HTC U11 highlight is the ‘Edge Sense’ feature letting user to perform varying tasks. That is the reason why, the smartphone is sensitive to the amount of pressure being exerted by the user on the metal frames, these frames allow customize actions, for example, open apps, launch Google assistant, send texts and more.

HTC U11 Review 3rd Phone in Company’s U Series

It is the third phone in the HTC U series and a successor of last year’s company’s flagship phone HTC 10. But this phone main gimmick is the Edge Sense thing.

Every phone company is trying to introduce its own gimmick some says their phone has 2 rear cameras with sensors, some have super large screens, while some have snap-on modular display. Although not every one of them is bad like the larger the screen more pixels in less space, dual sensor camera setup can produce really sharp and crisp images – but the baseline is all these are touchscreen mobile phones and one way or another possess the same usability features.

Early Verdict – Edge Sense let the user to play with his phone for a while by squeezing it and asking for different commands. Lower half of the mobile metal frame, there are some sensors embedded. That feature stands up from the rest because all other features are solid like any other top notch brand.

Design and Display

Design of HTC U11 is replacing last year’s HTC 10 with metallic glass design. Back of the phone is polished with metal and a slab of glass behind fingerprint magnet. Front of the phone is quite simple or can say flat, with slight indentation for fingerprint scanner below. Also, if the front look compared to Samsung, LG and Pixel, U11 willingly decide to stay old.

Combo of glass and metal is good in look and feel but that’s also the worst part. Especially when it comes to the bend test in which the handset failed. We must have to say, HTC tried Samsung expertise when it comes to have metal and glass body design, and that was their second try, not a small feat.

In comparison to Samsung Galaxy S8 for blacks and whites and colors, LCD isn’t that rich, vibrancy and the depth of color offered by Samsung AMOLED screens is a step ahead.

U11 comprise of 5.5 inch display screen with Quad HD resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels, sharp and bright. Aspect ratio is 16:9 which means it isn’t tall or skinny like Samsung Galaxy S8 or LG G6. And, it does not stretch or spread edge-to-edge in display. However, the screen of U11 is protected by the Corning Gorilla Glass 5.

Phone is dust and water resistant according to IP67 standards so the handset would survive a trip down into the toilet but swimming below a meter of water could be risky.

Rounded back of 9.1mm thickness is chunky for a smartphone that belong to the year 2017. The phone is nice in the grip but the bulky buttons or bezels on sides, top and bottom gives it an odd look.

Fingerprint sensor – thin oval shape fingerprint sensor on the phone front works sufficiently good, unlocks the device instantly.

No headphone socket – but on the good side, it does have active noise cancellation headphones, part of the packing, like USB-C with headphone socket adapter.

Colors – Sapphire Blue, Amazing Silver, Brilliant Black, Solar Red, and Ice White.

Hardware – the Processor

U11 by HTC is the one of the premier smartphones having latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor. The processor is faster and has more efficient battery life. Samsung Galaxy S8 has the latest Snapdragon 835 in US but not in Europe.

Jumping from one app to another, game loads, searches, unlocking phone with fingerprint sensor is just instant and phone didn’t slow down. Responsive interface, scrolling inside any app is as fast as fluid.

Battery – 3000mAh, of the phone isn’t a multiday marathoner, so its performance isn’t as good as phone’s overall performance. Without activating power saving modes, U11 battery lasted 24 hours and in between charges. Browsing and downloading apps, an hour of gaming, listening to music for 3-hours, and emailing is the usage against which the phone’s battery has been tested.

Quick Charge 2.0 along with compatible charger makes U11 phone charging fast, 100% charge in an hour. 4GB RAM, 64GB ROM, 6GB RAM+128GB ROM for internal storage.

