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This is our best look yet at HTC's iPhone clone, the One A9

This is our best look yet at HTC's iPhone clone, the One A9

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Not space gray, but carbon gray

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A new leak today contains the clearest screenshots yet of the upcoming HTC "hero product" due out this fall. The handset (codenamed "Aero") is expected to be sold under the name HTC One A9, and will come in up to six colors, according to tech journalist Evan Blass on Twitter. The horizontal stripe design, though it was an HTC hallmark back in the day, brings to mind Apple design post-iPhone 6. (The colors do, too.) Assuming the leaked screenshot reflects current marketing materials, HTC may even go so far as to ape Apple's color-naming scheme — replacing space gray with carbon gray and keeping rose gold as is. Aero was first seen in leaked screenshots last month.

HTC CEO Cher Wang, who took over for former chief executive Peter Chou in March, promised a new HTC flagship later this year to help the Taiwanese manufacturer revive its struggling sales amid layoffs and high-level talent departures. HTC announced plans in August to cut 15 percent of its worldwide workforce as it tries to increase sales while dabbling in new markets like virtual reality. Though the company's One line of devices have received generally solid marks from critics, they've failed to reach the level of the success needed to pull HTC out of its financial rut, putting weighty expectations on the Aero and its Cupertino-esque design.