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HTC Announces New Phones For U: HTC U Play and HTC U Ultra

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NewsHubHTC added two new smartphones to its lineup today: the HTC U Play and HTC U Ultra. Both phones use an aluminum frame paired with a curved glass back, an unusual choice of materials for HTC, which has a reputation for creating nice-looking, aluminum unibody phones. Underneath the rear glass are layers of colored minerals that reflect light in interesting ways and add visual depth, creating what HTC calls a “liquid surface” that gives the phones an iridescent sheen. Each phone comes in four different colors: Brilliant Black, Cosmetic Pink, Ice White, and Sapphire Blue.
Both phones have a single-piece volume rocker and highly textured power button on the right edge. There’s also a single downward-firing speaker and a microphone on the bottom edge. Unlike most phones that use a symmetrical pattern of slits to conceal these components, the HTC U phones just use a small circular hole for the microphone. Neither phone includes a 3.5mm headphone jack, instead using the USB Type-C port for audio.
The smaller U Play comes with a 5.2-inch 1080p (423PPI) IPS LCD display that’s covered with Gorilla Glass. The more expensive U Ultra includes HTC’s “Dual Display” that combines a larger 5.7-inch 1440p (515PPI) IPS LCD with a secondary 2.0-inch 160×1040 IPS color LCD in the upper bezel, similar to LG’s V20. This secondary screen displays contextual shortcuts to favorite contacts or apps, reminders, and notifications among other things.
The HTC U Play has a 16MP rear camera with phase detect autofocus (PDAF) and optical image stabilization (OIS) paired with an f/2.0 lens that has a wide-angle 28mm equivalent focal length. The circular camera module sits proud of the rear glass and has a circular dual-tone LED flash offset to one side. Around front is a 16MP selfie camera that uses an UltraPixel branded sensor with larger pixels to boost low-light performance. It also has an f/2.0 lens and a wide-angle 28mm equivalent focal length that’s useful for squeezing more people into a group shot. Both the front and rear cameras have an automatic HDR mode that improves dynamic range for scenes with dark shadows and bright lights without user intervention.

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