Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC plans to launch its next flagship phone HTC U 11 on May 16. This new device, which is being marketed as being squeezable, has appeared on Geekbench’s benchmarking platform, as well as on Antutu, where its specifications have been listed.
The smartphone will come with several features that have excited technology and smartphone enthusiasts alike. According to the Antutu listing, the U 11 will sport a 5.5 inch Quad HD display and will be powered by major chipmaker Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 chipset. The delay in announcing the launch date of the U 11 (which was expected in the first quarter of this year) is a result of Samsung having monopolized these powerful chipsets, thus, leading to HTC having to wait for the next batch. The device is expected to have 4GB of RAM with 64 GB internal storage, but it could have other variations of storage as well. There is also the option to expand to up to 2 TB using external microSD cards. The listing also mentioned that the smartphone will run on Android 7.1.1 Nougat with HTC’s Sense 9 skin on top.
Contradicting retail packaging that was found by MySmartPricing, the U 11 is likely to be fitted with a 16 MP rear camera and a 12 MP front selfie camera. According to the retail packaging however, the phone will offer a 12 MP main shooter and a 16 MP selfie camera with support for selfie panorama. The retail packaging leak also indicates there will be a variant with 6 GB RAM and IP5 water resistance. Like most smartphones today, the HTC U 11 will be outfitted with a fingerprint scanner embedded in its home button.
The main highlight of the HTC U 11 smartphone will be the Edge Sense feature. This feature enables users to navigate their handsets by squeezing or swiping along the edges. This is a result of the smartphone being fitted with frame-embedded-sensors. The support for gesture-based navigation is also integrated into Sense 9’s user interface. The HTC U 11 apparently sports a similar design to the recently launched flagship device — U Ultra and will come in a range of colours — white, black, blue, red, and silver.
The release of this phone is eagerly awaited and it will be interesting to see how this squeezy phone is received in the market and how it performs against competitors such as Samsung or LG.
