HTC unveils its newest premium device, the HTC U11 Plus

After all the rumours, HTC has finally announced its newest flagship smartphone, the HTC U11 Plus, and while it’s not likely to come to Canada, we’re going to talk about it anyway.

If you’ve been keeping track of the onslaught of leaks, you may notice the U11 Plus specs match up with what’s been widely rumoured.

Specs

HTC U11 Life

HTC U11

HTC U11 Plus

Display

5.5-inch LCD display, 1080 x 1920 pixels

5.5-inch Super LCD5 display, 1440 x 2560 pixels, 16:9 aspect ratio

6.0-inch, Super LCD6 display, 2880 x 1440 pixel resolution

Processor

Snapdragon 630

Snapdragon 835

Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835

RAM

3GB/4GB

4GB of RAM

4GB, 6GB

Storage

32GB/64GB

64GB, 128GB (expandable up to 256GB)

64GB, 128GB (expandable)

Dimensions

149.09 x 72.9 x 8.1mm

153.9 x 75.9 x 7.9mm

158.5 x 74.9 x 8.5mm

Weight

142g

169g

188g

Rear Facing Camera

16-megapixel (f/2.0, 4K recording, AF)

12-megapixel (f/1.7, OIS, AF) dual-LED flash

12-megapixel (OIS, AF, 1/2.3" sensor size)

Front Facing Camera

16-megapixel (f/2.0)

16-megapixel (f/2.0)

8-Megapixel (f/2.0)

OS

Android 7.1 Nougat

Android 7.1

Android 8.0 Oreo

Battery

2600mAh (non-removable)

3,000mAh

3920mAh

Network Connectivity

GSM / HSPA / LTE/ Band 66

GSM / HSPA / LTE

GSM / HSPA / LTE

Sensors

Fingerprint sensor, Barometer, Three-axis gyro, Accelerometer, Proximity sensor

Fingerprint Sensor, Gyro Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Edge Sensor, Sensor Hub, Motion G-senor, Compass sensor, Ambient light Sensor

Fingerprint sensor, Barometer, Three-axis gyro, Accelerometer, Proximity sensor

SIM Type

Nano SIM

Nano SIM,

Nano SIM

Launch Date

November 2, 2017

May 16, 2017

November 2, 2017

Misc

Colours: Sapphire Blue, Brilliant Black | Bluetooth 5.0, IP67 certified, Edge Sensor

Colour: Brilliant Black, Sapphire Blue, Amazing Silver, Solar Red | Edge Sensor, IP67 water/dust resistant, USB Type-C, HTC Ultra Pixel 3 with 1.4μm pixel

Colours: Translucent, Amazing Silver, Brilliant Black| Bluetooth 5.0, IP68 water/dust resistant, Edge Sense

The U11 Plus features a 6-inch LCD5 display with 2880 x 1440 pixel resolution and 18:9 aspect ratio. The top and bottom bezels of the U11 Plus are larger than what’s seen on the Samsung Galaxy lineup but are still quite small, especially when compared with the standard U11.

Additionally, the U11 Plus features a Snapdragon 835 chipset, Adreno 540 GPU, 4/6GB of RAM and 64/128GB of storage, running on a 3,920mAh battery.

The HTC U11 Plus also makes up for parts where the HTC U11 fell short. The Plus has an IP68 water and dust resistance certification, while the U11 has a certification of IP67. Moreover, the U11 Plus utilizes Bluetooth 5.0 whereas the U11 uses Bluetooth 4.2.

The U11 Plus launches with Android 8.0 Oreo and has the HTC Sense skin running overtop. Like the standard HTC U11, the Plus features Edge Sense functionality which allows users to input commands with a squeeze. The handset comes installed with in-app commands, such as zooming in on the Maps app.

The U11 Plus also utilizes a new app rotary wheel allowing the user to squeeze to pull up a lot more apps like Google Chrome, the Settings app and the camera app.

Speaking of the camera, the device features a 12-megapixel rear camera shooter with a f/1.7 aperture and OIS, while the selfie shooter is an 8-megapixel sensor with an f/2.0 aperture.

The impressively spec’d and well-designed device comes in black, silver and translucent, though the translucent model isn’t available as of yet.

As mentioned earlier, HTC did not mention any intention of the Plus leaving Europe and Asia, however we’ve reached out to the company just to verify. In England, where the device is first being sold, the 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage variant is being sold at £699 ($1179.04 CAD.)

While the HTC U11 Plus may never come to Canada the other device that HTC announced last night, the HTC U11 Life, is already available in Canada.