HTC is just a few days away from unveiling its U12 Plus flagship smartphone. The Taiwanese vendor has been teasing the device in its own way, but the ever reliable tipster Evan Blass has come up with a massive HTC U12 Plus leak. Blass not only shared renders of the device but also the detailed spec sheet. His HTC U12 Plus leak has left little to the imagination. The device is internally code-named ‘Imagine.’
For some reason, HTC is going to call its upcoming flagship ‘U12 Plus’ rather than just U12. It could be because the Plus versions from rivals such as Apple and Samsung have superior specs compared to their regular siblings. For instance, the iPhone 8 Plus and Galaxy S9 Plus have better cameras than the iPhone 8 and Galaxy S9, respectively. By naming it ‘U12 Plus,’ HTC might want to let you know that it will be an ultra-premium device.
https://twitter.com/evleaks/status/997108920639524869?s=09
The renders shared by Blass confirm that HTC is not going to adopt the iPhone X-like notch that many other Android vendors have shamelessly copied. An earlier HTC U12 Plus leak had claimed that the device would be available in Red Rose, Black, Violet, and Translucent colors. Evan Blass’s render confirms that the upcoming flagship will borrow the Translucent color from last year’s HTC U11. It shows off the internal hardware of the handset.
The phone still has slim bezels at the top and bottom of the screen. It sports a 6-inch Super LCD screen with a 2880 x 1440 resolution. The screen is protected by Corning’s Gorilla Glass 5. HTC has decided to use a Super LCD panel rather than an OLED screen, which offers more vibrant colors and better energy efficiency but is relatively expensive. Its back panel appears to be slightly curved on the sides.
You can see a horizontally aligned dual camera system on the back. It also sports a dual camera setup on the front for selfies. The circular fingerprint sensor and the LED flash are placed below the camera setup. According to the spec sheet shared by Evan Blass, it would have a 12MP lens with an f/1.75 aperture and a 16MP sensor with an f/2.6 aperture on the back. On the front, there will be two 8MP lenses.
The massive HTC U12 Plus leak confirms that the phone will be powered by 6GB RAM and Qualcomm’s octa-core Snapdragon 845 processor. There will be 64GB and 128GB storage options. The phone will also have a microSD card slot for external memory expansion, and a huge 3,500mAh battery that should easily last more than a day of normal usage. It will launch with an IP68 rating for water- and dust-resistance.
https://twitter.com/evleaks/status/997112707424845824
The handset will ship with HTC’s custom skin on top of Android Oreo, with a promised upgrade to Android P. The spec sheet also lists a new ‘touch feedback’ experience and a ‘pressure-sensitive’ feature. It means the U12 Plus will have HTC’s signature Edge Sense feature. You’ll be able to squeeze the phone’s frame to access apps, hold for Smart Rotate and Smart Dim, double tap to bring up a mini-screen for one-handed use, and customizable gestures to launch the voice assistant, camera, and other features.
The HTC U12 Plus leak suggests that it will also come with an ‘Always-on listening’ support for virtual assistants such as Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. The U12 Plus is also said to offer high-quality audio experience with BoomSound and USonic. The specifications are quite impressive. If Evan Blass’s HTC U12 Plus leak turns out to be accurate, it will be one of the best Android phones of this year.
Blass did not reveal the phone’s price, though. A separate report from MyDrivers claims that the 64GB model would cost NT$ 23,500 ($785) in Taiwan while the 128GB variant would be priced at NT$ 24,900 (roughly $830). The US prices are expected to be lower than the prices in Taiwan. HTC has to price its device competitively to ensure success. If it costs about $100 less than Samsung’s Galaxy S9, it would help HTC attract buyers.
Coming Soon. A phone that is more than the sum of its specs. pic.twitter.com/m2skJSK0qt
— HTC (@htc) May 3, 2018
HTC is going to unveil the device on May 23rd. The company recently shared a tweet with the date 23.05.2018. The tweet says, “Coming soon. A phone that is more than the sum of its specs.” However, it didn’t directly refer to the U12 Plus. The upcoming flagship will be HTC’s last chance to revive its smartphone business. The company has already sold part of its mobile business to Google for $1.1 billion. It has said that it would launch fewer phones in 2018 to focus on only the mid-range and premium segments to minimize losses.
