Few days ago HTC did unveil their flagship for 2017 at an event in Taiwan. The device has been named as U11 which falls under their new series i.e U. In CES 2017, they did unveil the U ultra which had flagship level specs yet they made it clear that it was not their flagship. Now finally the U 11 is available and lets talk about it.
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| The HTC U11 |
The U11 unlike the HTC 10, its predecessor, has a glass back with vivid colour options which depends on your liking. If you love metal backs which give a sense of better durability then the U11 is not for you. However the vivid colours which HTC likes it to be called as liquid design (as its highly reflective) is surely appealing. The U11 also has IP67 dust and water resistance which is an upgrade from the HTC 10.
It comes with 5.5 inch 2K display (IPS LCD) with Gorilla Glass 5 protection and 3D glass which provides more curve then 2.5D. The top and bottom bezels are quite large although not as large as the U ultra. I say them as large mainly because Samsung and LG have decided to ditch the bezels to provide more room for a larger screen. Inspite of being quite large, it has no headphone jack. But wait! HTC has made sure to provide good sound experience via headphones through USB C port. The HTC u-sonic has active noise cancellation feature which tunes the audio to your liking. They also have made earphones dedicated for that. Like any HTC device, it also comes with boomsound speakers which adds richness to the sound and based on my personal experience, the boomsound even on their midranger is awesome and much better than the counterparts.
Speaking of camera, the U11 comes with 12MP f/1.7 aperture lens which has a Dxo mark score of 90. This HTC claims is the highest score achieved as previously it was the Google Pixel which had the title of highest score of 89. However, these are just benchmarks which are not always true in real world usage.
The 12MP sensor has HTC's ultrapixel 3 with 1.4 micron pixel size. The pixel size is decent yet lesser than the Google Pixel which had 1.55 micron. The camera is capable of 1080p 120FPS slow motion recording and is capable of 4K recording at 30FPS. There is nothing spectacular or innovating feature in camera however the f/1.7 should be good enough for low light and is expected to perform similarly like the S8.
The front facing sensor is of 16MP with f/2.0 capable of recording 1080p at 30FPS.
The device has capability to record sound in every direction which HTC claims it to be 3D sound. They claim that the microphones placed at 4 corners record the sound and with the help of software provide mesmerizing experience. While recording, the object can be focussed from where the sound is required to be concentrated.
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| Edge sense can be used for launching camera |
Speaking of camera, the U11 comes with 12MP f/1.7 aperture lens which has a Dxo mark score of 90. This HTC claims is the highest score achieved as previously it was the Google Pixel which had the title of highest score of 89. However, these are just benchmarks which are not always true in real world usage.
The 12MP sensor has HTC's ultrapixel 3 with 1.4 micron pixel size. The pixel size is decent yet lesser than the Google Pixel which had 1.55 micron. The camera is capable of 1080p 120FPS slow motion recording and is capable of 4K recording at 30FPS. There is nothing spectacular or innovating feature in camera however the f/1.7 should be good enough for low light and is expected to perform similarly like the S8.
The front facing sensor is of 16MP with f/2.0 capable of recording 1080p at 30FPS.
The device has capability to record sound in every direction which HTC claims it to be 3D sound. They claim that the microphones placed at 4 corners record the sound and with the help of software provide mesmerizing experience. While recording, the object can be focussed from where the sound is required to be concentrated.
The device like any flagship is a powerhouse as it is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SOC based on 10nm process. It has 8 cores with the higher powered ones clocked at 2.45gHz. It comes with 4GB RAM, 64GB storage and has adreno 540GPU. There is another version of 6GB RAM and 128GB storage however that could be region specific.
The most innovative feature and the unique selling point is the Edge sense. This edge sense is similar to the gestures which was present on the unreleased Nokia McLaren phone. It was a prototype yet it behaved like almost a finished product.
The edge sense feature makes use of sensors along the sides. If you apply pressure or in HTC's term "Squeeze" the phone , the edge shortcuts can be enabled. You can choose the sensitivity and based on the sensitivity, assign shortcuts. For eg.: short squeeze for camera , squeeze again for capturing the moment, long squeeze for summoning the Google Assistant and so on. You can also get a column of apps and select them via the edge sense. The best part, it does not trigger by just touching and requires pressure only and can be used with gloves too.
Finally, the device comes with Android 7.1 based on HTC's Sense UI with blinkfeed. It also comes with Alexa apart from Google Assistant however, its region specific particularly in Europe and USA. The device has 3000mAh battery and comes with Qualcomm quick charge 3.0
The device supports 2 nano SIM and the storage can be expanded upto 2TB. It has USB type-C port and no headphone jack.
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| The image clearly shows the Edge sense feature which is enabled by applying pressure to the frame |
The most innovative feature and the unique selling point is the Edge sense. This edge sense is similar to the gestures which was present on the unreleased Nokia McLaren phone. It was a prototype yet it behaved like almost a finished product.
The edge sense feature makes use of sensors along the sides. If you apply pressure or in HTC's term "Squeeze" the phone , the edge shortcuts can be enabled. You can choose the sensitivity and based on the sensitivity, assign shortcuts. For eg.: short squeeze for camera , squeeze again for capturing the moment, long squeeze for summoning the Google Assistant and so on. You can also get a column of apps and select them via the edge sense. The best part, it does not trigger by just touching and requires pressure only and can be used with gloves too.
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| Colours available in Black, red, silver, blue, purple |
Finally, the device comes with Android 7.1 based on HTC's Sense UI with blinkfeed. It also comes with Alexa apart from Google Assistant however, its region specific particularly in Europe and USA. The device has 3000mAh battery and comes with Qualcomm quick charge 3.0
The device supports 2 nano SIM and the storage can be expanded upto 2TB. It has USB type-C port and no headphone jack.
It has all the regular sensors including gyroscope, ambient light, compass, accelerometer, etc.
It supports dual WiFi bands and 802.11a/b/g/n/ac and Bluetooth 4.2
This was just an overview of the U11. The device seems promising and indeed a decent offering from HTC. There are let downs like no Jack, bigger bezels , slightly smaller battery as it powers a 2K display yet in terms of its USP , it seems a good overall package for those who prefer Innovation otherwise its the S8 and the G6.
It supports dual WiFi bands and 802.11a/b/g/n/ac and Bluetooth 4.2
This was just an overview of the U11. The device seems promising and indeed a decent offering from HTC. There are let downs like no Jack, bigger bezels , slightly smaller battery as it powers a 2K display yet in terms of its USP , it seems a good overall package for those who prefer Innovation otherwise its the S8 and the G6.