HTC has big plans for 2015. So far we’ve tested the One M9, tried out its virtual reality headset, and seen its first wearable device. Since then, we’ve been hearing about yet another high-end smartphone, which is believed to be the Butterfly 3. Now the rumors have turned official, and the new J Butterfly has been announced in Japan.
Updated on 05-14-2015 by Andy Boxall: Added news of the J Butterfly HTV31’s launch in Japan, the official name for the J Butterfly 3.
Announced by Japanese network KDDI as part of its summer line-up of new smartphones, the J Butterfly HTV31 is the official version of what we’d previously thought would be named the Butterfly 3. An international launch is unlikely, based on previous Butterfly phones, which is a shame because it’s the most powerful HTC phone we’ve seen yet.
It’s a hybrid of the One M9 and the China-only One M9+. The screen is 5.2-inches and has a 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution, giving a massive 565ppi pixel density, and the phone runs Android 5.0 with HTC Sense 7. Power comes from a Snapdragon 810 processor with 3GB of RAM, and there’s 32GB of internal storage memory.
A 20-megapixel camera sits on the back of the phone above the Duo sensor, plus there’s the same 13-megapixel selfie cam found on the Desire Eye above the screen round the front. The body is plastic rather than the all-metal construction of the One M9, and will be sold in several different colors, including white, blue, and red.
Running through the remainder of the spec sheet we find there’s a 2700mAh battery inside the J Butterfly, 4G LTE connectivity, NFC, forward-facing speakers with Dolby audio, and also — making it really stand out in this year’s flagship phone world — water and dust proofing.
If you’re wondering how to get your hands on the J Butterfly, it’s probably not going to be possible unless you live in Japan. There’s a chance HTC may slightly alter the phone and release it elsewhere under a different name, but don’t pin your hopes in it happening any time soon. According to KDDI, the J Butterfly HTV31 will be released in early June.
VISIT PAGE 2 FOR ALL THE RUMORS REGARDING THE J BUTTERFLY 3
High-end specs and a speedy processor
A leaked benchmark test revealed nearly all of the prospective specs for the HTC Butterfly 3. The result revealed that the device may be powered by Qualcomm’s 64-bit, octa-core Snapdragon 810, along with the Adreno 430 graphics card and 3GB of RAM. The spec list shows about 23GB of available storage on the test device, which hints that the Butterfly 3 may come with 32GB of built-in storage.
A 20-megapixel main camera, which is probably the exact same on used on the One M9, is listed on the result as well. however, the front-facing camera is almost more interesting than the back camera, as it’s supposedly a 13-megapixel shooter that can even record 4K UHD video. Now that’s one heck of a selfie cam!
Beyond these specs, the benchmark didn’t reveal much else, and the capacity of the battery remains unknown. It did, however, corroborate earlier reports about the device’s screen
It may have a super sharp Quad HD screen
Noted leaker Upleaks posted a couple of tweets about a device that he believes is the Butterfly 3 from HTC. The first specs we have for the phone are its screen size and resolution. Based on Upleaks information, HTC will put a gorgeous Quad HD screen on the Butterfly 3. That screen should measure about 5.2-inches, making it slightly larger than the expected screen size of the HTC One M9.
The benchmark result revealed the same specs for the screen, making it seem very likely that the Butterfly 3 will sport a Quad HD screen when it debuts.
The rest is unknown — for now
The Butterfly series is typically aimed at Asian customers and comes in classy plastic, instead of a metal housing like the One series. Last year’s Butterfly 2 had all the best high-end specs available and headed to a slew of Asian countries. If this first leak is any indication, it seems that the Butterfly 3 will follow that tradition.
The rest of the phone’s specs are currently unknown, as is its launch date. The last one came out in August, and given the sparseness of news on the device so far, it seems likely that we won’t see the phone launch for some time yet.
At this point, the news is very fresh, so not much else is known about the Butterfly 3. However, we’ll continually update this post as more information comes to light.
Previous updates:
Updated on 4-24-2015 by Malarie Gokey: Added more specs from leaked benchmark test.
