An alleged image of the prototype of the HTC One M9 leaked online right after the Taiwanese OEM manufacturer sent out invitations to the press for its upcoming press event. 

French website Nowhereelse.fr, which is notorious in picking up leaked images of various devices, published the photo of the HTC One M9 prototype. A prototype is a sample device that is submitted to undergo different forms of testing. The prototype is not the final look or version of the device as it could be changed before it reaches mass production. 

The photo spotted in the French website shows that the device looks like the HTC One M8 with front-facing BoomSound stereo speakers. There is a slight difference on the camera at the back as the shooter in the prototype is shaped like a square. 

There are huge expectations for the upcoming HTC One M9 since its predecessor impressed critics and reviewers alike. The One M8 was named as one of the best smartphones released last year. 

Meanwhile, rumors suggest that the HTC One M9 will come in two variants radiating full HD and quad HD screen resolutions. Other reports think that the difference lies under the hood as one model is said to be powered by the latest Snapdragon 810 SoC from Qualcomm, while the other will be equipped with a MediaTek MT6795 octa-core CPU with 64 bit architecture. 

Other purported features of the HTC One M9 are 5- to 5.5-inch screen display, Adreno 420 graphic chipset, 3 GB of RAM, Android 5.0.1 Lollipop OS with HTC Sense 7 UI, 20.7-megapixel primary camera and 13-megapixel front-facing camera or an Ultrapixel shooter. 

The media invite sent to the press point to a launching event on March 1, which is a day ahead of the Mobile World Congress, where the company may finally announce the successor of HTC One M8. All details will likely be disclosed then.