HTC One A9 Price, Features & Release Date: HTC Increases Price Tag of One A9 Handset by $100 Shortly After Launch

Shortly after unveiling the One A9 smartphone to the public, HTC hiked up the new handset's retail price by about $100.

According to a statement from the company, the original price previously announced for the mobile device was only part of its pre-sale promo, Slash Gear reported.

When the Taiwanese tech firm introduced the One A9, the company said the U.S. version of the device can be purchased for $399. But, as it turns out, this pricing will only be offered for a limited time or before November 7.

After that date, or once the handset debuts in retail stores, its price will go up to $499.99. As explained by HTC, the marked-up value is actually the standard cost of the device across the different markets. But, since this only refers to the handset's suggested retail price, distributors and retailers are free to market the device at an even higher value.

"The cost of the HTC One A9 is the same worldwide to all distributors and operator partners," HTC said in a statement according to The Verge. "For end consumers, HTC' sales regions are given the freedom to set prices and promotions as they see fit for local market needs."

"The One A9 price in the U.S. is a very limited-time promotional offer for that region's online store, as well as select HTC-only franchise stores," the company added. "The offer is a special promotional pre-sale and is expected to conclude once the One A9 is available on-shelf at major retail and distributor partners."

At almost $500, the HTC One A9 is crossing over to the price range of high-end devices. However, as noted by various sources, hiking up the price tag of the device could end up hurting HTC especially since the One A9 is only considered as a mid-range with decent specs.

If consumers are willing to shell out that amount for a handset, they might as well go with the recently released Nexus 5X from LG, according to PC World. With a starting price of $379, the latest handset from LG has slightly better specs than the more expensive One A9.

As detailed by Greenbot, the Nexus 5x features a 5.2-inch screen with 1080p resolution, 2GB of RAM, the Snapdragon 808 processor and 16GB of internal storage. The premium version of the handset, which comes with 32GB, costs $429.

The One A9, on the other hand, sports 5-inch display with 1080p resolution. It packs 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage and is powered by the Snapgradon 617 chipset.