The HTC One A9 has a lot of high-end features going for it, like Hi-Definition audio and a unibody metal build, but its specs make its flagship status a little questionable. A Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 processor, paired up with a 1920 x 1080 screen, 3GB (or 2GB of RAM) and 32GB (or 16GB) of storage, along with a 13-megapixel camera, paint this phone as one which falls between the high and mid-ranges. One of the best features that the phone seemed to have going for it at launch, was a promise made by HTC in which the company confirmed to prospective buyers that their phones would get major updates no more than 15 days after Nexus devices get them. According to a Tweet that HTC sent out yesterday, that promise has now been broken.
The Tweet, complete with promotional image, promised an update to Android 7.0 Nougat for three phones; the HTC 10, the HTC One M9, and the HTC One A9, all starting in the fourth quarter of 2016. The updates would come first to the unlocked versions, then when the last unlocked model, the A9, had its update, HTC would start working on the carrier versions of those phones. This clearly flies in the face of the promise HTC made to keep the A9 close to the Nexus lineup in terms of timely updates, since Nougat dropped on August 22, giving HTC until the first week of September to update the A9 as promised and obviously, September falls within the third quarter of the year.
In spite of what seems to be a broken promise with the One A9, this does still leave HTC as one of the best Android manufacturers when it comes to updates, aside from the phones that have found themselves alongside the Nexus devices getting developer previews, like the Sony Xperia Z3. XDA Developers who first reported this, reached out to HTC about the issue and were told that HTC is “aligning engineering resources around our most popular flagship products where the most customers will benefit.” Essentially, HTC is largely admitting that the HTC One A9 is not one of thier most popular devices.