HTC's latest flagship smartphone, the HTC U11, is finally here and mine got delivered today (June 9th). I have been excited about this phone as I believe HTC has finally made a great flagship device, unlike their previous attempts.
Unboxing the U11, you will find the following in the box:
- HTC U11 Phone
- HTC Fast Charger
- USB Type-C cable
- HTC USonic Earphones with extra ear buds
- 3.5mm headphone jack adapter
- Clear case
- Dust cloth
As far as the specs go, the HTC U11 is equipped with:
- Snapdragon 835 processor
- 5.5 Quad HD Display
- 16 MP Front Camera (for those awesome selfies!)
- 12 Ultra Pixel Rear Camera
- 3000 mAh Battery
- Android 7.1.1
It is available in three colors here in the US:
- Amazing Silver
- Brilliant Black
- Sapphire Blue
The Sapphire Blue is my favorite color though I also like the Amazing Silver.
Once you have gone through the initial setup steps such as logging into your Google account, you are greeted with configuring the Edge Sense feature.
This will help you to adjust your squeeze force and train yourself to squeeze. Depending on how your hold your phone, this gesture, squeezing the sides of the phone, could be natural for some or weird for the rest initially.
Once that is configured and you have set up your fingerprint sensor, you are greeted with the home screen. This is HTC Sense, HTC's Android skin. I quite like HTC Sense as it has very little customizations over Android and you almost get the same experience as you get in a Google Pixel.
Since the HTC U11 is running Android 7.1.1, you get app shortcuts on your home screen. This is similar to the 3D Touch in iPhone. Just long press the desired app icon on your home screen to see the available shortcuts for that app.
Next up, I plugged in my USonic earphones and HTC prompted me to create and configure my personal audio profile. U11 will scan the surroundings and will create a unique profile for you. You can have multiple audio profiles and switch between them as needed.
I love HTC BoomSound and the U11 doesn't disappoint. The sound coming out of the speakers is loud and clear. You can also switch between a normal music mode and a theater mode which basically tunes the stereo effect for those respective modes (music and theater). I talk about the BoomSound at about 7mins in my video if you want to check out how loud and clear the sound is.
Here is a quick comparison between the U11 and the Samsung Galaxy S8. At the back, the reflective liquid glass surface of the U11 does stand out when compared to the S8. However, in the front, the S8 has a curved, almost edge-to-edge screen display while the U11 has a flat screen with the bezels as you would expect in a normal smartphone.
And, here is a quick comparison between the U11 and LG G6. At the back, there is no doubt U11 shines with its liquid glass surface. However, in the front, G6 has a flat, almost edge-to-edge screen display just like the Samsung Galaxy S8.
While some may argue about the bezels at the top and the bottom in the U11's front, they actually host the HTC BoomSound speakers underneath those bezels putting them to a good use while both S8 and G6 have single speakers that cannot stand against the BoomSound.
HTC U11 has Google Assitant built-in and also supports waking up the phone with the Google keyword. Once you have configured the Google Assistant, you can simply say - Ok Google - even when the screen is locked to start interacting with the Assistant.
And yes, HTC will be adding Amazon Alexa with an update soon. So, you can then choose between the Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, which is cool!
I am really excited to use the U11 as my daily driver and I will be back with more videos, tips, and tricks for the HTC U11. Make sure you are also subscribed to my YouTube channel where I will be publishing the videos.
And, feel free to share your reviews and initial thoughts about the HTC U11 with Android Central here. If you have any questions about the U11, feel free to browse or start a thread in the HTC U11 forum as well. We wold love to hear from you!
You can order the HTC U11 directly from HTC or from Amazon.
Unboxing the U11, you will find the following in the box:
- HTC U11 Phone
- HTC Fast Charger
- USB Type-C cable
- HTC USonic Earphones with extra ear buds
- 3.5mm headphone jack adapter
- Clear case
- Dust cloth
As far as the specs go, the HTC U11 is equipped with:
- Snapdragon 835 processor
- 5.5 Quad HD Display
- 16 MP Front Camera (for those awesome selfies!)
- 12 Ultra Pixel Rear Camera
- 3000 mAh Battery
- Android 7.1.1
It is available in three colors here in the US:
- Amazing Silver
- Brilliant Black
- Sapphire Blue
The Sapphire Blue is my favorite color though I also like the Amazing Silver.
Once you have gone through the initial setup steps such as logging into your Google account, you are greeted with configuring the Edge Sense feature.
This will help you to adjust your squeeze force and train yourself to squeeze. Depending on how your hold your phone, this gesture, squeezing the sides of the phone, could be natural for some or weird for the rest initially.
Once that is configured and you have set up your fingerprint sensor, you are greeted with the home screen. This is HTC Sense, HTC's Android skin. I quite like HTC Sense as it has very little customizations over Android and you almost get the same experience as you get in a Google Pixel.
Since the HTC U11 is running Android 7.1.1, you get app shortcuts on your home screen. This is similar to the 3D Touch in iPhone. Just long press the desired app icon on your home screen to see the available shortcuts for that app.
Next up, I plugged in my USonic earphones and HTC prompted me to create and configure my personal audio profile. U11 will scan the surroundings and will create a unique profile for you. You can have multiple audio profiles and switch between them as needed.
I love HTC BoomSound and the U11 doesn't disappoint. The sound coming out of the speakers is loud and clear. You can also switch between a normal music mode and a theater mode which basically tunes the stereo effect for those respective modes (music and theater). I talk about the BoomSound at about 7mins in my video if you want to check out how loud and clear the sound is.
Here is a quick comparison between the U11 and the Samsung Galaxy S8. At the back, the reflective liquid glass surface of the U11 does stand out when compared to the S8. However, in the front, the S8 has a curved, almost edge-to-edge screen display while the U11 has a flat screen with the bezels as you would expect in a normal smartphone.
And, here is a quick comparison between the U11 and LG G6. At the back, there is no doubt U11 shines with its liquid glass surface. However, in the front, G6 has a flat, almost edge-to-edge screen display just like the Samsung Galaxy S8.
While some may argue about the bezels at the top and the bottom in the U11's front, they actually host the HTC BoomSound speakers underneath those bezels putting them to a good use while both S8 and G6 have single speakers that cannot stand against the BoomSound.
HTC U11 has Google Assitant built-in and also supports waking up the phone with the Google keyword. Once you have configured the Google Assistant, you can simply say - Ok Google - even when the screen is locked to start interacting with the Assistant.
And yes, HTC will be adding Amazon Alexa with an update soon. So, you can then choose between the Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, which is cool!
I am really excited to use the U11 as my daily driver and I will be back with more videos, tips, and tricks for the HTC U11. Make sure you are also subscribed to my YouTube channel where I will be publishing the videos.
And, feel free to share your reviews and initial thoughts about the HTC U11 with Android Central here. If you have any questions about the U11, feel free to browse or start a thread in the HTC U11 forum as well. We wold love to hear from you!
You can order the HTC U11 directly from HTC or from Amazon.
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