HTC One M10 to have two variants with either a S820 or MTK-based SoC

HTC fans are anticipating the launch of a new flagship from the company possibly called the HTC One M10, and current rumours indicate that the handset will sport variants running on Qualcomm and MTK-based chipsets.

According to Tipster, LlabTooFeR, a leak expert who has been proven to be reliable in the area of HTC leaks, there will be two versions to the HTC One M10. One variant will run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset for U.S.-based and European markets, and another variant will run on MTK-based chipsets for markets in the Asian regions. "I'm expecting 2 versions of the device: Qualcomm 820 (for EU and US markets) and MTK based (Mainly for China and South-East Asia)..." the leakster said in a tweet.

The leak from LlabTooFeR also refers to the One M10 as the Perfume, which is seen to be the codename for the upcoming smartphone. The leak also indicates that the smartphone could be launched in a dedicated standalone event to be put together by HTC.

Other expected features for the upcoming flagship by HTC also include a 3,000mAh battery and a 23-megapixel back-side camera. Also rumoured is that the handset will have a new water-resistant design with an IP68 rating. Both variants are expected to launch running on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow firmware coming out of the box along with the new Sense 8.0 UI from HTC.

According to Phone Arena, the HTC One M10 was originally pegged for a February unveiling at the upcoming MWC 2016, but has been pushed back by the company to March, possibly indicating that the release will happen on April 2016.

The One M10 succeeds the existing flagship, the HTC One M9, which sports a 5-inch Super LCD3 capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels. The M10 is expected to sport nothing lower than that. The One M9 is also powered by a Qualcomm chipset, more specifically a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 SoC, and launches out of the box with the Android 5.1 Lollipop firmware.