HTC is gearing up to launch a new Android smartphone that will sit at the top of its stack in terms of performance and features. The company teased the launch on Twitter, announcing it will unveil “a phone that is more than the sum of its specs” on May 23, 2018, which is just under three weeks from now.
More about flagship:
The phone is expected to be the U12, or U12+, the successor to last year’s U11, which was notable for its squeezable sides, waterproofing and its good looks. The phone has been the subject of a ton of rumors over the last few months, with pretty much every specification and design decision leaking out in one way or another. It’s being claimed that HTC wants to streamline its product portfolio and has apparently dropped its plans to launch another flagship that’s supposed to come out later this year. The U12 Plus is expected to make its debut in May. It’s curious to see HTC persisting with its smartphone range even after selling off the majority of its phone business to Google. Then again, phone designs take years to realize and it’s reasonable to interpret this upcoming launch (and any other that might follow later this year) as merely the completion of projects that were already in the pipeline when the deal to sell to Google was agreed.
About U12+:
Most recent leaks have confirmed that the U12 Plus will feature a 5.99-inch QHD+ display, a Snapdragon 845 processor, up to 256GB internal storage, and up to 6GB RAM. The device will come with a 16MP+12MP configurations, an 8MP selfie camera, and a 3420mAh battery. The phone will run Android 8.0 Oreo with Sense 10 atop and the Face Unlock feature. HTC U12 Plus is likely to undercut Apple’s iPhone X and Samsung’s Galaxy S9 when it comes to the price.
Coming a week after the launch of the OnePlus 6, HTC’s next flagship will face fierce competition from an Android market that’s already been almost entirely refreshed with 2018 models.