The Android-powered mid-ranger from HTC codenamed Ocean Harmony will be released and marketed as the HTC U11 EYEs, established industry insider Evan Blass said Thursday, giving much more credence to the possibility of the device actually existing. The leaked name may be related to that of the HTC Desire Eye, one of the company’s previous smartphones released in late 2014. With the Desire Eye having a rather massive front-facing camera that was centered on its top bezel, it’s possible that the U11 EYEs follows a similar design language, though the handset isn’t believed to be a premium offering and is instead rumored as being closer to the recently released U11 Life in terms of specs.
With the U11 Life launching earlier this fall and the U11 EYEs appearing to be a relatively similar offering, it remains to be seen whether HTC opts to release its upcoming Android phone on a global level. The handset was recently certified in China, making a release in the Far Eastern country a likely scenario, whereas HTC recent product launch practices suggest that Taiwan will also eventually receive the U11 EYEs. The original Desire Eye was available on a global level but much has changed in the last three years and the Taiwanese original equipment manufacturer is now employing a more targeted product strategy after numerous consecutive quarters of underwhelming performance.
According to previous reports, the HTC Ocean Harmony will sport a 5.99-inch Super LCD5 display with an FHD+ resolution and a tall aspect ratio of 18:9. A 3,930mAh non-removable battery was also previously alleged to be part of the package, much like the Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 and 4GB of RAM. Like every other U11-branded handset on the market, the U11 EYEs is expected to ship with support for Edge Sense, HTC’s pressure-sensitive frame that allows users to launch apps and perform various actions by squeezing the sides of their device. The smartphone is rumored to ship with 64GB of expandable storage space and a single-lens camera setup, in addition to being likely to run Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box. HTC may release its next mid-ranger in the coming weeks in an attempt to capitalize on the traditionally lucrative holiday season.