Just like that, HTC has updated its Chinese site with an official listing for a new high-end handset for that country — the HTC One E9+. Drawing on HTC's high-end One design language and that of its more affordable Desire series, the E9+ brings premium specs to a mainstream plastic-bodied phone. Color options include "meteor grey," "classic rose gold" and "gold sepia," in a two-tone style similar to HTC's flagship One M9 .

The biggest deal here is the 5.5-inch Quad HD (2560x1440) display — a first for HTC, which has stuck with 1080p panels for global flagship phone. On the inside it's running a 64-bit octa-core MediaTek CPU — the chipmaker's high-end MT6795M, which like Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810 uses four high-power Cortex-A57 cores and lower-power Cortex-A53s. Around the back there's a 20-megapixel rear shutter behind a hefty camera protrusion, and HTC's Ultrapixel front camera and BoomSound front-facing speakers are along for the ride, too. The software side of things looks identical to the M9, with HTC Sense 7 running alongside Android 5.0 Lollipop.

The detailed spec sheet on HTC's site causes a bit of confusion, listing slightly different hardware including a 1080p display and 13-megapixel camera. However as Engadget points out, it's possible this is a mix-up with another E9 model — perhaps the one without the "plus."

There's no word on pricing or availability, however if the E9 series is anything like last year's E8, this is likely to be an Asia-focused phone. Today's E9+ outing comes a just over a week ahead of a scheduled event in Beijing, where HTC is expected to show a the One M9+, a new variant of its metal flagship for the Chinese market.

Source: HTC China; via: Engadget