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HTC's new U Ultra flagship phone has an all glass design and a second screen

By James Lu - on 13 Jan 2017, 5:10pm

HTC's new flagship has an all glass design and a second screen

HTC has a new flagship phone and some of its features (or lack thereof) are very familiar. The 5.7-inch device has a new all-glass exterior design, and sports a secondary display above the main display, very reminiscent of LG's V10 and V20. Like a certain other phone, it also lacks a headphone port.

HTC has used basically the same aluminum design for its flagship phones for the past four years. The U Ultra has a refreshing new all-glass exterior design, which HTC is calling Liquid Surface construction. What this means is that the ultra-glossy glass surface will create interesting looking reflections, similar to the surface of water. Hopefully it's not as scratch-prone as the similarly ultra-glossy Jet Black iPhone 7.

The other big change is the addition of a small second display above the main display. We've already seen something like this on the LG V10 and V20, where it serves as a landing strip for notifications, reminders, shortcuts to frequent contacts, and music playback controls, and HTC's second display will have similar functionality.

Like the iPhone 7, the HTC U Ultra also lacks a headphone port. Instead, you'll have to rely on wireless audio or USB-C headphones. Fortunately, a pair of HTC's USB-C USonic earphones will be included with the U Ultra.

Specs-wise, the U Ultra is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor, with 4GB of RAM, and a choice of 64GB or 128GB of storage, as well as a microSD card slot compatible with cards up to 2TB. It has a QHD Super LCD display. The rear camera appears to be the same 12-megapixel, f/1.8 UltraPixel camera we saw on the HTC 10, but with the addition of phase-detection autofocus to complement its laser autofocus.  

HTC is also jumping onboard the AI learning bandwagon with the U Ultra, with a focus on improving the experience for the user - the titular 'U' stands for 'You'. After using the phone for a while, it will start to learn your habits and will serve up helpful suggestions based on them. For example, if it knows you’ll be away from a power outlet for longer than it expects its battery will last, it will warn you to recharge it. We've seen something similar to this with Huawei's Mate 9, so it will be interesting to see how different HTC's version will be.

HTC also announced a smaller, more affordable version of the U Ultra, called the U Play. The 5.2-inch device has the same Liquid Surface design as the U Ultra, but lacks the U Ultra's second screen, and only has a Full HD display. It also takes a big hit in the processor department, running on a Mediatek Helio P10 processor.

The 64GB HTC U Ultra is available on HTC's US website for pre-order today for US$749 (~S$1,070) in a choice of either blue, black, or white. Pricing and availability details on the pink variant, the 128GB version, and the U Play have not been made available yet.

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