HTC’s in a bad place, and they just released a flop.
The U12+ Is gorgeous. But HTC tried too many things. Photo: Sam Rutherford/Gizmodo
I was excited about the HTC U12+. The HTC U11 is my favorite Android phone, and the first that truly made me consider switching to Android. It had a few problems that the HTC U12+ solves. The bezels are much smaller (and without a notch), the screen size is taller, and HTC brought dual cameras back to their lineup, adding them to the back and front of the phone. Continuing what made the HTC U11 great, HTC added more Edge Sense (squeezable customizability) features, and added a new transparent back that looks gorgeous, high-end, and brings back a design trend from the 90’s. What’s not to love?
A lot, apparently. HTC made a few small mistakes with the HTC U12+, and those mistakes are enough to ruin the phone completely. With HTC’s dire financial situation, a phone that doesn’t sell well could be enough to kill the company.
In This Article:
Failures of the HTC U12+
Those aren’t buttons, they’re glued-on nubs. Photo: Sam Rutherford/Gizmodo
Reviewers seem to point to six issues that ruin the HTC U12+’s chances of being a great phone, with two being more significant than the others:
- No physical buttons
- Disappointing battery life
- No wireless charging
- No headphone jack
- Average to poor durability
- Only available online
No Physical Buttons
Beautiful, but not functional
Every review has pointed to the U12+’s new pressure sensitive faux buttons as HTC’s most stunningly egregious design choice. They’re pressure sensitive, but have difficulty discerning actual presses from accidental ones, and sometimes activate without being touched directly. Reviewers have unanimously reported that the power button and volume buttons are a constant source of frustration. This is likely something HTC can improve with a software update, but never fully fix. Their Edge Sense will never be as accurate as actual physical buttons. On top of that, the “buttons” apparently are more susceptible to damage than physical buttons, being glued into place, and breaking the button functionality if they are sheared off.
Disappointing Battery Life and No Wireless Charging
I put these two together because I see them as complimentary issues. Being able to put your phone down and know it’s charging right away makes charging easier, less of a hassle. This means you’re less bothered by lousy battery life. HTC’s U11+ came with a large 3,950mAh battery, giving it excellent battery life. Despite being the same size of the U11+, HTC equipped the HTC U12+ with a 3,500mAh battery, about 88% the size of the U11+ battery. This, in combination with HTC’s dim but energy-hogging LCD screen, means the HTC U12+ has less battery life than you’d expect. Reviewers noted that it doesn’t always last a full day with regular use. Battery life is enough of a problem with this phone that you’ll have battery anxiety (like many iPhone owners).
No Headphone Jack
Android phones aren’t ready to ditch the headphone jack. iPhones aren’t quite there either, but, due to the limitations of USB-C, Android phones are further behind. USB-C dongles won’t work between devices from different manufacturers, because there are no standards for audio over USB-C. Furthermore, there are no adapters to listen to music while charging your phone, an issue exacerbated by HTC’s lack of wireless charging. Finally, HTC doesn’t even include a USB-C to headphone jack adapter in the box, as they did for the U11. You can buy a USB-C to headphone jack adapter from HTC for $11.99 on their website, but the adapter is currently out of stock and HTC doesn’t tell users they should add it to their cart when they’re buying the HTC U12+ from their website. You won’t find the adapter on Amazon either, and third party adapters may not work.
Average to Poor Durability
The HTC U12+ has glass on the front and back (yes, despite not supporting wireless charging). However, not all glass is created equal. HTC is using Gorilla Glass 3 on the back of the phone, which is more prone to the Gorilla Glass 5 used on most current smartphones. This was likely to shape it to HTC’s specifications, which includes a pleasant curve that makes the device easy to hold. HTC didn’t use sapphire to protect the camera lenses, saving this for the fingerprint sensor. A simple scratch can easily ruin HTC’s wonderful camera system. The HTC U12+ will be more durable than the U11, due to slight changes in construction, but it’s still not perfect.
Online Only
This is the final nail in the HTC U12+’s coffin. The phone is an excellent flagship phone (if HTC can fix the button issue), but the above flaws will ruin it for smartphone enthusiasts. Unfortunately, HTC is only marketing their phone to smartphone enthusiasts. People who really care about their phones and research them before buying are more rare than you might think. Many people just go to their carrier store and walk away with whatever the salesperson wanted to sell them. HTC will miss out on all of these sales, because the HTC U12+ is only available online directly from HTC or through Amazon. The only people who will have this phone will be HTC fans.
HTC’s Situation
Perhaps it was subpar marketing. Maybe it was the high cost of innovation, always sitting one step ahead of the rest of the market. Perhaps it was their lousy distribution methods. Whatever the reason, HTC is in a terrible situation financially, and they have been for quite some time. They’ve had massive layoffs, sold off part of their phone division to Google, and, in June, HTC saw their biggest drop in sales ever, down a whopping 62%. That’s including preorders for the HTC U12+. Perhaps as a result of this, HTC just laid off 1,500 employees, about a quarter of their global workforce, to cut costs.
A complete lack of marketing and online-only sales made HTC a niche brand, only for those who appreciated the best an Android phone could offer. However, they also spent time designing and selling mid-range smartphones, which, while helpful in developing countries, we not reaching the markets they were designed for in the U.S., your average non-techie consumer. The result is plain to see. HTC has only one flagship smartphone this year, and had to make crazy compromises to reduce costs on that phone, including removing the buttons, headphone adapter, and forgoing wireless charging.
Many techies believe the HTC U12+ is HTC’s swan song. HTC’s excellent Vive VR headset is propping the company up, but even that only targets a niche market: gaming enthusiasts. Without proper marketing and distribution, it will fail just as HTC’s smartphone endeavors have. The HTC U12+ feels like a compromise, not HTC’s greatest phone ever. Yet this may be the way HTC ends, not with a bang, but a whimper.
Sources:
- Corbin Davenport, Android Police
- Joe Maring, Android Central
- Andy Meek, BGR
- Sam Rutherford, Gizmodo
- Jeffrey Van Camp, Wired
- Jimmy Westenberg, Android Authority