Hallelujah! HTC has promised that its upcoming One M10 will pack a “very, very compelling” camera.

The news will please long-time One fans, most of whom will have been deeply disappointed with the camera sensors packed into last year’s One M9, and the One M8 that came before it.

“We can confidently say that HTC will have a very, very compelling camera experience,” Chief Financial Officer Chialin Chang said Thursday in an interview with CNET. “We’re making this comment after we’ve seen what’s going on in the market.”

HTC clearly feels the One M10’s camera has what it takes to compete with new handsets like the Galaxy S7 and the LG G5, then — and that’s a bold statement, especially after the criticism HTC has received for almost all of the smartphone cameras it has put out in recent years.

Last year’s One M9 ditched the UltraPixel camera carried by its predecessor for a more traditional 20-megapixel shooter. It certainly wasn’t the worst camera on the market — and it did improve with updates — but it wasn’t anywhere near as good as the Galaxy S6, the LG G4, or the iPhone 6.

With the One M8 that was launched in 2014, HTC tried something new with two rear-facing camera sensors — similar to what LG is doing with the G5 this year — known as the UltraPixel camera. The only problem is, they were 4-megapixel cameras, so super-sharp images were hard to come by.

“Hopefully, this year will be different,” Chang added.

HTC didn’t announce the One M10 at Mobile World Congress this week as some will have hoped, but it is expected to get a dedicated press event in the coming months.

• SourceCNET