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Appeared on: Thursday, January 12, 2017
HTC Unveils New U Play and HTC U Ultra Smartphones

Following the release of the not so impressive HTC 10 smartphone last year, HTC is adding two new smartphones to its lineup today: the HTC U Play and HTC U Ultra.



Both phones use an aluminum frame paired with a curved glass back. Underneath the glass are layers of colored minerals that reflect light, creating what HTC calls a "liquid surface" that gives the phones an iridescent sheen. Each phone comes in four different colors: Brilliant Black, Cosmetic Pink, Ice White, and Sapphire Blue.

Neither phone includes a 3.5mm headphone jack - they are using the USB Type-C port for audio instead.

The smaller U Play comes with a 5.2-inch 1080p (423PPI) IPS LCD display that's covered with Gorilla Glass. The U Ultra includes HTC's "Dual Display" that combines a larger 5.7-inch 1440p (515PPI) IPS LCD with a secondary 2.0-inch 160x1040 IPS color LCD in the upper bezel, similar to LG's V20. This secondary screen displays contextual shortcuts to favorite contacts or apps, reminders, and notifications among other things.

The HTC U Play has a 16MP rear camera with phase detect autofocus (PDAF) and optical image stabilization (OIS) paired with an f/2.0 lens that has a wide-angle 28mm equivalent focal length. At the front there is a 16MP selfie camera that uses an UltraPixel branded sensor with larger pixels to boost low-light performance. It also has an f/2.0 lens and a wide-angle 28mm equivalent focal length. Both the front and rear cameras have an automatic HDR mode that improves dynamic range for scenes with dark shadows and bright lights.

The HTC U Ultra's front-facing camera is similar to the U Play's, but the rear camera uses a 12MP sensor with larger 1.55µm pixels. While the specifications are similar to the HTC 10's rear camera, which uses the Sony IMX377 Exmor R sensor, the U Ultra is likely using the Sony IMX378 Exmor RS sensor that's found in Google's Pixel phones, because it includes an upgraded hybrid autofocus system that combines PDAF with laser AF. The U Ultra's rear camera has OIS and is paired with a larger aperture f/1.8 lens that should help it capture more light.

Both phones have a capacitive-touch fingerprint scanner on the front that doubles as a home button, with capacitive navigation buttons to either side.

The U Play's MediaTek Helio P10 SoC includes eight Cortex-A53 CPUs and a Mali-T860MP2 GPU for limited gaming. The U Ultra uses the Snapdragon 821 SoC -- a chip a bit outdated for a flagship device, provided the launch of the 830.

Inside the U Play's 3.50-7.99 mm thick chassis is a 2500 mAh battery. The U Ultra is powered by a larger, but not as large we would expect, 3000 mAh battery. The U Ultra does include Qualcomm's Quick Charge 3.0 for rapid charging, while the U Play supports 5V/2A charging.

The U Ultra has a few other upgrades over the U Play too. While it's possible to use voice commands on both phones to answer calls, dismiss alarms, and send messages, for example, only the U Ultra can respond if it's asleep with the screen locked, a feature likely enabled by Snapdragon 821's low-power DSP. HTC's BoomSound feature is also exclusive to the U Ultra.

The HTC U Play will be available in select markets around the globe in Q1 2017, with options for either 3GB or 4GB of RAM and 32GB or 64GB of internal storage. The HTC U Ultra, which comes with either 64GB of internal storage or 128GB of storage, is available for pre-order in the US January 12, exclusively at htc.com. HTC did not reveal pricing information yet.

HTC U Ultra specs



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