Find and compare the best deals on HTC’s brand new U11 flagship smartphone
The HTC U11 (don’t forget that all important ‘U’) is here and its genuinely original features have given even the most jaded of tech reviewers a little buzz of excitement. Edge Sense is the new attribute that we didn’t know we wanted and — as you’ll see from our hands on HTC U11 review — it’s certainly interesting.
Attracting consumers’ attention away from the vice-like grip on the phones market of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and iPhone 7 is no easy task. But HTC has a recent track record of making superb handsets, and the U11’s striking Liquid Surface design and abandonment of the headphone jack show its desire to keep pace with the big boys.
But to convince you to buy the U11 over the latest Galaxy and iPhone, the price has to be right, too. Keep reading to see how much it will cost to pick up a sim-free HTC U11 and our best guess at how much full plans will cost.
Of the known knowns, the one figure we have with a £-sign in front of it is the starting price of the handset in the UK. It will be £649 when the pre-orders open this Thursday 18 May. Elsewhere around the globe, it will be $649 in the US and we’d expect it to be around AU$900 in Australia.
That’s roughly the same as the HTC 10 when it launched last year and, crucially, a little bit cheaper than the Galaxy S8 (starts at £689) . It also matches the LG G6, but it’s pricier than the starting RRP of iPhone 7 — Apple’s latest flagship is currently being sold for £579.
In terms of contracts, only O2 has ventured its head over the parapet so far. It’s revealing no solid prices, but has confirmed that it will be stocking the U11 ‘in the coming weeks’. What we do know is that it will be available on O2 Refresh — the network’s tariff plans that effectively let you upgrade your phone when you like during the course of the contract.
As we say, no specific price plans have yet been announced — but we reckon we can take a well educated guess at what you can expect. We haven’t quite gazed into our crystal ball, but we have taken a look at what deals were around when the HTC 10 came out and what the major networks are offering at the moment. So drum roll please:
If that’s correct, then it will massively undercut the best Galaxy S8 deals. You’re looking at more than £900 over the two year term to get hold of the Samsung flagship phone. And it’s worth noting that last year the HTC 10’s price plummeted after a couple of months. So if you can resist clicking the pre-order button, it may be a savvier move to hold your horses until even better prices emerge in the late summer.
As soon as the likes of O2, EE, Vodafone and Three begin to confirm their prices, we’ll be sure to add them to this page so you can see exactly how much cash you’ll need to splash on the HTC U11 — Edge Sense and all.
