HTC readies all new Butterfly 3 for a late April or May release in Japan [RUMOR]

Last year’s HTC J Butterfly 2

It was back during Mobile World Congress that HTC announced their flagship for 2015, the HTC One M9. But in Asian markets — specifically Japan — HTC’s flagship line is also known by another name: the HTC Butterfly. Sporting mostly the same One internals (but a much different design), this is HTC’s high-end device that goes head-to-head with the best from from Panasonic, Sharp, and Kyocera.

Up until now, we haven’t heard much about what HTC had planned for the Butterfly line in 2015. But in a few recent tweets from @upleaks, we could see the HTC J Butterfly 3 aiming for a late April/early May release in Japanese and Asian markets. The device is said to come equipped with a slightly larger, higher res display than the HTC One M9, measuring in at 5.2-inches and Quad HD (1440p) resolution.

The Butterfly 3 will launch first on KDDI in Japan where it’s said to support their new VoLTE network and will be available in 3 colors: red, white, and blue.

Newly announced HTC J Butterfly 3 could be the redesigned One M9 we were looking for

When the HTC One M9 was finally unveiled at Mobile World Congress, there were more than a few fans who were disappointed to find the design didn’t deviate much away from last year’s One M8. It didn’t help matters that only a few weeks prior to the official unveiling, famed tipster @evleaks revealed press renders of an alleged One M9 with a vastly different front face. In the end, that device apparently never made it out of the concept phase with HTC instead opting for something a little more familiar to consumers (perhaps even a little too familiar). But is it possible HTC incorporated that leaked design in its latest handset for Japan?

Announced in Japan, the HTC J Butterfly 3 is the company’s latest high-end device for Japanese carrier KDDI. It packs a design aesthetic eerily reminiscent of that leaked One M9 we saw awhile back, only with a few key differences. One, this phone is all plastic and the perforated speaker holes sit in between the glass display and the plastic bezel. It’s very similar to what we saw with the HTC Desire EYE. Running with that, the Butterfly 3 even packs a similar 13MP front facing shooter like the Eye, mounted directly in the middle of the top plastic bezel. You may remember this was rumored early on to come equipped on the One M9 (and shown in @evleaks’ leaked render).

On the back, HTC’s Duo Camera makes a return (another feature we heard would make it to the One M9 but didn’t), coupled with a 20.2MP rear facing camera. As far as other hardware specs, the Butterfly 3 features a pin sharp 5.2-inch 2560×1440 resolution LCD 3 display, Snapdragon 810 processor, 3GB RAM, 2,700mAh battery, IPX5/IPX7 water resistance rating, and comes in 3 color options: red, white, and blue.

There really is a lot here to love and honestly, it makes us wonder if the Butterfly 3 doesn’t trump the One M9 in some respects. The Butterfly 3 will launch in Japan this June on KDDI.

[HTC | via Engadget Japan]