The HTC U Ultra is a missed opportunity. The display is decent in terms of color performance, but it is less bright than other flagships. The overall performance is not enough in terms of battery life, and even the overall performance is relatively lower than that of the flagships of the current generation. The app, the U-Sonic, is good, but the U Ultra loses mainly because of the USB-C adapter. The front camera is good, but the rear camera is significantly inferior to Google Pixel and Apple iPhone 7 Plus. A lot of scratches and fingerprints will give you an insurance policy, but it’s not very convenient. The HTC U Ultra is not a practical recommendation compared to other flagships, so it’s a missed opportunity.
DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THE HTC U ULTRA
As a smartphone manufacturer, HTC has a special place in my heart. The original HTC Desire, released in 2010, was my first smartphone, and at that time I was very impressed. However, in recent years, HTC has introduced a mixture of interesting technologies, such as BoomSound and UltraPixel camera, but they come from average hardware. The HTC U Ultra that we have today costs a lot and therefore competes with devices such as Apple’s iPhone 7 and Google’s Pixel, while facing stiff competition from upcoming flagships from Sony, Samsung, LG and others. After spending some time with the U Ultra, it seems really unfortunate that the device looks like a missed opportunity for HTC to restart its game. It still has a number of good elements, but the countless shortcomings overshadow the good here.
Before continuing, it is important to mention that the HTC U Ultra is not waterproof, and the company may realize that this is a significant drawback for such an expensive smartphone. When you buy an HTC U Ultra, you get one-year insurance that covers liquid and body damage to the phones, and you do not need a separate registration for this.
Building and Designing
The first thing that comes to mind when you see the HTC U Ultra for the first time is that it is wonderfully practical. The device has a huge 5.7-inch 2K display on the front panel. Among them is the rather small fingerprint sensor, next to which the capacitive back and multitasking buttons rest. In the upper left corner of the screen is the front camera, and on the right is the secondary screen, which is actually more useful than I imagined. The back has a very glossy surface that sticks to fingerprints. The HTC U Ultra is available in a range of awesome colors, including shiny black, cosmetic pink, ice white and sapphire blue (we have that). With its glossy back, the HTC U Ultra looks quite nice. However, in the matter of fingerprints, it is also very susceptible to scratches. HTC’s solution for this is a cleaning cloth, something useful but still quite annoying. The protruding camera module on the back does not allow it to lie flat on any surface. HTC includes a transparent back cover on the cover, which takes care of all scratches and imperfections, but the U Ultra no longer looks so beautiful.
The large 5.7-inch screen is difficult to operate with one hand. It is thin, but its slightly unintentional shape makes it difficult to put it in bags. In short, the U Ultra has the essence of a beautiful device, but it is not functional due to its size and excellent rear camera. Unfortunately, they spend a lot of time cleaning it or keeping it behind the veil of a cover to finish the tip of a beautiful smartphone. Capacitive buttons cover small areas on the front side, which is ergonomically not ideal.
