HTC One M8s blends mid-range performance with flagship design

HTC has announced the One M8s, a 5in smartphone which takes the body of last year's Android flagship and fills it with the internals of a mid-range phone.

To be sold alongside the new range-topping One (M9), the M8s has a full-HD screen - just like the M8 and M9 - and a 13-megapixel rear Duo camera, plus a 5-megapixel front-facer. Being a Duo camera means, as with the M8, there is a second sensor which records the depth of a photo, letting you adjust the focus after it has been taken. Both cameras record Full-HD video and have HTC's Eye photography features.

Inside, there is a 64-bit Snapdragon 615 octa-core processor by Qualcomm, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage - although thankfully this can be upgraded by up to 128GB via a microSD card slot. The new handset will be available in Glacial Silver, Gunmetal Grey and Amber Gold - again, just as the M8 was - and it runs Android 5.0 Lollipop with HTC's Sense 6.0 user interface.

Visually, the handset is identical to the year-old M8 and even has the old flagship's dual, front-facing BoomSound speakers to provide industry-leading loudness. There is also the usual connectivity options of NFC, Bluetooth 4.1, 4G and Wi-Fi.

The handset weighs 160 grams, is 9.55mm thick and has a battery capacity of 2,840mAh - slightly larger than the M8's, although its overall weight and thickness is the same. Support for HTC's Dot Matrix case, originally designed for the One (M8), is included. HTC says the One M8s will cost £379.99 SIM-free when it goes on sale in the UK; a release date isn't yet known.