Review: HTC U Ultra

The HTC U Ultra has some new features to make digital life easier for you

By Alvin R Cabral

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Published: Fri 26 May 2017, 12:00 AM

Last updated: Fri 26 May 2017, 2:00 AM

 
All top-of-the-line smartphones are good in their own right, but HTC has one of the most - if not the most - underrated of them all. This time around, HTC has made its way to the limelight with its U Ultra, a smartphone that features a second screen plus an AI helper that'll assist you with certain tasks.
First things first: the U Ultra comes with a generous 5.7-inch QHD display that holds its own against some of the best out there in brightness and colour bursting, what with its 513ppi resolution (way higher than the iPhone 7 Plus' 401ppi and the Google Pixel's 441ppi). The home button, embedded with a fingerprint scanner (which unlocks the phone in almost an instant), is at its usual place below, the SIM card tray is on top, the volume rocker and power button are on the right and the USB Type-C port is down at the end. Yes, there is no 3.5mm audio jack - another blow to our embattled friend.
Speaking of the display, there's a second screen, which is a two-inch strip akin to the LG V20's own version - and interestingly aligned with the front camera lens - that displays things from reminders and favourite apps to contacts and notifications to your music player controls. It comes in really handy; for example, when you're busy typing something and a message pops up, you can easily read it from there. Basically, you can comfortably see things or perform certain functions without disturbing what you're doing, or exiting the main screen. Point to note; it doesn't show up on screenshots.
That AI thing we were talking about earlier is HTC Sense Companion. Open it, and it'll show you tips or reminders about certain events. For example, if you're battery is running low, it will suggest that you recharge your phone or bring a power bank with you, or it can check the traffic for you before you leave home.
As for the camera, the U Ultra sports a 12MP shooter, the same found on the HTC 10. And although it performs very nicely, things could get a bit grainy when you zoom in on shots taken in a low-light environment. One more thing: it's able to shoot in RAW format, which is good news if you want to have the full detail of your shots and edit them later.
Oddly, its front-facing snapper is higher at 16MP, and it delivers finer shots compared to some of its peers. Yes, you may be wondering why this is the case, but here's a fact: the U Ultra isn't the only one like this; Oppo's F1 Plus has a 16MP front camera as well, while only having a 13MP main one. Battery life holds up to about over a day, and the device has fast charging, but (still) no wireless charging.

AND SO.
In so many ways, the HTC U Ultra is an interesting phone, but when we talk about mindblowing upgrades, there isn't much outside of what we've discussed earlier. It's very similar to the HTC 10, although I personally find the second screen
useful. But still, there are more interesting things you can "squeeze" out of HTC's U11 (unveiled last week), which according to reports, comes with side-mounted pressure sensors that can be activated with a squeeze. We hope to get our hands on that pretty soon.
alvin@khaleejtimes.com
CPU
Qualcomm Snapdragon 821, 64-bit quad-core, up to 2.15GHz
Memory    
RAM - 4GB; storage - 64GB, no microSD (128GB available outside UAE)
Platform
Android 7.0 Nougat with HTC Sense
Display
5.7" quad-HD with dual display, 513ppi
Camera
Main - 12MP UltraPixel with laser focus, RAW, 4K recording; front - 16MP     UltraPixel, full-HD
recording
Battery
3000mAh, up to 26h talk
Sound
HTC USonic, BoomSound Hi-Fi edition
Connectivity
Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth 4.2, DLNA, Miracast, AirPlay; USB Type-C
Price
Dh2,299
Pros
Useful second screen, bright display, sturdy cameras
Cons
Still similar to the HTC 10 overall
Author rating
8/10

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