There hasn't been much news from HTC about new phones this year, besides some budget models. The company did confirm earlier this year that it would develop a new version of its 'Exodus' blockchain phone, which was itself a slightly-modified U12+. That new device is finally real, and it's... something.

The main selling point of the Exodus 1s that it's the first phone that can function as a full Bitcoin node, meaning it can verify and perform transactions on-device instead of relying on another service. Of course, there's a catch — you have to buy a big microSD card, because the current Bitcoin ledger (the shared record of all Bitcoin transactions) takes up approximately 260GB, and it continues to grow. On the bright side, 1TB microSD cards exist now. As with the original Exodus, the on-device Zion Wallet can store, send, and receive several different cryptocurrencies.

Specs

Display 5.7" 720p 18:9 display
SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 435
RAM 4GB
Storage 64GB with microSD support
Battery Nominal: 3075mAh; Rated: 3000mAh
Cameras 13MP main camera with PDAF, 13MP front camera with LED flash light
Software Android 8.1 Oreo
Headphone jack Yes
Power microUSB
Band support 2G/2.5G:
GSM/GPRS/EDGE/850/900/1800/1900 MHz
3G UMTS:
850/900/1900/2100 (B1/B2/B5/B8); HSDPA 42, HSUPA 5.76
4G LTE:
FDD: Bands 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20, 28
TDD: Bands 38, 40, 41

While the crypto features are neat, the rest of the phone is absolutely embarrassing. The processor is none other than the three year-old Snapdragon 435, paired with the two year-old Android 8.1 Oreo. The rest of the specifications aren't too bad — 4GB RAM, 64GB storage, 3,000mAh battery, etc. — but I'm not sure who besides hardcore crypto people are going to pay €219 (~$244) for a phone with 2017 budget hardware and software.

The Exodus 1s is available for purchase in Europe, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE starting today. You probably shouldn't buy it, though.