A rumor has surfaced about HTC’s as-yet-unannounced U12 which suggests that the flagship may arrive in a white color configuration with an updated Liquid Surface casing. More specifically, sources close to the company have reportedly let leak that a matte white color will be available. It’s not immediately clear how the once-dominant smartphone maker will need to change the glass coating it places on its devices to make that work. The glass, which HTC has Dubbed Liquid Surface, coats both the front and back of the companies flagships. It’s infused with unspecified minerals, which prompts a significant shine and color shifting effect when shown under various lighting conditions. That would seem to defeat the whole purpose of offering a device with a color scheme that is intended to appear flat. Combined with the slim details about the source of the information, it may be a good idea to view the news with a healthy dose of skepticism.
In the meantime, this is not at all the only rumor that has surfaced about HTC’s latest expected foray into the mobile flagship market. For starters, the device is thought to be going under the internal codename “Imagine” and to feature the very latest in tech specs. That’s though to include the latest Qualcomm SoC, the Snapdragon 845, backed up by at least 6GB of RAM and 256GB of onboard storage. A battery rated at 3,420mAh is expected to accompany those, and the entire package is suspected to arrive with HTC Sense 10 U.I. laid out on top of Android 8.0 out of the box. Those are rumored to be squeezed in behind a 5.99-inch QHD+ display with an 8-megapixel selfie camera above. On the back, the company is expected to include a center-placed fingerprint scanner topped by a dual-camera array with 12 and 16-megapixel sensors. Finally, variants for both single and dual-SIM support will be available and HTC is said to be including facial recognition-based security and Treble support for rapid update cycles
The company is expected to announce its new device at some point this spring. However, it bears repeating that all of this should be taken with a grain of salt. HTC’s sales have been predominantly flat or falling over the course of several years, resulting in some sizeable deficits for the company. So, while this device arguably needs to be the best available when it hits the market, it remains to be seen whether or not it will be announced or released at all.