Taiwanese smartphone brand, HTC is now rumoured to an Android One edition of its upcoming mid-range Ocean Life smartphone. Everyone expected that Google's Android One program is heading for its death, but recently, the search giant's partnership with Xiaomi for the Mi A1 gave rebirth to the program.
A couple of days ago, Evan Blass suggested that Motorola is preparing an Android One version of the Moto X4 smartphone, and a new report says that HTC is also joining the bandwagon with a rebranded Ocean Life smartphone aka HTC U11 Life.
Popular HTC leaker, LlabTooFeR (Twitter: @LlabTooFeR) leaked this information in the microblogging site, saying that the "HTC Ocean_Life will be released under Android One program. It will lose most of the HTC apps and run stock Android O with Sense 9.0_A1." Later on, Evan Blass came in and posted an image of the Ocean Life smartphone running HTC' Sense UI.
Specifications of the HTC Ocean Life smartphone were leaked earlier. The phone will launch in the US on T-Mobile, and the Indian launch of the smartphone is still a mystery. The HTC Ocean Life is expected to flaunt a 5.2-inch Full HD display, Snapdragon 630 chipset, IP68 water and dust resistant properties, 16MP camera on both front and rear, and it will come with HTC's Edge Sensor with which you can interact with the smartphone by squeezing from the sides, same as the HTC U11.
However, HTC will first release the Ocean Life smartphone with HTC' Sense UI on top, and later on, an Android One edition will come out. This is similar to how Xiaomi released the Mi A1 in China with MIUI 9 and Android One in other countries with stock Android. Another interesting thing with the HTC Ocean Life is its price. HTC is expected to price the smartphone at $400, similar to the rumoured price of the Moto X4 Android One Edition.
Furthermore, there might another twist in the tale. Google is reportedly in final talks with HTC to acquire its smartphone business. If this happens, we may not see the HTC Sense branded variant of the HTC Ocean Life. The phone is expected to be announced in Q4 2017.