Software – Android Nougat 7.1.1

HTC U11 will run Android Nougat 7.1.1 and the company fits the new entrant with Android called Sense version, which adds just a few refinements. Biggest addition to the U11 is Sense Companion which is a new smart assistant, a duplication of Google Assistant, not all of it. So, Google Assistant and Sense Companion both are available at HTC U11.

Phone also learns your habits and tries to optimize the performance as according. The phone will remind you when your phone is low on the charging, when you need to clear phone memory using Boost+ etc.

It may seem like a hurry call but critics didn’t find anything new or interesting. Duplicating Google Assistant isn’t smart but of more time is given to the Sense Companion it could actually be handy.

Camera

HTC U11 has 12MP rear camera which is along BSI sensor, dual LED flash, OIS and f/1.7 aperture. The lens are stabilized and autofocus is dual-pixel – camera can take amazing pictures in different light conditions. The phone might not be able to compete with Google Pixel, Samsung Galaxy S8 or iPhone as these three are in head-to-head competition in taking pictures with two camera provided. But, results by the U11 phone aren’t low than expected. Just fine. It focuses on the object quickly and lets you to take beautiful pictures with quite detail and color accuracy.

The camera supports 4K video recording, smooth and jitter free. Front camera is of 16MP also with BSI sensor. It has voice selfie, live makeup and Panorama features too.

Manual controls in pro shooting mode can be as simple to use as you would like to with custom presets, sliders, optional RAW output etc.

Camera earned best DxOMark score that has ever being achieved by HTC but the score number is doubtful because they never can beat the real time experience, most phone fail.

Edge Sense –Squeeze Me

HTC U11 is unique simply because of its Edge Sense technology, simply user has to squeeze his or her at the bottom half to activate varying features. Pressure sensitivity can be tuned according to user liking, monster or tight grip might be the case we are addressing here.

On default, camera opens up when squeeze action is performed and once it’s up it triggers the shutter button. Camera app launch is great when it comes to squeeze but trigger is something which isn’t handy as it may take pictures which might be out of focus. But it could be fixed. Go to the ‘advanced’ and set short squeeze action, long squeeze for performing other actions could also be set. It better to launch the camera button than double tapping the power button, don’t you think so? It’s far less accidental camera activation.

We must say, it’s beyond a gimmick to launch camera with a squeeze because power button camera launch is kind of annoying and not at all user friendly.

HTC U11 Bend Test

JerryRigEverthing YouTube channel recently did a bend test for HTC U11. It has failed miserable in the test video which has shown that the phone hold it well for burn and scratch test but not for bend test.

Pressure was exerted from the front towards the back and then from back to front. Front glass of U11 cracked and display screen failed too. However, the source claimed that 3D glass used for U11 is more rigid than the one used for HTC U Ultra.

U11 doesn’t have plastic buffer in between glass and the metal frame of the phone so when the pressure was applied it didn’t find any place to go.

(Kindly use the youtube link for this bend test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdRxmu2jcMs)

Price

The HTC U11 costs £649 and the handset is available in black, blue, silver and white colors. The phone is cheaper than other top end smartphones.

Price Comparisons

Samsung Galaxy S8 Cost £689
Samsung Galaxy S8+ Cost £779
Google Pixel XL Cost £719
Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus costs £719
LG G6 costs £649
Huawei P10 Plus costs £649

Release Date

HTC U11 launched in May this year. First launched in Asia and then UK in June. It’s expected to launch in Indian market by 16^th June 2017.

Our Verdict

HTC U11 is a new generation smartphone packed with old and chunky style design, primarily because of the thick back and the bezel pressure sensitive buttons on the bottom of the phone.

U11 is bright and impressive from the back but flat from front. 5.5inch screen makes it easy fit for a pocket. One handed squeezable sides which could be configured to launch different apps. Camera is configured by default.

Pros – squeeze sides, 24 hour long battery, active noise cancellation headphones, amazing camera, bold and catchy colors, water resistant

Cons- outdated design, no headphone jack, bulky and old because of the large bezels.