Earlier today, HTC finally took the wraps off of the HTC One A9, and unfortunately for HTC all of the leaks and rumors seem to have come true. That means that for a lot of users, there was little surprise in store for today’s events, but HTC have managed to keep one thing under wraps, and the tinkerers out will love it. Right now, the 5.0-inch HTC One A9 is available for pre-order from HTC’s website today in North America for just $399. This is an attractive price tag, especially for a device that might not come with the latest specs, but is built with great materials and sounds great.
More attractive however is the fact that the HTC One A9 will be available in an Unlocked Edition from HTC. More than just being carrier-unlocked, this version of the One A9 will allow users to unlock their bootloader, freely without voiding your warranty. This is kind of a big deal, and is something that we never hear in the Android community, and things are even worse if you purchase from a carrier or network, but if you shop from HTC.com, you’re covered. Speaking of coverage, you’ll still get access to HTC’s UH OH protection, which covers you for accidental damage, like cracking that display and so on. This is included, even if you unlock the bootloader.
The One A9 might not be the killer device that HTC fans were hoping for, but for those looking for a smaller device with decent specs, like a 5.0-inch Full HD AMOLED display and one of the better headphone outputs on the market, then HTC have the new phone just for you. Add in the ability to unlock your bootloader without consequence, and a fairly low price tag, and the One A9 starts to sound a little better. Of course, it’s unlikely that the bootloader unlock is going to be the main selling point here for a lot of users, considering that HTC is marketing this towards the average user.