HTC unveils new ‘squeezable’ U11 smartphone

HTC’s new flagship smartphone, the HTC U 11 was made official earlier today and now HTC has released a couple of new promo videos for the handset. The smartphone is also Hi-Res Audio certified and comes with a similar BoomSound Hi-Fi setup like the HTC 10.

That being said, HTC U11 will come in five color variants which will be Amazing Silver, Ice White, Brilliant Black, Solar Red and Sapphire Blue.

According to DxO, who gave the HTC U11 an unprecedented score of 90, the device performs remarkably well “in a wide variety of shooting conditions, making it a great camera for most situations”.

The U11 also boasts of Qualcomm’s latest processor, the Snapdragon 835, joining the likes of the Sharp Aquos R, Xiaomi Mi6, OnePlus 5, Sony Xperia XZ Premium and Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ as the only devices so far to parade the new chip. It is paired with 4GB/ 6GB RAM and 64GB/128 GB internal storage which is can be expandable up to 2TB via MicroSD card.

Customers get slightly more generous storage options this year, as the HTC 10 only shipped in 32GB or 64GB variants. There’s also an extreme power saving mode, and Quick Charge 3.0 support. It has Sense Companion, Google Assistant and Alexa. HTC claims that their camera is the “only highest ranked phone camera ever”, rated by DXOMark Mobile.

In fact, Qualcomm says the new chip is 27% faster and consumes 40% less energy, so we’d hope to see improved battery life from the HTC U11 – given the battery capacity (3000mAh) and display resolution (QHD) have remained constant. On the other hand, I hate the glass back equally as much on the Samsung Galaxy S7, but I still like the device, so it seems unfair to hold that against HTC. Out of the box, HTC 11 runs on Android 7.1.1 Nougat with HTC Sense UI on the top.

Do you like the HTC U11 and its “edge sense” features?

In the video, which has since been taken down from YouTube (though you can find a handy mirror courtesy of u/PoLVieT, which has been embedded above) we get to see the full design of the HTC U11, from all angles.

You can use the squeezable sides of the HTC U11 to launch the camera, and snap a selfie – which is handy if you’re wearing gloves. In supporting not one, not two but three digital assistants, Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant and its own offering, there is a danger the U11 will spread itself too thinly in trying to cater for all tastes. Squeezing the handset’s frame in that location will automatically launch apps or even take photos.

While HTC Sense Edge can be customised to launch any app, in-app functionality is now only available on HTC software. The app will allow users to configure which apps and functions will launch when squeezing the HTC U11’s frame. The 3.5mm headphone jack has been given the axe, however. We are still negotiating the price at which we can sell HTC U11 in India.

Recently it has become necessary to mention whether or not a smartphone features a 3.5mm headphone jack or not. Here’s what you need to know about the HTC U launch.

The HTC U11 is available for £649, and will begin shipping next month.