HTC's 'U Ultra' flagship phone
January 13, 2017 • Android • HTC • New Launch • News
Enter the HTC U family.
Arriving significantly earlier than previous HTC flagships, the HTC U family has two different models, the high-end U Ultra and the mid-range HTC U Play. In this post we’ll be focusing on the former. Let have a look on this new HTC “U Ultra”.
Specifications
While it would have been nice to see the HTC U Ultra launch with the brand new Snapdragon 835, the phone still rocks pretty solid specs including a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821, 4GB RAM, and either 64 or 128GB storage, as well as microSD expansion up to 2TB. However, one of the biggest spec standouts is the display.
The HTC U Ultra’s screen is significantly larger than the HTC 10’s 5.2-inch display at 5.7-inches with a resolution of QHD. Even more interesting, HTC has seemingly taken a page from LG’s playbook, introducing a 2-inch secondary display above the main one, with a resolution of 160 x 1040. As you’d imagine, this second display is for notifications, contacts, reminders, and even certain special apps.
HTC U Ultra design, features, and software
When we say "familiar," though, we're not talking about the phone's design and materials. In fact, the U Ultra's exterior is unlike anything else in recent memory. Some of HTC's usual design flourishes, such as the pill-shaped fingerprint sensor and the centered UltraPixel camera, are still here, but the company's designers traded the usual aluminum look for a finish that seems almost liquid. The frame is still made of metal, but the back is covered with a beautiful curved glass that looks almost pearlescent under the right light. It's a gorgeous effect born from HTC's obsession with material science that plays well on all four of the U Ultra's colors (black, white, blue and pink). And beyond all that, it feels pretty great in-hand too, in part thanks to a sleek profile measuring just under 8mm at its thickest point.
Oh, and get this: HTC ditched the headphone jack too, so you'll have to use some USB Type-C headphones. At least you can augment the phone with more storage. You'll be able to choose from 64GB or 128GB variants right, and while the latter has sapphire glass covering the screen instead of Gorilla Glass 5, both will take microSD cards as large as 2TB.
On the software front the HTC U Ultra runs Android 7.0 Nougat with Sense technology. While we can’t speak much on all the features found in the latest version of Sense just yet, HTC is highlighting some new AI/Assistant features. The brand new Sense Companion is a personal companion that always is learning from your habits and can remind you of all sorts of things like if you need to give your phone a little extra charge to make it through the day depending on your schedule, recommending restaurants, warning you to leave for work early based on weather and road conditions, and more.
HTC says that this technology is made to evolve the more you use it, and the company will also likely continue updating and upgrading its function set in the months (and years) to come. In addition, the HTC U Ultra features advanced voice recognition, responding even if your phone is asleep, letting your rject calls, take calls, dismiss alarms and more — all from your voice.
With an all new design and plenty of special features, the HTC U Ultra certainly stands apart from its past brothers, but is this enough to make it a success?