HTC U11 release date, specs, and rumors

HTC kickstarted the year 2017 with the launch of the all new HTC U11-series smartphones back in January. But, it was pretty clear that neither the HTC U Ultra nor the HTC U Play was the company’s next flagship handset. Sure, the HTC U Ultra is a premium device with relatively high-end specs. But it just isn’t the flagship HTC wants to sell in 2017.

Which exactly brings us to the HTC U11. Also known as the HTC Ocean, the smartphone has been the talk of the town for a while now. Besides the fact that it will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset, the U11 seems to have tons of interesting features up its sleeves.

Here’s everything you need to know about the device under one roof!

HTC U11 Launch Date (expected)

It was earlier rumored that the HTC U11 will be unveiled sometime in April with the sales beginning in May. But now, we have an official confirmation from the company itself. The smartphone will be launched on 16th of May which means we are only a few weeks away from the official launch of HTC’s next flagship.

Squeeze for the Brilliant U. 05.16.2017 https://t.co/89OuHXbBlt pic.twitter.com/jLaeFD2wMW

— HTC (@htc) April 20, 2017

Read: HTC U11 is company’s 2017 flagship, not HTC 11

HTC U11 Specs

Design

The design has always been HTC’s forte. HTC 10, for instance, stands testimony to that fact. Although it has been criticized severely for “poor usage of space” design-wise, aesthetically speaking, even the HTC U Ultra looks pretty good.

The HTC U11, however, seems to take the company’s design game to the next level. Going by the recent rumors, the U11 will have sensors placed underneath the metal frame on either side particularly at the bottom of the device. These sensors are said to let you interact with the smartphone thereby providing additional functionality.

Users will apparently be able to swipe or squeeze the edges of the phone to enable certain gestures. Furthermore, word has it that there will be short as well as long squeezes to evoke different functionalities.

The Taiwanese tech giant is betting big on the Edge Sense (that’s what the company’s calling the tech mentioned above). The home button which also doubles as the fingerprint scanner was also believed to be jettisoned earlier. However, the latest rumors, as well as the video renders say otherwise.

The HTC U11, as per the rumors, will offer dual-SIM support as well. Further, it is believed to come with IP57 certification which means the smartphone will be dust and water resistant up to an extent. An IP68 or even the IP67 rating (for that matter) wouldn’t have hurt, though.

The smartphone will weigh around 169g and measure 153.9 x 75.9 x 7.9mm in terms of dimensions.

Display

Although an almost bezel-free display is the current trend among flagship handsets, the company seems to be sticking to the same design language as seen on the HTC U Ultra. So, don’t expect to see the U11 display’s aspect ratio to be anywhere close to that of the LG G6 or even the Galaxy S8.

The HTC U11 is said to feature a 5.5-inch display with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels (QHD) which translates to a pixel density of 534 PPI. There will be a layer of 3D Gorilla Glass 5 running over the display to protect it from wear and tear.

Processor

As is the case with all the other flagships, the HTC U11 is tipped to be powered by the octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset teamed up with Adreno 540 GPU to take care of graphics.

It goes without saying that the Snapdragon 835 SoC is currently one of the best chipsets in the industry. It is manufactured on the 10nm node process and is claimed to be faster and more power efficient than its predecessors. Also, the chipset is capable of handling Gigabit download speeds.

In short, with the Snapdragon 835 SoC under-the-hood, the HTC U11 will be one of the most powerful handsets of the company when it launches on May 16.

RAM and Storage

If the recent rumors are anything to go by, the HTC U11 may come in two storage variants depending on the region.

First up, there will be a 4GB RAM variant paired with 64GB of storage space and the other with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage space. It is also possible that the company may reveal two variants with same amounts of RAM but with different storage space.

For instance, there can be an HTC U11 variant with 4GB of RAM and two storage options. Or, only a 6GB RAM variant in 64GB and 128GB storage options. Either way, the smartphone will allow you to expand the storage further up to 2TB via a microSD card.

Also, the 6GB variant is tipped to be limited only to the Chinese market. We hope that’s not the case.

Read: Alleged HTC U11 images leaked / HTC U11 specs and benchmarks are out!

Software

According to the reports, the HTC U11 will come pre-loaded with the Android 7.1 Nougat out-of-the-box.

There will, of course, be a layer of HTC’s own Sense 9 UI atop. You can also expect to see some customizations for the Edge Sense since the company is betting big on this feature.

Camera

If you look at flagship smartphones these days, almost all of them have similar specs, and of course, all of them offer top-notch performance. The only thing that differentiates one from the other is its camera performance (in addition to price).

It seems like HTC doesn’t want to leave any stone unturned when it comes to the imaging department. Going by the recent reports, the HTC U11 will come with an “enhanced camera” along with advanced features like HDR+ live, Smart Video Zoom, and the like.

In addition, it is rumored to feature four microphones to record sound with the good audio quality for videos. It is also believed to feature two different audio recording modes namely 3D Audio and Hi-Res Recording mode. While the former is aimed to add the surround sound effect to audio, the latter is believed to bring support for a full range lossless audio recording.

In terms of the megapixel count, the HTC U11 is tipped to feature a 12MP (f/1.7) Sony IMX362 rear camera along with a 16MP (f/2.0) sensor on the front for selfies and video calls. The rear camera can record videos up to 4K at 30fps while the front camera is limited to 1080p at 30fps.

Battery

According to the recent leaks, the HTC U11 will feature a 3,000mAh battery under-the-hood. It will also come with support for Quick Charge 3.0 if reports are believed to be true.

For a phone this big and powerful, the said battery capacity seems to be a little on the lower side of the spectrum. We would like to see the HTC U11 with bigger battery capacity.

Other features

HTC is said to include support for the company’s BoomSound technology. BTW, did we mention that the U11 will sport dual speakers one at the top and bottom each for stereo sound effect? Also, the smartphone will include HTC’s Sonic technology to configure a personalized audio profile much like the one seen on the HTC U Ultra.

Again, like the HTC U Ultra, there will be no 3.5mm headphone jack. Meaning you will have to make do with the USB-C headset.

There will also be something called Sense Link which allows you to copy and past data from the phone to computer, check notifications on the computer (PC/Laptop) and a few other similar features. You’ll have to install the HTC Sense Link PC client on your computer for the said features to work, though.

HTC U11 Price (expected)

As of now, there’s no word on the pricing details of the smartphone. However, given the fact that the HTC U11 is the company’s next flagship handset, expect an exorbitant price tag. Perhaps, even bigger than the HTC U Ultra.

For the unaware, the unlocked version of HTC U Ultra ships at $749. Going by its price, the HTC U11 will at least set you back by $800.

But again, we are guesstimating here. So, take the information with the proverbial pinch of salt.

HTC U11 Images

Source: Krispitech