HTC has waved off the New Year by launching the HTC U Ultra and HTC U Play from its "For U" smartphone series.
The HTC U Ultra is the big 5.7'' phone that always reflects the best you. Hold it up and watch as it transforms light as you turn it. pic.twitter.com/AOvOgNCpJU
— HTC (@htc) January 12, 2017
Prior to the smarphones' launch, HTC was bogged down by a spate of leaked videos and rumors about the build and looks of the HTC Ultra, codenamed the Ocean Note.
Amidst financial troubles and tough competition in the smartphone market, HTC had fallen behind its major competitors Apple and Samsung in the recent years.
However, with the launch of the HTC U Ultra and HTC U Play, the company shows that it is ready to offer a tough fight in the smartphone market space.
The HTC U Play has been launched for the mid-range market, while HTC U Ultra falls under the premium category. Prior to the launch of the "For U" the series was codenamed Ocean and there was a lot of confusion regarding the name and specs of the phones despite leaked videos and rumors.
HTC U Play Specs
The body design of the handset is quite different from HTC's earlier models. The U Play sports a design termed as "Liquid Surface" by HTC, which features a beautifully curved, glossy and shimmery body surface.
HTC U Play comes with a 5.2-inch display with a 1080p full HD screen. The U Play houses an octa-core MediaTek Helio P10 processor and 3 GB of RAM. The device comes with 32 GB onboard memory. HTC surprises us by also providing a microSD card slot (expandable memory of up to 2 TB).
Both the rear and front cameras are 16-megapixel. The back or main camera comes with auto focus, a BSI sensor, and Optical Image Stabilization among other enhancements. The 16-megapixel front-facing camera is equipped with fixed focus, BSI, and a selfie panorama mode. The rear-facing snapper has UltraPixel mode support.
The official HTC website doesn't clearly mention the version of Android the U Play will be launched with, so it is not clear if it is powered by Android Nougat or Marshmallow.
The smartphone also comes with the Companion app, around which HTC had built its "U" idea. The Companion app is basically an AI assistant which will help people use and manage the device better.
The device comes equipped with a 2,500mAh battery and with a USB Type-C charging port. HTC has also opted out of the headphone jack for both U Play and U Ultra.
The phone will be available in four colors: black, white, blue, and pink.
HTC U Ultra Specs
Prior to launch, there were many rumors surrounding the HTC U Ultra. The U Ultra and U play share the same "Liquid Surface" body exterior.
The U Ultra being a premium segment phone rocks a 5.7-inch display with a Quad HD resolution. It has an LCD panel with 513 ppi covered with Gorilla Glass 5.
The Smartphone gives hardcore competition to its rivals as it comes equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821, 64 bit quad-core processor clocked at 2.15 Ghz. The smartphone offers 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB internal storage space, with a microSD slot (expandable memory of up to 2 TB).
HTC U Ultra has a 12-megapixel rear-facing camera (with UltraPixel 2) and a 16-megapixel front-facing camera (with UltraPixel mode support) which comes furnished with the HTC UltraPixel mode. The main camera comes with PDAF, laser focus and BSI sensor among other tempting attributes.
The smartphone runs on Android 7.0 Nougat with HTC Sense UI on top. As a premium segment phone, the HTC Ultra disappoints with a 3000mAh battery. The phone will be available in four colors: black, white, blue and pink.
HTC U Play and Ultra U.S. Release
HTC has not officially commented on the release date and the price of both the smartphones, but tech experts and markets analysts are predicting the release period to be around mid-February. Interested buyers can visit the HTC U.S. online store as it will soon begin accepting preorders of the two new smartphones.
