The Verge: HTC U12 Plus Review
Introduction to the New HTC U12 Plus
This is Dan with The Verge, and this is the new HTC U12 Plus. It's the successor to last year's U11 and U11 Plus, which were known in other parts of the world. And it's the company's 2018 flagship smartphone. Now, a lot of things are very similar to the U11 in terms of design and features, but there's definitely some more modern upgrades here.
Upgrades in Design and Features
Starting with the screen, you can see it's a bigger screen than before. It's now a six-inch panel, which is higher-resolution, QHD+, and it's a super LCD six-panel instead of AMOLED that we're seeing in other devices. But it does have HDR 10 support. In the process of adding that bigger screen, HTC did make the bezels on the U12 Plus smaller above and below and then also in the sides. So, the U12 Plus is actually a little bit narrower than last year's U11, which makes it a little bit easier to hold.
Fingerprint Sensor Move
The obvious change here is that the fingerprint sensor is now in the back, it's just below the camera, but it's right under where your finger would land as opposed to on the front. In terms of design, it's very similar to last year's phone. It still has HTC's liquidmetal type of design which uses curved glass and these very reflective finishes with a metal frame. It's available in three different colors: there's a translucent blue and a black available in the US, and then there's this flame red color that will be coming to other markets across the world.
Premium Design and Build Quality
All of them are very premium, very pretty. They really feel nice and well-built as you kind of would have expected from a HTC phone at this point. The couple other different features on the hardware as well, now there's still HTC's Edge Sense technology which means that you can squeeze the phone to do different things. I can squeeze to turn on the flashlight here. You can set it to whatever things you want. You can set it to launch the assistant or launch camera or launch an app or anything like that.
New Feature: Double Tap
That hasn't changed too much from last year's phone. But one new feature is ability to double tap so you can double tap it to set different things. Right now, this sets... Brings up some buttons on the screen but you can set it to open an app or change the screen size and things like that.
Side Buttons
And then the buttons here on the side, the power and volume rocker, are not actual buttons in the sense that you're used to. They don't really depress when you press them, instead, you get a little buzz when you click the button. Which feels very weird at first but is kinda neat. It uses the same kind of underlying technology that has the pressure sensitivity on the sides but it's applied to the buttons here, so that's a little different.
USB-C Charger and No Headphone Jack
On the bottom, you got a USB-C charger. There's no headphone jack, not huge surprise there, there wasn't a headphone jack last year so unfortunately there's not one this year. But HTC does bundle its Usonic headphones in the box, so you get those with the phone when you buy it.
Dual Speakers for Loud and Vibrant Sound
And it does have quick charging over a USB through Quick Charge 3.0 or Quick Charge 4.0 if you have a compatible charger. Now, with the premium feel comes a premium price. And this is gonna be priced pretty much in the same range as other premium Android smartphones that you can buy right now.
Availability and Pricing
And HTC is not gonna sell this through carriers but you will be able to get it through HTC.com or Amazon.com. It's gonna support Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile. The pre-orders actually start today. And it's gonna be shipping in the beginning of next month.
