The super-sized complement to the critically acclaimed HTC One smartphone may have broken cover ahead of schedule, after photos alleging to depict the hotly rumoured HTC One Max were leaked by ePrice.
According to the site, the 5.9in HTC One Max will feature a number of tweaks, departing from the all-aluminium casing of its little brother in favour of a composite aluminium and plastic build.
Like the HTC One, the Max is tipped to sport a Full HD display, though pixel density won't be quite as sharp given the expanded screen.
Elsewhere, the One Max is expected to add some additional power under the hood, packing a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 SoC (vs the HTC One's 1.7GHz Snapdragon 600 chipset) supported by 2GB of RAM.
It's also thought that the battery size will be upped to 3,300mAh, compared to the HTC One's 2,300mAh battery. Further speculation has that a dual-SIM version of the One Max is being tested in China as we speak.
With regards to software, there's every chance that the HTC One Max will ship with the latest version of Google's mobile OS, Android 4.3 - or that it will land with Android 4.2.2 and get an OTA boost to version 4.3 shortly after its release.
The Max would represent that the latest addition to HTC's One family, which also includes the HTC One mini but so far lacks a 'phablet' offering à la Samsung's Galaxy Note 2.
Like the next-generation Galaxy Note 3, the HTC One Max is tipped to launch at this year's IFA showcase in Germany, meaning a fascinating showdown could well be in the making.
We'll be on the ground in Berlin for IFA 2013, so stay tuned for all the big news and product launches from one of Europe's pre-eminent tech events.
