HTC and Samsung have both officially announced new China-exclusive smartphones on Christmas Eve, while a photo of an iPhone "7C" was also recently leaked from a Chinese presentation. The new 5-5-inch HTC One X9 takes on Huawei, Xiaomi, and Oppo with a full high-definition (HD) screen and MediaTek processor. Meanwhile, the Samsung Galaxy A9 has a similar size and power as the HTC handset, but includes a 6-inch Super AMOLED screen and a larger 4,000 milliampere-hour (mAh) battery.
The HTC One X9 features 3 gigabytes of RAM, and 32GB of storage that can be boosted to 2 terabytes via a microSD card, according to The Verge. Its $370 price tag makes it the cheapest "hero" Android phone yet.
HTC's newest phone includes a 13-megapixel rear camera, and 5MP front-facing camera. It also contains a 3,000 mAh battery.
HTC's A9 model is smaller yet more expensive than the X9. However, only the latter includes BoomSound front-facing speakers, according to Engadget.
Meanwhile, Samsung's Galaxy A9 includes a 13MP rear camera and 8MP front-facing unit. It includes an octa-core Snapdragon processor, 3GB of RAM, and also 32GB of storage.
The Galaxy A9 follows other recently released models. It combines curved glass and metal with features such as a fingerprint reader and Samsung Pay.
In comparison, One X9 includes an all-metal body. From a back view it has an appearance much like an iPhone device.
Both the HTC and Samsung phones will be sold exclusively in China. Neither company has released any information about availability in the United States or Europe.
Finally, the iPhone "7C" was recently leaked from a China Mobile (China's state-owned mobile phone network) presentation. An attendee snapped a photo of an Apple phone that suggests a new entry level iPhone will launch in early 2016.