HTC would like to call this a different smartphone from the Droid DNA and J-Butterfly but the Butterfly looks and acts like its siblings, though this is another flagship phone from the Taiwan-based firm that is geared for the international market.

Reports from various blog sites have indicated that the latest 'addition' to the HTC stable of high-end smartphones will be initially launched in China following the significant buzz earlier generated by the Droid DNA in the United States and the J-Butterfly in Japan.

However, no pricing or launch date details have been provided by HTC save for the brief confirmation from a company representative, according to Android Central, that Chinese consumers will initially get the handset after the success of its 'versions' in two key markets.

HTC billed the Butterfly for a global release, saying it will work on GSM and WCDMA networks prevalent in Asia and Europe, which was backed up by a CNET report that pointed to a looming UK release for the smartphone that tech experts said is also a likely challenger for Samsung's Galaxy Note series.

But a report from Digital Trends suggested that the Butterfly is not set to invade the European shores, adding that the HTC handset is more likely to be marketed in the Asia-Pacific region and some selected targets in mainland Asia.

For UK and other neighbouring markets, HTC seems more inclined to go for the rumoured M7, which is said to hit global store shelves by Q1 2013 and will be deployed with specs that easily would dwarf the already impressive hardware and software attributes of the Droid DNA, J-Butterfly and Butterfly combined.

Going back to the latter, it has the same bells and whistles that came with its twin devices, UberGizmo said.

"The device will sport a 5-inch 1920×1080 Full HD display, a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor under the hood with 2GB of RAM accompanying it. It will also come with an 8MP rear-facing camera, a 2.1MP front-facing camera and will come with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean on board," the tech site said.

But its chief distinction is on the storage department, which comes with internal 16GB of memory with expansion option of up to 32GB of microSD card, a feature that UberGizmo noted is absent from both the Droid DNA and the J-Butterfly.

All told, international consumers are not getting anything new from the Butterfly once the handset is introduced to their respective markets. But the benefits are apparent especially when local telcos decide to pick up the phone to be lumped with their service packages.

That would mean more attractive price tag for the HTC Butterfly and doing away with the circuitous road of importing the product, described by reviewers as a monster gadget that is more than capable of measuring up with the best tech toy out there.