The new HTC handset will be called the ‘U’ or ‘U 11’ and will be launched on May 16.
The HTC 10 was something of a reinvention for the brand, sporting a new design, new features and upgraded specs. But in some ways it was still not enough of a change, and still lacking.
The HTC U Ultra wasn’t quite the flagship HTC needed either, but the good news is another high-end phone is thought to be on the way, complete with a brand new way to interact with it. It won’t be called the HTC 11 though, with HTC U the likely name of HTC’s main 2017 flagship.
There’s been one final twist in the tale though: an unofficial leak says HTC is going to go with HTC U 11 as the name of the phone. Confused yet?
We’ve heard a lot about it too, all of which you can read below, along with a wish list of what we want from it.
HTC has left its flagship launch until later this year, which has allowed LG, Huawei, Sony and Samsung all to get in ahead of the Taiwanese firm.
We now have a confirmed HTC U launch date though, with official invites (like the one above) being sent out to media, for an event on May 16.
HTC has also given us a glimpse of its upcoming flagship, with a five second teaser clip posted on its Twitter account, showing an extremely slender device and a slogan of “squeeze for the brilliant U.”
Squeeze for the Brilliant U. 05.16.2017 https: //t.co/89OuHXbBlt pic.twitter.com/jLaeFD2wMW April 20,2017
Rumors suggest you’ll be able to squeeze the side of the HTC U, and pressure sensitive buttons will provide you with various functions – such as launching an app or taking a photo.
In terms of a HTC U release date, we’re still in the dark, but we’d expect the handset to go on sale a week or two after the launch with pre-orders going live on May 16, or shortly after.
And what have we here? Is this the HTC U in all its glory? Considering the source of the image was serial tipster Evan Blass, it’s likely that this is indeed our first proper look at HTC’s 2017 flagship, with a glass back and a fingerprint sensor on the front, built into the home button.
This looks a lot like the design in a video teaser shared by HTC itself. The six second clip doesn’t give you a good look at the phone, but you can see a shiny, curvy design seemingly inspired by water – though it’s possibly metal rather than glass.
Previously our best look at a phone that might be the HTC U showed an edge-to-edge screen with sizeable black bezels above and below it, one of which houses an oblong home button. It looks a lot like the HTC U Ultra in fact.
We can’t see the back here, but previously a Chinese source on Weibo shared an image which shows both the front and back.
The social media account hasn’t been clear on the exact source of the leaked design, but it’s an interesting concept, taking elements from the HTC Bolt/10 Evo.
As you can see, the back appears to be metal, the edges slope off sharply and the front has an edge-to-edge screen. It’s a striking look and a leaked video shows a similar design.
Notably it doesn’t have the shiny glass back of the HTC U Ultra, and nor does it have the front-facing home button of that phone and more recent leaks, so it’s unclear which – if either – of these are accurate.
And we’ve also seen leaked shots of a phone believed to be the HTC One X10 – so probably not the HTC U then, but it’s possible that the HTC 11 will have a similar design, in which case you can look forward to a metal unibody with a fingerprint scanner on the back.
Whatever the look of the phone, it might have at least some water and dust resistance, with more than one source saying it will be IP57 certified, meaning it can be submerged up to 1 meter deep in water for up to 30 minutes and is safe from dust damage (but not completely dust tight) .
Several rumors suggest the HTC U will feature a 5.5-inch 1440 x 2560 display – an upgrade on the 5.2-inch HTC 10 screen – so this is likely going to be a slightly bigger phone.
One Weibo leaker even suggested the phone will come with a curved display. If that sounds familiar it’s because the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge has exactly the same setup.
However, not all sources agree with that resolution, with a recent leak suggesting it will actually have a 1556 x 2550 screen – that’s an odd resolution and would suggest an unusual aspect ratio if it’s right, although we’ve seen odd aspect ratios rolled out on the LG G6 and Samsung Galaxy S8, so it’s possible.
There’s also a chance that the HTC 11 will have a tiny secondary display above the main one, like we’ve seen on the LG V20, given that the HTC U Ultra has been launched with exactly that feature.
But then again HTC is likely to want to differentiate the two ranges, and for that reason a jump in screen size to 5.5 inches also may not happen, as that would leave it only slightly smaller than the 5.7-inch HTC U Ultra.
HTC itself has hinted at the use of the Snapdragon 835 in the HTC 11, while one Chinese source has revealed some additional apparent HTC 11 details. The leak suggests the phone will come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset under the hood as well as 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage.
Those would certainly be flagship specs, as the Snapdragon 835 is likely to be the top-end chip of choice in 2017, and 8GB of RAM is almost unheard of in any current handsets.
We’ve heard similar but slightly more muted specs from another source, with a Snapdragon 835 chipset, 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage put forward. That matches up with some benchmarks that have hit the web.
Meanwhile another source claims either 4GB or 6GB of RAM and 64 or 128GB of storage along with the Snapdragon 835. We’ve also seen a specs list claiming there will be a Snapdragon 835,6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. You can see that full specs list below, plus another list leak has further cemented the phone’s specs..
As for the operating system, we’d expect the HTC 11 to come with the latest version of Android Nougat and HTC’s own overlay on top. Indeed, both Android Nougat 7.1 and HTC Sense 9.0 have been attached to the phone in leaks.
The most recent camera rumors come from Evan Blass – a leaker with a strong track record. He claims that the HTC U will have a 12MP rear camera and a 16MP front-facing one.
We’ve seen the same specs on a leaked image, which adds that the rear snapper will have an f/1.7 aperture and optical image stabilisation.
But previously a Weibo source stated that the HTC 11 will have a 12MP rear camera and an 8MP front-facing one. Either way it doesn’t sound like we’ll be getting a dual-lens camera.
If the rear camera is 12MP it will be the same basic spec as the HTC 10’s, but it’s likely to be improved in some ways. For example, one rumor points to an ‘HDR+ Scene Detection’ feature, which could show you the effects of HDR in real time, before you take a picture.
As for the battery, one source claims a 3,700mAh battery will be powering the handset.
