HTC A16 leaked: looking to the stars, but bringing back the bar

With Mobile World Congress mere days away, the time for leaks has long been upon the smartphone space with Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and LG’s G5 receiving the lion’s share of the spotlight. Though not expected to launch quite yet, things in HTC’s camp have also been dripping their way to the media, with just yesterday bringing forth what looks to be the HTC One M10.

Today’s leak is of a product that is probably not going to pack the same punch as the flagship One M10, yet looks to be set for the stars: literally. Taiwan’s perennial phone OEM has clearly chosen a theme of galactic nature to showoff, if not simultaneously “troll” Samsung:

The leak was posted by Evan Blass, better known by his Twitter handle, @evleaks. He specifies the product as the HTC A16. A larger image will follow, along with several points of interest to discuss:

1. The overall look of the phone seems to be drawn from the HTC Desire 626 product line. If the A16 name holds true, it may follow that 2016 will see a re-branding of its Desire brand, or it could just as well be called the HTC Desire A16 when push comes to shove.
2. The rear camera looks quite large which may suggest it will be of a higher resolution. A single-LED flash is present. It looks to jut out slightly from the rear of the casing. The front camera looks quite small, thus arguably this won’t be the second coming of the EYE.
3. BoomSound speakers appear to be on the front, though some OEMs only include opt to put the speaker in the bottom grill. It will remain to be seen what becomes of this arrangement. The speaker holes themselves look oddly reminiscent of the Sony Walkman logo.
4. The infamous HTC “bar” is back in black, located along the bottom part of the display bezel. This particular “feature” has been the sore spot of many critics for years now – going back to the original HTC One M7 – and while last year’s One A9, One X9, and even the apparent One M10 for this year seem to be beyond it, this leak suggests the Taiwanese OEM is not done quite yet.
5. The color theme is perhaps the most creative yet for HTC’s Desire series. Each iteration has arguably seen more in the ways of combination patterns, and this one looks to continue the trend. In particular the speckled white model (bottom left) has quite a lot going on, in addition to the orange power button.
6. There are two small holes on the bottom left corner of the device’s rear. These will presumably be used for a strap or lanyard attachment which tend to be quite popular in Asia.

Nothing is known in terms of specs, however provided this is a new line of the Desire series, expect a decidedly mid-range offering, with either a Snapdragon or MediaTek SoC on board and HTC’s Sense. The phone will probably be made of polycarbonate plastic.

This purported leak of the HTC M10 shows that some phones, at least, will be doing away with the infamous black bar.

While the image of the A16 looks to be as official as press renders can get, please be aware that as the product has yet to be announced, the post should be taken with at least some degree of salt until an official unveiling is arranged. It is unknown as to if this device will launch at MWC come Monday, or if HTC will instead wait for a later date. For reference, the M10 is notexpected to be present at the upcoming trade show.