HTC announced its long-awaited HTC U11 smartphone on Tuesday. As was revealed by HTC’s multiple teasers prior to the launch, the main attraction is the Edge Sense, which is a pressure-sensitive surround that can perform different commands depending on the squeeze.
HTC U11 is a true flagship
The HTC U11, priced at $649, is the company’s actual flagship phone. Yes, it is a bit unusual for a company to release another flagship mobile device so soon (HTC already launched two Android phones this year, the HTC U Ultra and HTC U Play), but the Taiwanese company never actually saw the U Ultra as a flagship. Despite this, the phone, which has the Snapdragon 821 processor, is a pretty useful device with many premium-grade features and design.
The U11, no doubt, has an awful name, but the company named it the U11 to make it clear that it is the true successor to the HTC 10.
“Instead, the first two U-series phones were meant to introduce the sleek, glossy glass design that will permeate the rest of the company’s product line soon enough,” says Engadget.
The HTC U 11, the direct successor to 2016’s HTC 10, comes with the “liquid design” of the U-Series that melds metal and glass to create a seamless design that’s “both elegant to look at and to hold,” says Mashable. The smartphone mixes high-end power with a number of pressure sensors and amazing features.
Edge Sense is the best feature
The U.S. version of thr HTC U11 comes with a 5.5-inch, 2K LCD covered by a curved slab of Gorilla Glass 5, an octa-core Snapdragon 835 chipset, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage (expandable via a microSD card) and Quick Charge 3.0 via a USB-C port. The global version will feature 128GB of storage and 6GB of RAM.
In addition, the flagship phone comes with Android 7.1.1 Nougat (with HTC Sense) similar to the Galaxy S8. Further, the user can listen to music via USB-C as there is no headphone jack. Apple ditched the jack in favor of wireless audio, but HTC says USB-C is better for playing high-resolution music with its bundled USonic earbuds, notes Mashable. The handset packs a 3,000mAh battery.
The phone also comes with BoomSound Hi-Fi stereo speakers. The HTC U11 has a 12-megapixel camera on the back with an f/1.7 aperture and dual-pixel focusing, while a 16-megapixel camera can be seen above the display.
One of the best features of the handset is Edge Sense, its pressure-sensitive sides. This feature allows the handset to perform different actions depending on how hard it is squeezed. A user can write a text using their voice, turn on the flashlight, take a screenshot, open Alexa or Google Assistant, and do other things using this feature.
HTC’s latest handset will most likely be competing with higher-end phones in the market, unlike the HTC U Ultra, which was a disappointment for the company. The handset will be available worldwide before the end of this month, but no specific date has been revealed.
