HTC wants more users to "squeeze for the brilliant U," outlining the upcoming features of the HTC U11's Edge Sense.
So far, the function is pretty basic, but that's about to change with the new upcoming gestures, such as answering and ending calls and dismissing alarms, to name a few.
New Edge Sense Features Heading To The HTC U11
In Google Maps, you can squeeze to zoom in: When you trigger Edge Sense while on Google Maps, the app will zoom in and give you a closer look at the streets and buildings of the area you're looking at.
In Google Photos or other picture-viewing apps, it basically does the same thing: Not surprisingly, a squeeze will let you zoom in and out on a photo. HTC seems to be targeting this at users who don't like to pinch their smartphones' screens.
In the calendar app, you can bring up a monthly view: If you squeeze while you're on the calendar app, the HTC U11 will open a monthly view to go along with a weekly view. If you give it another go, it'll hide the monthly view.
Answering and ending calls no longer left to taps alone: As everyone may have figured out already, a squeeze can either answer or end calls.
Dismissing alarms becomes a tad easier: Ever had one of those days when you're shaken by your phone's alarm, leaving you scrambling to turn it off? Well, HTC wants to make things easier by letting you just squeeze the phone to shut off the alarm. There's no option to just snooze it, though.
Pause videos in a snap: Whether you're on YouTube or other video-playing apps, you can give the HTC U11 a quick squeeze to pause a clip.
Sure, Edge Sense might seem gimmicky to some because they're basically shortcuts that don't add much to the user experience. Still, it does open a whole new world of possibilities, and who knows, maybe someday one feature might turn out to be a game changer.
HTC U11 Main Selling Points
It's worth mentioning that aside from Edge Sense, one of the other key selling points of the HTC U11 is its impressive camera.
The phone managed to top DxOMark's benchmark with a score of 90, beating the previous champion Google Pixel and the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge and Galaxy S8.
Speaking of the Galaxy S8, it also came with a more or less unique feature that was unfortunately underwhelming at launch. In Samsung's case, it's because the dedicated Bixby button was technically useless, as the AI assistant apparently needs some English lessons.
The Bottom Line
At first, Edge Sense didn't exactly turn heads due to insufficient functions, though the odd idea of squeezing a smartphone is noteworthy in itself.
Regardless, the features making their way to the HTC U11 will provide users with more reasons to give the smartphone a good squeeze every now and then.
Just don't squeeze it too hard, or you'll end up with a tacky paperweight (read: it's not a durable phone).
