14 DAY TRIAL // HTC has just officially announced its flagship for the year, the U11, which is the successor to last year’s HTC 10. The new phone brings some major improvements to HTC’s smartphone lineup, one of which is the squeezable frame.
HTC U11 comes with a new Edge Sense feature that snaps pictures, activates Google Assistant or launches a new application with a simple squeeze. To make proper use of this new feature, HTC added IP67 certification to the U11, allowing users to snap selfies even if the phone is wet or they’re wearing gloves.
While HTC upgraded the waterproof certification from IP57 on the HTC U, consumers will have to get accustomed to the lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack on the HTC U11. Fortunately, HTC provides an adapter in the box.
Larger LCD display and the latest Qualcomm platform on HTC U11
In terms of design, HTC U11 features Liquid Surface, as seen on the U Play and U Ultra, while also coming in a variety of color options. It has a solid aluminum unibody design, somewhat similar to the HTC 10, but offers a glossier look on the rear panel.
When it comes to the display size, the U11 features a 5.5-inch Quad HD screen, while the HTC 10 has a 5.2-inch screen. Both devices have LCD displays, HTC hasn’t made the leap to AMOLED panels. As expected, the HTC U11 comes with upgraded specs over last year’s HTC 10, thus featuring Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 platform compared to the older Snapdragon 820.
RAM capacity is the same on both phones, with the exception that the HTC U11 will come with 6GB of RAM in certain regions, while internal storage will reach 128GB for this variant. HTC didn’t make any changes in terms of battery capacity and features 3,000mAh on both devices.
The HTC U11 features many upgrades in terms of camera features, coming with the new panorama mode for the selfie snapper, compared to the 5MP front camera on the HTC 10. In addition, the U11 received the highest DxOMark score of 90, surpassing even the Google Pixel.
All in all, HTC U11 seems like a solid choice, with many upgrades over last year’s model, especially in terms of hardware. But if that’s not enough to convince consumers to buy it, the Edge Sense feature will surely make some eager to check out HTC’s new flagship.