Conclusion
For more on the HTC U12, including our forthcoming review where we'll take a look at all of these features in more detail, please check out TheVerge.com as well as subscribe at YouTube.com/theverge
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enHey, this is Dan with The Vergeand this is the new HTC U12 Plus.It's the successor to lastyear's U11 and U11 Plus,they were known in otherparts of the world.And it's the company's2018 flagship smartphone.Now a lot of things arevery similar to the U11in terms of design and featuresbut there's definitely somemore modern upgrades here,starting with the screen.You can see it's a biggerscreen than before,it's now a six-inch panel.It's very high-resolution, QHD+,and it's a super LCD sixpanel instead of amoledthat we're seeing in other devices.But it does have HDR 10 support.Now, in the process ofadding that bigger screen,HTC did make the bezelson the U12 Plus smallerabove and below andthen also in the sides.So the U12 Plus is actuallya little bit narrowerthan last year's U11, which makes ita little bit easier to hold.Now the obvious change here isthat the finger print sensoris now in the back, it'sjust below the camera,but it's right under whereyour finger would landas opposed to on the front.In terms of design, it's verysimilar to last year's phone.It still has HTC's liquidmetal type of designwhich uses curved glass andthese very reflective finisheswith a metal frame.It's available in three different colors.There's a translucentblue and a black availablein the US, and then there'sthis flame red colorthat will be coming to othermarkets across the world.All of them are very premium, very pretty.They really feel nice and well-built,as you kind of would have expectfrom a HTC phone at this point.The couple other differentfeatures on the hardware as well,now there's still HTC'sEdge Sense technologywhich means that you can squeeze the phoneto do different things.I can squeeze to turnon the flashlight here.You can set it towhatever things you want.You can set it to launch the assistantor launch camera or launchan app or anything like that.That hasn't changed toomuch from last year's phone.But one new feature isability to double tapso you can double tap itto set different things.Right now this sets...Brings up some buttons on the screenbut you can set it to open an appor change the screen sizeand things like that.And then the buttons here on the side,the power and volume rocker,are not actual buttonsin the sense that you're used to.They don't really depresswhen you press them,instead you get a little buzzwhen you click the button.Which feels very weird atfirst but is kinda neat.It uses the same kindof underlying technologythat has the pressuresensitivity on the sidesbut it's applied to the buttons here,so that's a little different.On the bottom you got a USBC charger.There's no headphone jack,not huge surprise there,there wasn't a headphone jack last yearso unfortunately there's not one this yearbut HTC does bundle it'sUsonic headphones in the box,so you get those with thephone when you buy it.And it does have dual speakers.So there's speaker on the bottomas well as speaker on the topfor pretty loud and vibrant sound.Now inside the U12 Plus hasa Snapdragon 845 processor,6 gigabytes of RAM, and it comes in64 or 128 gigabytes of storage.Both of them support MicroSD card expansion as well.And then of course like last year,it is ip68 water resistant.Now the other big new thing hereis that it's got dual cameras.And not just on the back like we've seenon a lot of phones lately,but also on the front.So on the back there's two cameras,there's a 12 megapixel sensoron the wide angle camera,and then a 16 megapixel sensoron the telephoto camera.And then let's you do thestandard portrait mode,blend, bokeh effect type of things.And then on the front there'stwo 8 megapixel sensors herethat allow you to do thosethings for your selfies as well.One thing that is unique is HTC's softwarelet's you actually adjustthe effect of the bokehafter the fact, andthen you can also changethe focus point around whichis kind of a unique featurethat we haven't seen before.The U12 Plus is launchingwith Android 8.0 Oreoout of the box.It will be updated toAndroid P at some pointlater this year but there'sno timing yet for that.It's running HTC Sense interface which,if you've been using it forthe past couple of years,you know that it's pretty similarto what Google provideson it's pixel phonesbut not exactly.Still, it's very clean, easyto use version of Android.There's really little to complain aboutwith Android HTC phones at this point.Now HTC has been buildingpremium phones for yearsand the U12 is really no different.It feels great when you hold it.It's got really nice, tight tolerances.The materials are really nice.And it's also becauseit's a little bit narrowerit's actually a little easier to hold.It'd be nice if it had wireless chargingbut unfortunately that'snot available this year.But it does have quick charging over a USBthrough Quick Charge3.0 or Quick Charge 4.0if you have a compatible charger.Now with the premium feelcomes a premium price.And this is gonna be priced pretty muchin the same range as otherpremium Android smartphonesthat you can buy right now.And HTC is not gonna beselling this through carriersbut you will be able to get itthrough HTC.com or Amazon.com.And it's gonna supportVerizon, At&T, or T-Mobile.The pre-orders actually start today.It's gonna be shipping inthe beginning of next month.For more on the HTC U12,including our forthcoming reviewwhere we'll take a lookat all of these featuresin more detail, pleasecheck out TheVerge.comas well as subscribe atYouTube.com/theverge.\n"
