The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 was launched last month with a little less mania than the iPhone 5S and 5C but to much critical acclaim nonetheless, so who's the big daddy to take it on?

Well, step up HTC One Max, with its sleek, sophisticated and completely cool elegance.  If it's down to looks, the HTC One Max might just have clinched it over the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, even with that device's leather-like soft backing cover and classy stitching detail - a refreshing and "about time" change from the cheap looking plastic of previous Galaxy models.  

But what does HTC pack into the Max on the inside? Because for serious live, work and play phone users, that's what it's all about, and the Note 3 has certainly delivered with all its useful Air Command and multitasking features that make it seriously functional, especially for those who emphasize the "work" over live and play.  (Although, did we hear some complaints about there being perhaps a few too many features? Yup!)

The Galaxy Note 3 features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor so it's powerful, a roomy 5.7-inch HD display, and a 13 megapixel rear camera, as well as full HD 1080p video capture.

All good stuff.

Now, the HTC One Max specs are still rumors yet to be confirmed by HTC so we can only compare on that basis for now until there is some official statement from them.

There is of course the much talked about fingerprint scanner that has been leaked so many times we've lost count. In fact, the HTC One Max most surely be the most-leaked-prior-to-release device?

With that in mind, no one should be surprised that leaks of the phablet have popped up in no fewer than three places this week.

One of the images was posted to the forum on AndroidCentral.com by user Jeremy Kessous who says his friend, a worker at a Verizon store in New Jersey, sent him some pictures of a Verizon-branded HTC One Max.

The image shows the device dwarfing the iPhone 5 next to it. And according to the unidentified friend, the Max does have a fingerprint scanner on the back and the back is also removable.

Chinese website ePrice also leaked a photo apparently showing the HTC One Max next to the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 for comparison - and outsizing it. 

With the Note 3 measuring 5.7 inches, it looks like the HTC One Max could be about 5.9in, with a rumored 1080p display.  The ePrice leak also came with some details suggesting a 1200 mAh battery cover accessory that can be attached to the handset.  

Other nice touches are the rumored dual-front facing speakers and a 4-ultrapixel back-facing camera.  It's rumored to operate on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean.  

The last of the three leaks is not an image of the device but confirmation from the Global Certification Forum of its approval, detailing that the phablet will be a quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE device, supporting triband UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA at 900, 1900 and 2100 MHz as well as triband LTE at 800, 1800 and 2600 MHZ.

The confirmation from the GCF backs up the general consensus that HTC will be making an announcement on the HTC One Max on October 15 ahead of an October 21 release.