HTC’s flagship U11 ships with 6GB RAM, 128GB storage and chart-topping camera for RM3,099
HTC’s latest flagship phone dubbed the U11 is certainly the most novel phone that they have made in ages as it incorporates a new means of interacting with it that no other phone in the market has along with some chart-topping hardware.
Lining the sides of the U11 are sensors that they’ve dubbed as HTC Edge Sense that responds to you squeezing the edge of the phone. Giving it a short squeeze or a longer ‘squeeze and hold’ gesture allows you to access any number of customisable shortcuts to take a snap or launch any number of other apps including Facebook. It’s certainly an interesting way to add additional functionality to a phone on top of simply plonking on extra buttons.
The rest of the hardware on the U11 both from within and without is impressive. Externally, the U11 takes a page off their earlier U Ultra phone with a mirrored, ultra reflective finish that looks fetching, feels exquisite to the touch and has IP67 dust and water resistance. The front packs a 5.5-inch Quad HD LCD display with 2,560 x 1,440 pixel resolution sheathed in Corning Gorilla Glass 5.
The U11 comes with a nippy Snapdragon 835 64-bit octacore processor, a whopping 6GB RAM and a staggering 128GB of storage that is expandable via a hybrid card slot. The rear camera has a 12-MP sensor with an F/1.7 aperture, their UltraPixel 3 tech that offers larger pixels on the sensor clocking in at 1.4um pixels, their UltraSpeed Autofocus tech for DSLR-grade autofocus speeds, their HDR Auto HDR mode that offers brighter shots with better colours and markedly less noise and a Dual LED flash too.
The rear camera is sufficiently impressive enough that DxOMark have given it their highest rating ever at 90 points. That in itself is quite an achievement. The front 16-MP camera has their UltraPixel imaging tech, HDR and a BSI sensor with the ability to automagically paint make-up on your mug when taking selfies.
On the audio front, the U11 also has quite a few extras. Bundled with the phone are a pair of their USonic ear buds that have active noise cancellation built-in with a USB Type-C ports though the U11 also has a 3.5mm-to-USB Type C dongle integrated with a DAC chip bundled with the phone.
The U11 also has four omni-directional mikes crammed into the casing for better audio capture along with 3D Sound recording to offer directional audio when recording video on top of their usual front-facing BoomSound speakers that have been beefed up for better audio quality than prior incarnations.
The U11 is so far the most promising thing to emerge from their foundries and the intended price tag for the phone is surprisingly agreeable. The U11 will retails for RM3,099 inclusive of GST in three colours: Amazing Silver, Sapphire Blue and Brilliant Black in late June 2017. A metallic red finish reminescent of sunsets dubbed Solar Red is slated to appear later on.
The U11 is available for preorders on Lazada, 11street Malaysia and on HTC’s Malaysia Facebook page and preorder customers can enjoy exclusive U11timate box sets that include limited edition HTC merchandise. Maxis will also be the first telco to offer exclusive phone plans with the U11, also in late June. For more details follow HTC’s Facebook page on www.facebook.com/HTCMalaysia.
