HTC introduced the flagship smartphone U Ultra

HTC held an event for journalists in Taiwan, during which the HTC U Ultra smartphone was presented to the public, which received a number of interesting features. And although during the presentation the device was never called a flagship, its characteristics and price are quite consistent with this class of smartphones.

According to Phone Arena , HTC U Ultra has a 5.7-inch display with a resolution of 1440*2560 pixels and Gorilla Glass 5 protection. The company also plans to release a limited edition of HTC U Ultra with more durable sapphire glass. The back surface of the smartphone is covered with glossy 2.5D glass.

The smartphone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor, RAM is 4 GB, internal memory is 64 or 128 GB, and the device is also equipped with a slot for microSD cards. The main 12-megapixel camera is equipped with phase and laser autofocus, an optical stabilization system and an f/1.8 aperture. The front camera resolution is 16 megapixels.

One of the features of HTC U Ultra is a small additional display with a resolution of 1040*160, located above the main screen. In its appearance and functionality, it resembles the second display of the LG V20 smartphone - it displays various notifications, which, in particular, allows you to save battery consumption, the capacity of which is 3000 mAh.

The second distinctive feature of the new HTC smartphone is the proprietary voice assistant Sense Companion, which allows you to control the device using voice commands. In addition, Sense Companion analyzes user activity and adjusts the display of notifications on the second screen. According to the company, the assistant is able to accurately recognize the owner's voice, allowing you to use a voice command to unlock the smartphone, similar to the fingerprint sensor built into the device's home button.

Finally, the third feature of the new HTC smartphone is support for U Sonic technology, with the help of which the headphones included with the device scan the insides of the owner’s ear and adjust the sound to his individual characteristics. The previously presented smartphone HTC 10 Evo boasts similar technology. At the same time, both smartphones lack a 3.5 mm headphone jack, the role of which is played by the USB Type-C connector.

HTC U Ultra will be offered in four colors. The version with Gorilla Glass 5 and 64 GB of memory is already available for pre-order at a price of $749 and will be available in March. The HTC U Ultra with sapphire glass and 128GB of storage will be available later and will cost $910.

HTC U Play

Along with the HTC U Ultra, the more modest HTC U Play smartphone was also presented at the presentation. Externally, this device resembles the older model, but it has a 5.2-inch display with a resolution of 1920*1080 pixels, a more modest MediaTek Helio P10 processor, 3 or 4 GB of RAM and 32 or 64 GB of internal memory. HTC U Play also comes with a microSD card slot. The resolution of the main and front cameras of the device is 16 megapixels each, and the battery has a capacity of 2500 mAh.

Like the older model, HTC U Play supports the Sense Companion voice assistant and support for U Sound technology, but lacks a second display. The device will hit the market before the end of March at a price of $440 for the version with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of main memory. The cost of modifications with 4 and 64 GB memory will be announced later.

A short video review of two new HTC smartphones running Android 7.0 Nougat was published on the YouTube channel of CNet .