It's like a dream come true for the HTC fans out there in India. The Taiwanese smartphone giant, for the first time, has launched a smartphone at a sensible price. Yes, we're speaking about the flagship phone- the HTC U11, which got launched in India yesterday for Rs. 51,990.
The HTC U11 has the better hardware than the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+, but the smartphone doesn't feature an Infinity display. However, the design of the HTC U11 is one of the best in the market right now. The smartphone is sandwiched with a metal frame and a 3D glass at the back and comes in five different colours: Amazon Silver, Sapphire Blue, Brilliant Black, Ice White and Solar Red hues.
Notably, the Red Hues colour variant looks insane, and the 3D back panel makes the device look different in different angles. If the Samsung Galaxy S8's has the Infinity display as its highlight feature, then the HTC U11 has Edge Sense technology as its USP. With this feature, you can squeeze the sides of the phone to perform actions such as opening an application or capturing an image in the camera, open Google Assistant or Sense Companion, etc.
And yes, the U11 is the world's first squeezable smartphone. The U11 also has the upper hand in the audio department. The Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ has a single mono loudspeaker, while the U11 has a BoomSound Hi-Fi speaker, which delivers rich sound than the former. And yes, we all know about the loudspeaker capabilities on an HTC device.
Not only in the loudspeaker department, but the U11 also wins the race in the audio via headphones department. The device lacks a 3.5mm headphone jack, and you've to rely on the USB Type-C port for audio, which can be cumbersome at times. Also, the bundled headphones of the U11 records 3D audio with the help of four microphones.
The major disappoint with the Galaxy S8 is the fingerprint scanner placement, which is present beside the rear camera module. The U11 has the scanner integrated into its home button. Samsung is also providing other unlocking options such as IRIS Scanner, but it's hard to use during night times.
Now coming to the core department, the U11 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chip, clubbed with a massive 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. This is where the U11 shines because the Galaxy S8 and S8+ have just 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage in the base variants. Samsung recently launched the premium 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage variant of the S8+, but it costs Rs. 74,990. The Indian version of the Galaxy S8 uses an Exynos 8895 chip.
Lastly, we have the camera. The HTC U11 has the highest rated camera by DxOMark on any smartphone till date. The U11 comes with a 12MP UltraPixel 3 camera with PDAF support, f/1.7 aperture, and Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS), and dual-tone LED flash. The Galaxy S8 also has a 12MP rear camera with f/1.7 aperture, OIS, PDAF, and dual-tone LED flash. Both the cameras can record 4K Videos.
The U11 has the upper hand in the selfie camera department because it uses a 16MP sensor, while the Galaxy S8 has an 8MP selfie shooter.
In terms of battery, both the U11 and Galaxy S8 comes with a 3000mAh unit with support for fast charging technology. The U11 has a 5.5-inch Quad HD display, while the Galaxy S8 flaunts a 5.8-inch QHD+ display. Thanks to the Infinity display, the Galaxy S8 has a smaller form factor.
Bearing the Infinity display, the Galaxy S8 has features similar to the HTC U11. Also, the U11 features the innovative Edge Sense technology. In fact, the U11 has better hardware than the Galaxy S8 with 6GB of RAM, double the RAM, and better camera on paper, and a lesser price tag. That said, the HTC U11 arguably the correctly priced smartphone from HTC is years.
