The HTC First, the phone that is going to come pre-loaded with Facebook Home was announced yesterday. This handset is going to be available for pre-order next week and will be selling for $99.99 on a two-year agreement with AT&T. The catch here, while the HTC First is a low priced device, given the Facebook Home aspect, it is aimed only at those who cannot live without Facebook. This is where the HTC M4 may come into play though, as another low priced HTC device, but one without the deep Facebook integration.
This thought comes by way of the recent resurge of the M4 leaks. We mentioned this earlier in the day and those leaked specs are looking pretty similar to the HTC First. Well, similar enough in that they at least both seem aimed at the same markets and price points. Keeping in mind the First has been officially announced and the M4 has yet to be acknowledged. That said, they both look to have a 4.3-inch 720p display, dual-core Snapdragon 400 processor, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage space.
The interesting side of this comes in with the looks. We know what the First looks like. But based on the previously leaked image of the HTC M4, that handset is looking quite a bit like a handset that was previously released in China. That handset is the HTC e1, which while not exactly the same, once again is sharing some similar specs. The HTC e1 also has a dual-core Snapdragon 400 processor and 4.3-inch 720p display.
Basically, judging from the specs, it is looking as if the HTC M4 will be the non-Facebook Home variant of the HTC First. Some of the differences between the First and the M4 include the camera. Both look to have a 1.6 megapixel front-facing camera, however the M4 is now expected to arrive with an UltraPixel camera on the back. The First has a 5 megapixel rear-facing camera.
Needless to say, while the M4 is shaping up to be the non-Facebook Home variant of the HTC First — that doesn’t guarantee we will see it here in the US market. Or at all for that matter. Based on the unknown, we certainly wouldn’t suggest anyone wait for the M4. Not to mention, if you really like the HTC First, but cannot get over the deep Facebook integration, we have recently offered a PSA about how to switch back to stock Jelly Bean.
