HTC U12 Plus takes on S9 Plus, P20 Pro, G7 ThinQ, and OnePlus 6: Specs, price, and key features
Featured
Last years HTC U11, see our full review, was one of the most underrated phones of 2017. The HTC U12 Plus is the last of the flagships announced for the first half of 2018, but some may find it to be the most compelling and it is clearly HTC's best ever device.
We are including the Huawei P20 Pro in this post for our readers outside of the US and for those willing to import a device that is not sold directly in the US. Each of these flagship phones have a feature or two that makes it unique from the others so it really comes down to what is important to you and also which company you know and trust.
As a long time HTC phone owner, I am honestly a bit partial to the new HTC U12 Plus. However, I also keep going back to using the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 since I personally find it better than the Galaxy S9 Plus. The Huawei P20 Pro is currently my favorite Android device, but it is not sold or warranted in the US so that brings its own challenges for customers.
Here are the key unique features for each device that should help define which is best for your own use:
- HTC U12 Plus: Edge Sense 2 functionality, stunning design, BoomSound audio, minimal skin
- Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus: Super slow motion, 3.5mm headset jack, fast wireless charging, microSD, extensive Galaxy ecosystem, Bixby button
- LG G7 ThinQ: Wide-angle camera, Google Assistant button, Quad DAC through 3.5mm headset jack
- Huawei P20 Pro: Triple rear cameras with Leica partnership, Huawei AI and NPU, massive battery capacity
- OnePlus 6: Low cost for flagship, highest RAM and integrated storage options, gesture UI currently supported
Taking a closer look at the tale of the tape and comparing specs of these five flagships, we have the following:
| U12+ | Galaxy S9+ | LG G7 | P20 Pro | OnePlus 6 | |
| Display | 6.0" 2880x1440 Super LCD 6 | 6.2" 2960x1440 Super AMOLED | 6.1" 3120x1440 IPS LCD | 6.1" 2240x1080 AMOLED | 6.28" 2280x1080 AMOLED |
| Rear cameras | 12/16 MP telephoto | 12/12 MP telephoto | 16/16 MP wide-angle | 40/20/8 MP monochrome & telephoto | 16/20 MP |
| Front camera(s) | 8/8 MP | 8 MP | 8 MP | 24 MP | 16 MP |
| RAM & storage | 6GB/64 or 128GB/ microSD | 6GB/64GB/ microSD | 4GB/64GB/ microSD | 6GB/128GB | 6 or 8GB/128 or 256GB/ microSD |
| Battery capacity | 3,500 mAh | 3,500 mAh | 3,000 mAh | 4,000 mAh | 3,300 mAh |
| Dimensions (mm) | 156.6x 73.9x9.7 | 158.1x 73.8x8.5 | 153.2x 71.9x8.2 | 155x 73.9x7.8 | 155.7x 75.4x7.75 |
| Weight (grams) | 188 | 189 | 162 | 180 | 177 |
| US price | $799/$849 | $840 | $750 | $850-$900 | $529/ $579/ $629 |
All of these phones, except for the Huawei P20 Pro, have Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processors. The P20 Pro incorporates the Kirin 970, which is Huawei's equivalent of the Snapdragon 845 and shows comparable performance.
Which of these phones do you prefer?