HTC was rumoured to be working on a new flagship smartphone code-named HTC Ocean, which would be unlike any other handset that we have seen. Today, we have a leaked press-render of an HTC smartphone which seems to match the rumours.
According the leak, the smartphone is HTC U. It will be a full metal smartphone and have slim bezels. As you can see there are no physical buttons, only a USB Type-C port at the bottom with a pair of speakers. This matches the previous rumours we have heard about the HTC Ocean, where it was speculated to have touch sensitive sensors on the edges for certain functionalities like volume control and power button. There is no fingerprint scanner either so it could very well be embedded under the display and it seems to lack a 3.5mm audio jack as well.
There is also a leaked set of specifications for the handset which suggest a 5.5-inch display with quad HD resolution of 2,560 x 1,440 pixels, a Snapdragon 835 chipset and two storage variants of 64GB and 128GB. While there is no confirmation of the RAM, it is speculated to be 4GB. The rear camera could feature a 12MP sensor while on the front we could see a 16MP selfie shooter. It is expected to run on Android 7.0 Nougat OS with HTC Sense 9 UI. The handset is rumoured to be unveiled this month with a launch date in May.
HTC has announced a new premium smartphone for 2017, with little by way of fanfare. Called the U Ultra, this latest device from HTC features a 5.7-inch display and HTC’s take on a virtual assistant, not to mention a second screen above the regular one. Oh, and it doesn’t have a headphone jack.
Starting with the screens, you get a 5.7-inch Super LCD 5 screen with a QHD resolution. Above it is a second, 2-inch screen with a resolution of 160×1040, which will be used to show contacts, reminders, music controls, etc.
The internals are made up of a Snapdragon 821, 4GB of RAM and either 64GB or 128GB of onboard storage. MicroSD cards up to 2TB in size can be used to expand the storage.
The 64GB variant will come with Gorilla Glass 5 protection while the 128GB version will come with Sapphire glass. Sapphire glass is found over the fingerprint sensors on the iPhone and also on the Apple Watch. While it is more scratch resistant than normal glass, sapphire glass is also more brittle.
The rear camera is a 12MP UltraPixel 2 sensor that’s very similar to the one on HTC’s previous flagship, the HTC 10. The front camera, strangely enough, is a 16MP unit with a 4MP UltraPixel mode.
The rear camera can record slow-motion video up to 120fps at 720p. It can also record 4K video with “3D Audio” and “Hi-res audio”. The 3D Audio recording occurs via 4 microphones on the device while Hi-res audio is only limited to stereo recording.
The phone draws power from a rather underwhelming 3,000 mAh battery.
Connectivity comes in the form of USB 3.1 Gen 1 over a Type-C port, Bluetooth 4.2, dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac and NFC.
Alongside the HTC U Ultra, HTC also announced the HTC U Play, a device with a 5.2-inch screen (Full HD), 2,500 mAh battery, a Helio P10 SoC, 3GB or 4GB of RAM, 32GB or 64GB of storage and a 16MP rear camera. The front camera appears to be similar to the one on the HTC U Ultra. Internal storage can also be expanded by up to 2TB via a microSD card.
While connectivity options remain the same, USB connectivity is limited to USB 2.0 mode (over a Type-C connector), limiting data transfer speeds and functionality.
Disappointingly, the U Play comes with Android 6.0, but the flagship U Ultra at least ships with Android 7.0 out of the box.
HTC has dumped the all-metal aesthetic that it’s been using on its flagships for a while now. Instead, you get a glossy-surfaced all-glass finish that HTC calls ‘Liquid Construction’.
Besides the hardware and design, the phones come with some interesting features, not least of which is HTC Sense Companion, an onboard AI a la Google Now and Siri. The Sense Companion is different from AI like Google Now and Siri in that it’s meant to learn your habits and tune the phone’s behaviour accordingly. For example, HTC says the phone will learn your travel route and let you know when your phone needs to be charged.
The phone features voice recognition, so it can actually recognise your voice and respond to commands. Technology called USonic apparently analyses your ears and determines how best to modulate a headset for the best listening experience.
HTC’s trademark BoomSound speakers, which are only available on the U Ultra, feature HTC’s now standard tweeters-on-top and woofer-below configuration.
Pricing and availability details are unknown at this time, though The Verge reports that the device will sell for $749 in the US.
This year has been quite interesting for HTC. The Taiwanese smartphone maker was praised for its flagship, the HTC 10, for its fine design. It is still one of my favourite looking smartphones for 2016. Recently Google launched the new Pixel smartphones, made by HTC. Although there is no branding, it is quite obvious who made it judging by its design and finish. The company also announced a bunch of of mid-range smartphones in the Desire range earlier in the year. Unlike the high-end devices, they didn’t catch much attention and honestly didn’t offer a good value for money.
Now the company has introduced a new Desire smartphone which according to HTC, is the best Desire they have ever made. The new Desire 10 Pro is here and I had a chance to check out the smartphone at the launch. Here is what I think about the smartphone.
Build and Design
I have never had complaints with HTC when it comes to design. The Desire 10 Pro looks similar to the Desire 10 Lifestyle which was launched back in September. Of course there are a few fine changes here and there. It comes with a plastic build with a matte finish at the back that almost feels rubbery. I got to check out the ‘Stone Black’ colour variant which is black on the front and back with gold accents around the edges, antenna bands and the camera lens.
Going in-depth, the volume keys sit on the right edge along with the power button. Fine details matter and HTC knows that. There is a nice differentiation between the power button which is textured and the volume buttons which are flat.
