14 DAY TRIAL // HTC already announced two premium smartphones this year, the HTC U Ultra and U Play, but it still hasn’t announced its flagship phone. Information about HTC U, also known as Ocean, leaked out a few days ago, while alleged renders give us a look at the upcoming phone.
HTC U will be the company’s successor to last year’s HTC 10 flagship, and it will introduce some new features for HTC fans. The leaked renders show the smartphone having thin side bezels, with larger top and bottom bezels to accommodate the HTC moniker and sensors on top.
HTC placed dual speakers to the bottom of the smartphone, together with the USB Type-C port. The renders show the front and back panel, together with the two sides of the phone, but the power button, fingerprint scanner or volume controls are nowhere in sight. As it turns out, HTC’s upcoming flagship doesn’t appear to have any physical buttons whatsoever.
The latest Qualcomm platform and 5.5-inch display
Perhaps HTC is seeking a different approach and wants to offer a product with fingerprint sensing tech built into the display, which would go great with the rumored Sense Touch technology. Apparently, HTC’s Sense Touch consists of a new touch-sensitive frame that makes it easy for users to simply swipe and access data or applications, without actually touching the display. The feature also makes it easy for users to browse and launch apps with one hand.
The phone is expected to see an announcement in late April and a release in early May, while rumors say that it will run the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 platform, coupled with Adreno 540 graphics processing unit, and enjoy a 12MP camera on the back, with a 16MP selfie shooter in the front.
The phone will feature a 5.5-inch display with 1440 x 2560 pixel resolution, together with 64GB and 128GB of internal storage. It will most likely run Android 7.0 Nougat, with HTC Sense 9 UI on top. Take the information with a grain of salt, as nothing is certain until the phone is actually announced.