The HTC Butterfly 2, first launched in Japan (and Asia Pacific) in August, is coming to Malaysia, on 19 September to be exact. I’m lucky to be one of the first few to have the device in the region, courtesy of HTC. The HTC Butterfly 2 is the international version of the HTC J butterfly HTL23.
The HTC Butterfly 2 is a rather unique product. It neither belongs to the flagship One series, nor the mid-range and value Desire series. Made initially exclusively for the Japanese market, the Butterfly 2 does proudly holds its own. Design is one of HTC’s traits and you’ve seen the HTC DNA in the HTC One series all the way to the Desire. The Butterfly 2 is unmistakably a HTC device – sleek, elegant with subtle double curves that make it easy on the hands. There’s a blend of HTC One and Desire design cues here.
The polycarbonate unibody is solid, and pretty much shares similar dimensions to the HTC One M8. It’s light too, weighing in at just 151g.
Available in glossy Rouge, Indigo and matt Canvas (white), the Butterfly 2 looks and feels great.
What’s also great about the Butterfly J is that it’s dust- and water-resistant – IP57 certified. It has the most ‘convenient’ waterproofing on any phone – with short circuit protection.
Unlike what we’ve seen on the Xperia series or GALAXY S5, the Butterfly 2 has no flaps that you need to ensure is closed when the phone is submerged. The only things removable from the main body are the SIM tray and microSD tray which conveniently pulls out without the use of pins. Neat.
In terms of hardware, the Butterfly J is very similar to the top-of-the-line HTC One M8. In fact, it’s even a tad faster in benchmarks. It packs the superfast quad-core Snapdragon 801 running at 2.5GHz, 2GB RAM, 16/32GB storage. The usual suspects are also there – WiFi, NFC, DLNA, Bluetooth 4.0 and microSD. Everything you need in a modern smartphone.
You’ll love the 5-inch Full HD Super LCD 3 display (480PPI) which is brilliantly bright and crisp.
HTC’s much-touted Duo Camera is integrated to the Butterfly 2. There is a difference though. HTC has opted to go for a new 13MP non-UltraPixel camera instead of the 4MP UltraPixel on the HTC One M8. Why? Apparently, the Japan market wants the megapixel count. Size does matter?
In realworld applications though, the 13MP is impressive although it may sometimes lack the balance and richness of the 4MP UltraPixel. You’ll appreciate that you can zoom in to pictures more though.
The front is a 5MP which is more than good enough for some sharp high-resolution selfies.
The Butterfly runs Android 4.4.2 with the new HTC Sense 6 UI layer. It’s snappy, fluid and light. HTC says it’s ‘the best Android experience’ and I tend to agree.
HTC Blinkfeed is there, and so is a new Zoe app (it’s brilliant). Some digital content like KKBOx and TVB apps are bundled in too.
Another thing that I liked on the HTC One M8, I like with the Butterfly 2, too – HTC BoomSound. I’ve to admit I’ve had the best audio experience on the HTC One M8, and thanks to BoomSound and the similar frontal dual-speakers on the Butterfly 2, I once again enjoy a great audio experience.
Like the M8 and recently launched curvaceous E8, the Butterfly 2 also gets the awesome Dot View case. So retro notifications and some funky off-screen interactions it is. It’s brilliant.
If you’ve been meaning to get the HTC One M8 or perhaps the E8 but need added durability with dust- and water-resistance, there’s no reason not the consider the HTC Butterfly 2. It’s a solid, well-crafted device with some impressive spec and should offer outstanding performance as a modern smartphone should be.
The HTC Butterfly officially gets a thumbs up for me.
Launching tomorrow. So stay tuned for availability and pricing details.
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