Sprint scores exclusive edition of the HTC One (M8)

Chris Smith

It appears that not all HTC One (M8) handsets are created equal, at least in the U.S., where Sprint has apparently scored an exclusive version of the handset that packs Harman/Kardon speakers. The news was tweeted earlier this week by gadget leaker @evleaks and was then confirmed on the xda-developers forums.

Even though Sprint’s HTC One (M8) model may be special when it comes to sound, neither Sprint nor HTC are advertising the feature just yet, supposedly for legal reasons.

“The Sprint version has Harman/Kardon speakers in it whereas the other versions do not. They were waiting to announce this for all of the patents and agreements with JBL and Harman/Kardon to pass. This was confirmed by our HTC Midwest Account Manager,” xda-developers user newalker91 said, further explaining that the HTC One (M8) version that’s already available from Sprint stores is the Harman/Kardon version.

“It’s the same M8 that is already available. They haven’t been marketing it as such yet due to a delay in the legal realm trying to get agreements pushed through. Soon they will be adjusting their marketing to include that the Sprint version exclusively offers Harman/Kardon technology in their BoomSound setup,” he said.

Other users have found Harman/Kardon audio traces on their handsets, posting images that seem to prove their Sprint One (M8) have special sound capabilities. Specifically, a screenshot shows a Harman/Kardon audio menu in the Settings app, which doesn’t appear on other handset versions, including the AT&T and international versions that BGR has reviewed.

Screenshots showing the Harman/Kardon audio menu follow below.

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This article was originally published on BGR.com

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