The left side houses the dual SIM card tray, the top has the 3.5mm audio jack and at the bottom is the microUSB for charging and one half of the dual speakers. Moving to the back, the camera sits on the top left corner offering a slight bump, while the LED flash and laser auto-focus system sit below it. The back also houses the barely visible fingerprint sensor. Notably this is the first smartphone from HTC that has the sensor at the back.
The display sits nicely having a dimension of 5.5-inches with plenty of space above and bottom. I wish HTC had trimmed some inches. Oh and the handset comes with capacitive keys that light up when pressed. Sweet. Right above the display is the earpiece which also houses the second half of the stereo speakers and the 13MP front camera on its left.
The Desire 10 Pro will be arriving in four colour including of Stone Black, Polar White, Royal Blue and Valentine Lux.
I was quite happy with the design, although for a 5.5-incher it seemed larger than some recent phones that I’ve tested sporting a similar sized display. Having said that, it didn’t feel all that heavy thanks to the plastic build.
Display
While the dimensions of the display are same as the Desire 10 Lifestyle, the resolution has been bumped up to 1080p which means a pixel density of 401ppi. It is an IPS LCD panel with Gorilla Glass for protection, but we don’t know exactly which version HTC has used. Colours look good on the display and brightness seems sufficient, although I faced a lot of glare and reflections when using the handset under bright indoor lighting.
Hardware and features
At the price of HTC Desire 10 Pro, I expected some quality features since Chinese vendors like OnePlus, Xiaomi and Lenovo offer some promising devices. You get a MediaTek Helio P10 octa-core processor paired with 4GB of RAM. The storage is 64GB which sounds sufficient and one can further expand it using a microSD card of up to 256GB.
In the connectivity department, the smartphone offers dual-SIM card slots, Wi-Fi, GPS/A-GPS, Bluetooth, NFC, and 4G LTE. There is also a fingerprint scanner at the back. The battery is rated at 3,000mAh along with fast charge support.
OS and Software
The Desire 10 Pro runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow with HTC Sense UI on top. It is similar to the what we saw on the HTC 10. Its a clean and close to stock experience with light skinning and a few apps. In the few minutes of usage, the UI felt smooth and stable. I didn’t notice any hiccups but of course such issues arrive only when one uses a smartphone for a longer period.
Now I expected the new Android 7.0 Nougat update out of the box, but HTC has said it should arrive in the coming months.
Camera
In the photography department, you get a 20MP camera at the back with an f/2.2 aperture lens, laser guided autofocus, auto-HDR and a dual-tone dual-LED flash unit. On the front there is a 13MP camera with a similar f/2.2 aperture. Both the front and back cameras utilise a BSI Sensor which is said to help in low light photography.
The camera is same as the HTC 10 offering a clean and simple interface. As for the image quality, the rear camera capture decently lit photos, although colours seemed a little off balance. Probably it was due to the high contrast lighting I was shooting it. I wasn’t fully impressed with the camera, which is apparently one of the USPs of the device, but a thorough test is required before I can make a judgement. The front camera is touted as the world’s first front facing camera with a 150-degree field of view wide selfies.
Conclusion
I’ll be honest. HTC has made a variety of sub-Rs 30,000 Desire smartphones in the past and somehow they all have been toppled by something that offers a better feature package. Even today there are better devices in the market, no doubt. But this doesn’t seem like a shoddy attempt from the company. The build quality is solid and it feels quite premium. But since most of us today jump to specifications, it might take a beating against smartphones like the Lenovo Z2 Plus or the OnePlus 3.
At Rs 26,490 HTC is again playing a risky bet. I cannot comment about the performance or the day to day experience of the device just yet, but if I only talk about the features that it offers, one will have an option to buy something similar at about Rs 12,000.
HTC managed to survive this year with its flagship HTC 10 and struck a deal with Google to make the Pixel smartphones. Now it seems the next smartphone in line will be the HTC Bolt or so it seems from the leaks.
Thanks to profound leakster Evan Blass, we have a first look at the device. From the front it looks exactly like the HTC 10 with a curved glass finish along with a fingerprint scanner and capacitive buttons sitting below the display. It also seems to feature a full metal body finish with chamfered edges, although the back looks different.
The HTC Bolt could feature a 5.5-inch display, but the resolution is unknown. It could feature 3GB of RAM and 64GB internal storage along with microSD card support. There is also a USB Type-C port at the bottom and no headphone jack. So probably HTC’s first handset to omit the port. It won’t be the first handset to offer audio via the USB Type-C port as the HTC 10 offered the same feature, while still having the legacy audio port.
As mentioned above, the back is slightly different as there is no sign of the laser autofocus unit and the dual-LED flash has moved to the top. The camera could also see a bump with an 18MP F/2.0 unit. There is no confirmation as to when it will launch, but there is a chance that it could launch before the next year.
The almost forgotten HTC smartwatch finally makes an appearance online. We’ve seen a prototype in a behind-the-scenes video a couple of years ago, but it’s been a no-show from the company. What can HTC offer a market that’s already saturated with a plethora of offerings from Pebble, Samsung, Motorola, Apple and more.
Now, years later, five images of the alleged HTC Halfbeak watch have surfaced online (via9To5Google). The images reveal a round display and the watch might remind you of the Moto 360 and it seems to have been built in partnership with Under Armor. What you see is a non-removable silicon band with a matte black/red body. One will also find a heart rate monitor and three physical buttons on the sides. One of the images also reveals Android Wear support.
HTC had a great start in 2014 with the stellar One M8. Soon after, it released an
