HTC rebranding attempt last year has carried over to 2018 with the U12+, and despite the plus at the end of the name, this is the only flagship from HTC so far in 2018. Retailing for £699, $799 or €799 euros, everything here lives up to the specs of the rest of the 2018 flagships without a doubt. A Snapdragon 845 chipset, 6gb of RAM, 64 or 128GB of internal storage, and a 3,500mAh battery round out the big components. The difference comes in the hardware design, and that’s not just the look of the back either, which is launching in two colors, with a third coming later in the year. A black business-like option is available for those who prefer it, and HTC is also offering a Transparent Blue color as an alternative option at launch. The Flame Red option will be launching in the coming months.
One of the biggest design changes comes in the form of the volume and power buttons on the right side, which aren’t traditional buttons at all. These are buttons that don’t actually click in, rather they respond to pressure by any object, and while the skin of a finger works just fine, fingernails actually make them respond better. The HD vibration motors inside give off a distinct click in, click out rumble that feels truly awesome, and attempt to remove moving parts and other ways for water or dust to get into the chassis, among possibly providing more functionality than buttons are currently limited to. HTC has also not only kept the squeezable sides from last year, but they’ve improved it too, adding in a new double-tap feature, thus expanding the number of options available that can be assigned to each function.
Short pressing, long pressing, and double-tapping are all possible actions of the squeezable sides and can be used to launch any app, as well as a variety of system-wide functions. There’s even a brand new Edge Launcher that can be quickly accessed via any of the three Edge Sense features and brings over 20 shortcuts to the forefront of the user experience for immediate app launching from anywhere. It’s an awesome feature that’s only the surface of what HTC offers here. How well did the whole package turn out? Find out in our review below, and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get the latest as it happens!