HTC U11+

HTC, unlike very many other smartphone companies do not do a lot of marketing and advertising of their newest releases of smartphones. Rarely do you see an HTC advert on T.V or hear the same on radio. But still, this is one brand of smartphone that doesn’t go without notice. There is a notion that HTC smartphones are smartphones of class, and some people will always argue that, when mentioning the top say three expensive smartphones, HTC makes the list. It puzzles me how such an advertised brand has so much attention around it. It is very hard not to notice an HTC phone. In December, 2017, the company added to its name a new HTC smartphone, the HTC U11+. For those who might recall, HTC U11 precedes this U11+. Although critics had a lot to say about that particular smartphone, I hardly doubt they will have much to say about this one. This is among the best HTC phones I have ever had time with, and it is the purpose for this review. In it, I will take you through its features and talk about each one of them in the below categories. But first, its main features.

Key features

6.0 inches Super LCD6 capacitive touch screen

1440 x 2880 pixels resolution

18:9 display aspect ratio

Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection

Front/back glass and aluminum frame

Single or Dual SIM (2g, 3g and 4g)

Android Oreo 8.0

Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset

Octa-core (4 x 2.45 GHz Kyro & 4 x 1.9GHz Kyro) CPU

Adreno 540 GPU

128GB + 6GB RAM or 64GB + 4GB RAM

12MP primary camera, phase detection autofocus, OIS, dual LED flash

8MP selfie camera, 1080p, HDR, panorama

Bluetooth 5.0

GPS

NFC

USB 3.1 type C 1.0 reversible connector

Non removable 3930mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0

Rear mounted fingerprint scanner

IP 68 certified water and dust resistant

It is an HTC flagship the HTC U11+. Below is an in depth analysis of it.

Design and build

Okay, before I spoil the broth with too many words, I would like to report that this phone makes it to my top 5 list of beautiful smartphones. And point of correction, this has nothing to do with preference or beauty lying on the eyes of the beholder- this baby is just a beauty- simple and straight. Moving on. It has this 6.0 inch display panel between the bigger top bezel than lower. The top bezel houses the selfie camera, sensors and the call speaker while the bottom one is left untouched. On the back, is yet other layers of glass that beautifully bounce light that falls on it. Every other part of this phone that isn’t glass is made of series of aluminum layers. It weighs about 188 grams and has an 8.5mm thickness. On its back, we see the centrally placed camera with LED flash to its right, a bigger size fingerprint scanner (bigger that camera) and HTC branding right below it. I think the looks and build of this phone are a stunning and great, respectively. Check it out online. And also to mention, the build it has allows for it to be dust and water proof for 30 minutes in either and for any depth above 1.5 meters. And (again), the squeeze feature we saw from the HTC U11 is also included here. It is a feature that allows you to do an operation (eg open a particular app, or call someone or send an SMS etc) by firmly applying pressure on the sides of the HTC U11+. It is an optional feature though, it can be turned off.

Display and camera

Display

Its 6.0 inches screen is a Super LCD6 capacitive touch screen. Now I will be very honest about this detail. I don’t much understand the tech explanations behind a Super LCD6 display type, all I know, as an end user is- this is one very impressive display to include on a smartphone of this caliber. It has some really deep and sharp, well represented sharp colors. I love that its viewing angles are also great and that even in direct sunlight, you can still read what lies behind your display. AMOLED is still the best display, that’s undisputed- but where credit is due, I give. It has corning gorilla glass 5 protection to ensure its durability.

Camera

We get two impressive cameras here. A 12 MP primary shooter with features like OIS, geo tagging, HDR, panorama etc and an 8MP selfie camera that shots up to 1080p, HDR and panorama. These are admirable specs on a camera, especially that selfie shooter. You get crisp photos with either cameras.

Performance and memory

One place I know HTC never goes wrong with is platform performance. Any other thing may be wayward on an HTC but this. It comes running on Android Oreo 8.0 (with HTC Sense UI), has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset, an Octa-core (4 x 2.45 GHz Kyro & 4 x 1.9GHz Kyro) CPU and an Adreno 540 GPU.

Internal memory is either 128GB + 6GB RAM or 64GB + 4GB RAM and can still be expanded up to 256GB using an SD card.

These are high end specs that will see your HTC U11+ run seamlessly and without any much trouble. Multitasking and many more operations are a breeze on this phone.

Battery

Its 3930mAh battery of has a 67hours battery life. I am pretty sure that is straightforward. With moderate usage, you can go up to 2 days until next Quick Charge (3.0) is needed.

Great platform performance, impressive camera and beautiful design is what you change your money for when you decide to buy the HTC U11+. It comes with the choice of three colors: translucent blue, ceramic black and amazing silver – have your choice.