. It is no news that HTC has been faltering in recent times where sales of its devices are concerned, if the HTC M7 is to succeed, then an early 2013 introduction would be an ideal launch frame as it would give potential large smartphone buyers an option to choose from before Samsung launches the Galaxy S IV, which is rumoured to have similar specifications.

In related HTC news, the brand recently announced the HTC Butterfly – a global variant of the 5-inch 1080p HTC J Butterfly smartphone that was launched for Japan earlier this year. This model comes hot on the heels of the Droid DNA, the same handset which had been designed for Verizon in the US. There had been rumours in the past stating that HTC would be releasing a global variant of the HTC J Butterfly/Droid DNA for the global audience, however, no definite time frame was provided. It appears that the time has come and HTC has updated its official website, which features the new HTC Butterfly.

The HTC Butterfly, minus the J, is identical in specification to its US and Japanese counterparts, which means that the 5-inch Super LCD 3 screen with a 1920 x 1080 resolution is featured on this handset as well. The smartphone comes equipped with a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro SoC running at 1.5GHz and features 2 GB of RAM. The handset runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and features the Sense UI on top of it. The handset features a 2020 mAh li-polymer battery that should keep the handset juiced up for some time. However, the brand has not said how long the battery will last, so there is no official information available on the battery life.

Here is a quick look at some of the highlighted features of the HTC Butterfly:

• 5-inch super LCD 3 display with 1080p resloution
• 3G, EDGE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, NFC, DLNA
• Bluetooth 4.0 with USB
• 8MP camera with AF, BSI Sensor, f/2.0 with 1080p video recording, 2.1MP front camera
• 16GB internal storage, expandable up to 32GB via microSD card
• MHL

Hopefully, with the introduction of the HTC M7, the brand will resurrect its sales and pose as good competition to the upcoming Galaxy S IV.