Yesterday, HTC has unveiled two smartphones for its 2017 HTC U series: the HTC U Play and the HTC U Ultra.
The Design
For both smartphones, HTC went beyond and completely changed its look with the casing design compared to its previous models. It is somewhat like a translucent piece of glass that is highly reflective and reflects just about anything that comes in front of it. Though it was glossy and shiny for my taste, it looked great nonetheless.
For its color casing designs, both smartphones come in different colors. The HTC U Play comes in Black, White, and Pink. The HTC U Ultra comes also in Black, White, and Pink, but also has an additional casing color design of Sapphire Blue.
The Display
The HTC U Play features a 5.5 inch Full HD display, while the HTC U Ultra features a much larger screen that is a 5.7 inch Quad HD display. And for another difference, the HTC U Ultra has this secondary display above its main display that is a little bit similar to LG's V10 and V20 -according to the source.
The source then further states that the secondary display do is that it is supposed to give more information rather than just your normal notifications, but also all the different reminders and notifications coming from the Assistant API that is supported by HTC's Sense Companion. The Sense Companion is reported to take the Google Assistant that is a feature available on Android Nougat and makes it function even better.
Platform
The HTC U Play is equipped with MediaTek's Helio P10 processor. It comes with 3 GB or 4 GB of RAM, depending on the built-in storage which is 32 GB and 64 GB. On the other hand, unlike the HTC U Play, the HTC U Ultra is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 821 chipset. It comes with 4 GB of RAM and a built-in storage of either 64 GB or 128 GB. In regards with the expandability option, both smartphones have one via MicroSD.
Camera
Both cameras of the HTC U Play are 16 MP, but only its front snapper has the "Ultra Pixel mode." On the other hand, the HTC U Ultra features a 12 MP Ultra Pixel 2 rear camera that has 1.55 micron pixels with laser & phase detection autofocus. At the front, it features a 16 MP front camera with an Ultra Pixel mode.
What is this Ultra Pixel mode? Take the HTC U Ultra's 16 MP front camera for example. This Ultra Pixel mode combines the pixels and instead of having a 16 MP shot, it will be a 4 ultra-megapixel shot that will look great even in low light conditions.
Battery, Features, And Availability
For the battery, the HTC U Ultra houses a 3000 non-removable mAh battery. For its features, both smartphones still have the Boom Sound feature that is sure to give the device a high-performance sound quality, which also comes to the fact that neither smartphones feature a headphone jack. And for its availability, the HTC U Play will be available in select global markets only, while the HTC U Ultra is available for pre-order starting January 12, 2017.
