Were you pretty torn by the fact that HTC launched a better version of the One M9 shortly after its release and out of your reach?  Well, we got some good news today, with the help of Amazon.
The One M9+ just popped up on Amazon via a third-party seller (sorry Prime subscribers), in either gunmetal grey or silver gold.  The asking price?  It ain’t cheap, at $799 (plus shipping).  To compare, the price of the vanilla One M9 is $649.
If the extra $150 doesn’t deter you by your desire to have it all, we’re looking at some worthy upgrades from the M9:  5.2-inch screen (vs 5.0-inch), QHD (vs 1080P), Duo camera sensor (like on the M8), and a fingerprint scanner.  For better or worse, the M9+ uses a MediaTek Helio X10 octa-core SoC, since it was made for the Chinese market.
[df-gallery url=”https://www.androidguys.com/gallery/htc-one-m9/”]
Amazon is also providing us the cheaper, plastic variant of the flagship, the E9+, in either grey or rose white at $499.  This guy is as powerful as the M9+, but subtracts the second Duo sensor, the fingerprint scanner, and metal build.  However, the screen size is bumped up to 5.5-inches.
Note that because these are not U.S. models, like usual there is no CDMA frequency support.  So if you’re on Verizon or Sprint, you’re out of luck if you want one of these.  They should work on AT&T or T-Mobile, but unfortunately it is said their LTE radio won’t work in the U.S.
Source | Source | Source | Source
What a mis-leading click-bait headline.
HTC is not launching either of those phones in the US, nor does Amazon really have anything to do with it. Very frustrating when so much of the web thinks “Amazon Marketplace == Amazon”.
I disagree. A product being backed by Amazon makes a huge different compared to acquiring an imported product some other way. I’ve had sales go bad either way and dealing with it on Amazon (third-party) was smooth as silk.
So, does HTC US honor warranties for these phones? If not, will Amazon proper handle issues through the warranty period? Amazon didn’t launch anything. HTC doesn’t sell these phones in the US. This is some 3rd party company that created a listing on Amazon Marketplace. Maybe it’s a slightly safer way to buy an import because you could have Amazon on your side in the event of an issue; but still, to imply Amazon or HTC has anything to do with this is disingenuous.
Here is what the headline should be:
“HTC One M9+ and One E9+ available via Amazon Marketplace in the U.S.”.
Which is accurate, describes a very common condition (3rd party importers selling imports on Amazon Marketplace), but is really not worth clicking to read further (hence my original claim the misleading headline is click-bait).