HTC is planning to release a new 5.5-inch phablet that will be targeted toward the midrange market. New images of the smartphone have leaked and show a design change that could be headed to future HTC smartphones, including the rumored next-generation flagship, HTC One M10, which will go head to head with the Samsung Galaxy S7, iPhone 6s and LG G5.

It's no secret that HTC has been struggling to regain its former glory days in the smartphone world. While the company made great strides with the release of the HTC One M7 in 2013, and its follow up, the One M8, in 2014, the same cannot be said for 2015's flagship HTC One M9.

Sales of the HTC One M9 have been extremely disappointing, so much so that the company released the HTC One A9 a few months later to try and turn things around. When images of the HTC One A9 leaked in late August, it became evident that HTC was hoping to do this by taking major inspiration from Apple's iPhone 6, virtually matching Apple's design.

It looks like HTC isn't finished on capitalizing on Apple's design and is currently planning to release a 5.5-inch phablet that matches Apple's iPhone 6 Plus and 6s Plus in terms of design, screen size and 1080p resolution.

New images of the HTC One X9 leaked online and show some design tweaks that could be making their way to the upcoming 2016 flagship HTC One M10. HTC has long been criticized for stamping its branding on the area below its display and taking up valuable space. HTC has relocated its branding to the top of the HTC One X9 and has pushed its HTC BoomSound speakers further to the edges of the phablet.

The HTC One X9 will reportedly feature a 5.5-inch 1920 by 1080 Full HD display and be powered by a 2.2 GHz octa-core processor and 2 GB of RAM. The phablet will include 16 GB of internal storage and a microSD expansion slot. It will sport a 13 megapixel rear camera with dual-LED flash and 5 megapixel front-facing camera.

The HTC One X9 is expected to go on sale in early 2016 and could be announced at CES 2016 or Mobile World Congress.