Picture perfect

The U11 has top-of-theline specs, but it is not without a few negatives

Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC’s latest, the “squeezable” HTC U11, appears to have all qualities of the flagship breed — many innovations in a compact body. In the premium segment, the phone offers top-of-the line specifications and innovative features like the HTC Edge Sense, USonic and BoomSound.

But can it compete with the likes of Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+, LG G6, and Sony Xperia XZ Premium? Let’s find out.

> Design and display

It is the first time since the M7 series that HTC is moving from metal to 3D glass for both front and back. The Gorilla Glass 5 covers the device, supported by a metal frame . The phone, however, disappoints with huge bezels on top and bottom. On the rear, the smartphone’s new “liquid surface” is a fingerprint magnet.

The phone has a 5.5-inch super LCD 5 screen of quad-HD (1440 x 2560) resolution in a 16:9 aspect ratio that delivers a consistent performance.

> Hardware and software

The phone is a real powerhouse for technical innards: Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, Adreno 540 GPU and Snapdragon X16 LTE modem with LTE speed up to 1 Gbps. The device has a massive 128 GB internal storage, a 6 GB RAM and supports UFS version 2.1, expandable up to 2 TB using microSD. In a first, the U11 can be operated using squeeze-based interactions. It uses an array of pressuresensitive sensors that recognise “squeeze” actions to deliver app-specific features.

> Camera

The smartphone sports a 12MP, f/1.7 aperture rear camera with phase detection autofocus, optical image stabilisation and dual-LED flash. The 16 MP front camera is perfect for selfies. The rear camera is much ahead of competition, and does well in recording 4K videos.

>Boom Sound speakers and U Sonic headphones

The BoomSound speakers are louder than the previous generation. In this set-up, the front earpiece works as a tweeter and the base is handled by a dedicated speaker mounted at the bottom. For audio routed through wired handsets, the quality is equally amazing — courtesy HTC USonic headphones.

> Verdict

HT CU 11 is a perfect choice if you are looking for a premium smartphone with brilliant camera performance, incredible audio output and a consistent performance.At~51,990,itseemsfairly competitive ly for its league. Scan the QR code for more.