The 90’s are back, baby! According to a high quality leak from Evan Blass, a well regarded leaker, one of the HTC U12+ colors will be a translucent-backed device. It will reveal the internals of the device, just like we had in the 90’s. However, the 90’s have gotten an upgrade, the HTC U12+ will come with a glass—not plastic—back.
Blass also leaked two other colors for the handset, as well as the full spec sheet below.
In This Article:
Appearance
The HTC U12+ looks like it’ll come with a new dual rear camera, fingerprint sensor, and shrunken bezels. It’ll also be available in at least three colors, the aforementioned translucent blue color, a burgundy color, and a black version. HTC is said to continue their metallic color shades, called “Liquid Surface,” for the new models, so expect them to shine as brilliantly as the HTC U11 did. However, it appears as though they’ve chosen more muted colors.
The smaller bezels come complete with on-screen navigation buttons. This is perfect because Google intends to release a gesture-based navigation button in Android P, which wouldn’t work as well with the HTC U11 or other HTC devices that featured hardware buttons and bezels.
Specs
Power
HTC isn’t holding back with the U12+, which will feature the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 645 processor, 6GB of RAM, up to 128GB of internal storage (up to 2TB of additional storage with a microSD card) and a 6″ Quad HD+ display with HDR and DCI-P3 color gamut. The HTC U12+ will launch with Android 8.0 Oreo, and will be upgradeable to Android P. It’ll also have a new Edge Sense 2, which will add features to HTC’s squeezable interface.
Cameras
The main rear camera will be the 12MP UltraPixel 4 wide angle camera, with an enlarged pixel size and ƒ/1.75 aperture to capture as much light as possible. It’ll be paired with a 16MP telephoto camera with an ƒ/2.6 aperture. It’ll use these cameras for a bokeh mode, augmented reality, 2x optical zoom, and other features. Both cameras have optical image stabilization. The HTC U12+ will be capable of 60fps video recording, and it’ll still have HTC’s fantastic 24-bit 3D audio recording and “Sonic Zoom,” allowing it to focus on items making sound in a shot.
The front cameras are also impressive. Two 8MP ƒ/2.0 cameras on the front with a wide field of view will also feature AR stickers, bokeh, a screen flash. They’ll also be capable of 1080p video recording.
Sound
HTC’s phones have been known for their fantastic sound quality since the HTC One M7, and that won’t change with the U12+. The new phone will come with HTC’s USonic noise cancelling headphones, upgraded BoomSound speakers, and high resolution audio recording.
Other Features
The HTC U12+ will feature the normal phone sensors, adding a magnetic sensor and “Sensor Hub” for activity tracking, whatever that will be. It’ll also support both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant with always-on listening, if you choose to activate it. It’ll feature Bluetooth 5.0, allowing for high resolution 32-bit audio over Bluetooth.
What it Doesn’t Have
Regrettably, HTC won’t be giving the U12+ wireless charging. The metal spiral would have looked cool on the back of the translucent smartphone, but that’s hardly the only reason it would be excellent on the HTC U12+. The HTC U12+ doesn’t have a headphone jack, and the Android platform is woefully unprepared for ditching the headphone jack. As such, the HTC U12+ won’t be able to play music while charging without a reliable and consistent Bluetooth connection. Good luck with that. Battery life on my HTC U11 is pretty good, so I don’t think this would be a deal breaker for me, but it might be for you.
Reveal/Release Date?
HTC is expected to reveal the HTC U12+ this week, on the 23rd. They’ve announced only that they’ll be revealing something on this day. HTC’s flagship line is due for an upgrade, and summer is the time many Android manufacturers choose to reveal their latest hardware. The teaser actually shows a variety of component parts, which HTC claims is to illustrate how other manufacturers cram parts into their phones for a spec sheet. The HTC U12+ is supposed to be “more than the sum of its specs.” It’s also interesting because the HTC U12+ will come in a transparent shade, which I just can’t wait to see.
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