 Hey, I'm Vlad with The Verge and this is the HTC One A9, the best and most glorious iPhone clone there's ever been. There are HTC logos on the front and back of this phone and HTC will tell you that it did aluminum unibody designs before the iPhone 6 came along, but come on, who are we kidding? The One A9 is essentially an iPhone running Android. It weighs the same as the iPhone 6s, its corners have the same radius, and its camera and even its camera flash are shaped the same. HTC has also replaced its signature boom sound speakers on the front with a new home button and an integrated fingerprint reader, though the button isn't round like the iPhone's, so that's different. Copying how the iPhone looks is a common hobby for smartphone makers and not all that challenging. HTC did something unique with the One A9 however, by copying the hardest part about the iPhone, the integration of all the various parts into one coherent, satisfying and enjoyable experience. The One A9 is fast, ignore what the spec sheet tells you. This phone is as quick and effortlessly smooth as any other that I've used this year. I'm especially reminded of Samsung's Galaxy S6, which, before the new Google Nexus came out, was the gold standard for Android performance. Also similar to the S6 is the One A9's size, it's only a hair thicker and a bit taller and its 5-inch AMOLED display looks almost as good as the Galaxy S6's. Samsung's flagship phone has a Quad HD display and the Korean company's latest high-powered octa-core processor. HTC's new Hero phone on the other hand proves that you can achieve pretty much the same effect with a simpler 1080p screen and less powerful but still highly efficient components. The One A9 also has the advantage of shipping with the latest version of Android, Marshmallow. HTC has done a great job of optimizing its performance on this phone with beautifully smooth animations and responsiveness. It's worth noting that HTC now calls the software Android 6.0 with Sense, relegating its own customizations to a secondary spot. The Sense widgets and themes are still there but you can get rid of them easily and just be left with a great performing Android phone. Everything about the One A9 just works. The shape and size of the phone feel close to perfect and little details like the ridged power button are just right. The fingerprint sensor is fast and reliable, making me wonder how I'd ever live with that one. Performance is fluid and the new Solo speaker still sounds good. The camera is also very fast and easy to use, as is usual for HTC. The novelty with the One A9 is that it's also pretty good, helped by the addition of optical image stabilisation. It still isn't the same class as the Galaxy S6, the LG G4 or the Xperia Z5 but it's good enough to not be a problem. It's been a while since HTC could say that about its flagship smartphones. And even though the company itself won't admit that this is its best camera, I can tell you that it is. The reason we object to clones, I think, is because they are essentially designed to deceive. The One A9's camera looks like the iPhone's but doesn't perform as well, so the user feels duped. That's a valid concern there, but the crazy thing is that the One A9 as a whole, in all its shameless rip-off glory, doesn't feel like that much of a deception. Its appearance promises a painless and effortless smartphone experience and the phone delivers. There's really very little to criticise the One A9 for. Its battery is small by Android standards but it still lasts a full day. That's the trade-off HTC makes in order to make this phone as thin and light as it is and I think it's perfectly fine. For most of the world, the One A9's worst aspect will be its price. It will cost as much as flagship phones like the Nexus 6P and Galaxy S6, or say an iPhone 6, without having the specs or camera performance to match. Ultimately, the One A9 will be remembered for its resemblance to the iPhone more than anything else. Which is a shame, because this is one of the best smartphones of the year, from any manufacturer. Not because it does any one thing exceptionally, but because it does everything really well.