HTC M7 might head to Verizon as Droid codenamed 'DLXPLUS'

HTC DROID DNA
Splicing some new DNA

Now that HTC's Droid DNA is more than a couple months old, Verizon fans are looking ahead to the carrier's next flagship smartphone, which could soon arrive in the guise of a slightly tweaked HTC M7 (or possibly HTC One).

Droid Life reported Monday that HTC insider @LlabTooFeR leaked specs via Twitter for a new version of the company's Droid DNA, once again pegged for Verizon Wireless.

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Billed as the "DLXPLUS_WL" internally, the specs line up nicely with the HTC M7, an upcoming handset rumored to debut in March on every U.S. carrier except, at least initially, Verizon.

Touting a quad-code Snapdragon S4 APQ7084 processor clocked at 1.7GHz, the leaked DLXPLUS specs clearly denote "Verizon USA" as the carrier with SD card slot support - a curious inclusion considering the M7 isn't expected to have such a feature.

Family ties

Prior to Verizon's release of the HTC Droid DNA, the Android-powered smartphone turned up with a codename of "DLX" - one that now seems to be making a repeat appearance, though with upgraded specs.

The mystery device also promises a 4.7-inch 1080p display, 13MP rear and 2.1MP front cameras, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11a/b/gn Wi-Fi, HTC Sense 5.0 and Android Jelly Bean, although it's unclear which flavor it will ship with.

According to @LlabTooFeR, the DLXPLUS handset will support all of the same networks as the current Droid DNA, making it ready-made for Verizon's fast 4G LTE service.

This isn't the first time HTC has revamped its product line so quickly: Last year, the manufacturer did the same thing with the One X, presumably in an effort to keep the handset fresh in the minds of potential buyers.