HTC announces U11 Life and U11: One is an affordable member of the family, the other lets you see inside
US customers will soon be able to order the U11 Life, check out my full review, but the Android One version of it and the high end U11+ will be limited to other locations around the world.
HTC U11 Life
The HTC U11 is still a fantastic smartphone with excellent camera performance, fast responsiveness, and a stunning design that stands out from black slabs. It's priced at $649, which is competitive for its specifications, but when others have minimal bezels and other advanced technology it is tough to justify for some. This is where the HTC U11 Life comes in.
I've spent more than a week using the U11 Life and it provides about the same experience as the HTC U11 at a price $300 less. The HTC U11 Life is priced on HTC.com for only $349 and comes in Sapphire Blue. It will also be available in T-Mobile stores starting on November 3rd.
The HTC U11 Life has a Snapdragon 630 processor, IP67 dust and water resistance, front and rear 16 megapixel cameras, Edge Sense squeezable technology, and HTC USonic earbuds with active noise cancellation. HTC promises an upgrade to Android Oreo within 30 days.
HTC U11 with Android One
The global variant of the HTC U11 Life will be launched as an Android One device with the additional Brilliant Black color. It has all of the same specifications (additional 4GB RAM/64GB internal option in some locations) as the HTC U11 Life in the US, but is missing a few HTC Sense elements. These include HTC Mail (excellent for Exchange accounts), HTC Sense Companion (I've still never found any good use of this), HTC Amazon Alexa, HTC Themes, and Zoe Video Editor.
Pricing and availability is not yet available.
HTC U11+
This is the one that has smartphone fans drooling with the large six inch 18:9 display, 3930 mAh battery, IP68 dust and water resistance, 30 percent more volume BoomSound, and more.
The rumors were true and there will be a Translucent Black model where you can see the internals of the device. A few of us met with HTC many years ago and asked for one of these backs so it is cool to see it launch. It will also be available in Ceramic Black and Amazing Silver.
Specifications of the HTC U11+ include:
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 835
- Display: 6.0 inch 2880 x 1440 pixels resolution Super LCD 6, Gorilla Glass 5
- Operating system: Android 8.0 Oreo with HTC Sense
- RAM: 4GB/6GB
- Storage: 64GB/128GB internal with microSD expansion card slot
- Cameras: Rear 12 megapixel f/1.7 aperture UltraPixel 3 with OIS. Front 8 megapixel f/2.0 aperture
- Battery: 3930 mAh with SuperCharge fast and safe charging technology
- Dimensions: 158.5 x 74.9 x 8.5 mm and 188 grams
There is no headphone jack, but the front BoomSound stereo speakers are improved while Qualcomm aptX HD, LDAC 24-bit hi-res audio is provided via Bluetooth 5.0.
Pricing and availability is not yet available.