HTC U12 Plus

I really haven’t heard form HTC in a while now. But I’m glad to report that finally, the wait is over. Yes, finally a flag ship from the giant smartphone company in the HTC U12 Plus. And a very interesting phone this is as you are about to realise. This article is an in depth analysis if HTC U12 Plus of June 2018. Below is a list of its main features.

Key features

GSM / HSPA / LTE network technology

Single SIM (Nano-SIM) or Hybrid Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)

IP68 dust/water proof (up to 1.5m for 30 minutes)

Pressure-sensitive buttons

Super LCD6 capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors

6.0 inches, 92.9 cm2 (~80.3% screen-to-body ratio)

1440 x 2880 pixels resolution

18:9 ratio (~537 ppi density)

Corning Gorilla Glass 5

Android 8.0 (Oreo), planned upgrade to Android 9.0 (P)

Qualcomm SDM845 Snapdragon 845

Octa-core (4×2.8 GHz Kryo 385 Gold & 4×1.7 GHz Kryo 385 Silver) CPU

Adreno 630 GPU

64/128 GB, 6 GB RAM

microSD, up to 400 GB (uses SIM 2 slot)

Dual 12 MP + 16 MP primary camera, dual LED tone flash

Dual: 8 MP (f/2.0, 1.12µm), 1080p, HDR, panorama

2160@30fps video recording – 4K

Bluetooth 5.0, A2DP, aptX HD, LE

NFC

USB 3.1, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector

Fingerprint (rear-mounted)

Non-removable Li-Ion 3500 mAh battery

Fast battery charging: 50% in 35 min (Quick Charge 3.0)

Colors Translucent Blue, Ceramic Black, Flame Red

That’s one hell of a list don’t you agree? Just what we should expect with a flagship smartphone.

Design and build

It is at this point that HTC separates its U12 Plus from other smartphones. Not in the design really but in the build. See the design is typical 2018 smartphone with dual camera setup on the glass back and a rear mounted fingerprint scanner. And the front with a clean bottom bezel and a top housing the obvious selfie cameras (for this case 2), sensors and a call speaker. It is only the notch that hasn’t been included here. We all dig that, It’s what to expect alright. But with the HTC U12 Plus there is a special feature on board. And that is, it is a pressure se sensitive phone. See, not that there are no buttons here, just that they do not click like with your regular phone. They are pressure sensitive. And not only the buttons but also the sides. And with this feature comes a list of endless possible customization. I’ll attach a link at the end of this review so thou can see what I’m trying to explain here. So yeah, it really is a separator this feature. Now this build also allows for this phone to be water and dust resistant which is a detail HTC will never risk to exclude on a flagship device, again.

Display and camera

I was honestly impressed by both these features.

Display

It has a 6.0 inches Super LCD6 capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors and multi touch supported of course. With 92.9 cm2 (~80.3% screen-to-body ratio) and 18:9 aspect ratio you get a large display estate here. Sharpness, viewing angles and brightness are well managed by its 1440 x 2880 pixels resolution (~537 ppi density). It is also reassuring to note that Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protects this display.

Camera

Four cameras here. Two on the back and two in the front

Primary camera: Dual: 12 MP (f/1.8, 1.4µm, Dual Pixel PDAF) + 16 MP (12 MP effective, f/2.6, 1.0µm), phase detection & laser autofocus, OIS, gyro-EIS, 2x optical zoom, dual-LED dual-tone flash

Selfie camera: Dual: 8 MP (f/2.0, 1.12µm), 1080p, HDR, panorama

Video recording is at 2160p@30fps, that’s 4K. And it does so with HDR and 24-bit/96kHz stereo sound rec.

All four very good at whatsoever roles they play. On the link I’ll attach will also be the role of each.

Performance and memory

Platform

It runs Android 8.0 (Oreo) straight out of its package with a planned upgrade to Android 9.0 (P). Powered by a Qualcomm SDM845 Snapdragon 845, an Octa-core (4×2.8 GHz Kryo 385 Gold & 4×1.7 GHz Kryo 385 Silver) CPU and an Adreno 630 GPU. In June 2018, these are performance specs from the top draw surely. Expect the a whole wide world here.

Storage

Two versions of the HTC U12 Plus, both run on 6GB of RAM. The first a 64 GB model and the other has 128 GB of internal memory. 6GB of RAM handles all tasks seamlessly and without stutter. Well, nearly all the time of course.

Battery

Best believe its Non-removable Li-Ion 3500 mAh battery will not drain as quick as it charges with Fast battery charging: 50% in 35 min (Quick Charge 3.0).

This is a beast of a phone. It will need some getting used to during your first time with mostly because of the pressure sensitivity feature. But you’ll get used to it sooner than you know. Buy HTC U12 Plus today at www.phoneplacekenya.com today.