Smartphone HTC U11 Plus (64GB and 128GB) - advantages and disadvantages

The HTC brand is far from the most popular when choosing a smartphone. And very in vain. If consumers understand the technical characteristics of the proposed models, then HTC gadgets can immediately move into the category of favorites. Moreover, the manufacturer does not stand still and quite often pleases consumers with new products.

In 2017, the Taiwanese company HTC presented another smartphone - HTC U11 Plus. As you might guess, the new gadget is an improved version of the previously released HTC U11. Below we will consider what characteristic features the manufacturer endowed with his next brainchild and compare what differences it has from its predecessor.

External parameters

Design

The appearance of the U11 Plus is very similar to the U11 - a rather large smartphone with rounded corners. The difference in weight and size is negligible. The novelty "heavier" by about 10%, and its weight was 188 g. The thickness of the gadget added 0.6 mm, and in width - minus 1 mm. The width of the smartphone has decreased due to the small frames on the front panel. And the consequence of reducing the frames is the fingerprint scanner that has “moved” to the rear panel.

Appearance, frankly, can not be called elegant. Like many flagships released in 2017-2019, it is quite large and does not fit very comfortably in the hand. But all these little things are very justified: HTC sacrificed a little design in order to “shove” a more powerful battery into the smartphone.

But from this you should not conclude that the design of the gadget is unattractive. Not at all. It just does not belong to the super thin smartphones.

The case of HTC U11 Plus is metal and is protected from moisture and dust. By the way, the level of protection has increased to IP68. The back panel of the phone is made of high quality glass and looks very stylish. The reverse side of the coin: due to the material of the cover, the device slides in the palm of your hand. And captures on its mirror surface every touch of the phone in the form of fingerprints. There is salvation in the form of a cover. Although it does not differ in compactness, the phone increases in size even more.

The color scheme of the "plus" is presented in the following options: black, silver-blue and transparent black.

Display

The display size has increased by half an inch compared to its predecessor and is 6 inches. Also increased the pixel density (538) and screen resolution (1440x2880 pixels).The new gadget uses a Super LCD6 matrix, which occupies more than 80% of the surface of its front side. Corning Gorilla Glass 5 is responsible for protection.

The location of the control buttons remains the same: on the top there is a slot for a SIM card and microSD, on the bottom there is a speaker and a USB Type-C port. On the right side there is a slider for adjusting the volume level and the off key. By the way, the card slot did not present any pleasant surprises. Still the same difficult, often, choice: 2 SIM cards at the same time or one, but with a memory card. It would seem that it is time for a flagship of this level to take a step forward in this matter, but no. As with most phones, we attribute this to shortcomings.

DCI-P3 mode is responsible for a more accurate transmission of the color gamut. There are no significant differences in terms of color. Unless the contrast increased a little, and the brightness, on the contrary, fell a little.

The main characteristics of the gadget

Camera

The main camera of the HTC U11 Plus remains 12-megapixel and still takes excellent quality shots. Color reproduction, detail, night shooting - everything is at a decent level. The dynamic range is similar to that of the Google Pixel. It's just as wide. And it's understandable: HTC partnered with Google to create the Pixel.

But the front camera has halved the megapixels (8-megapixel). But in this matter, the manufacturer claims that the quality of the selfie in the improved model has only gotten better.

The presence of both phase and laser autofocus significantly speeds up the process of determining the focus. It is possible to shoot in RAW (DNG). The weight of files on average is 24MB.

Sound and speakers

There are no surprises in terms of sound. The presence of two stereo speakers make the sound loud and clear.There are settings to improve the sound quality.

There is a feature with connecting a standard headset: the U11 Plus does not have a 3.5 mm jack. But in the box with accessories for this case there is an adapter (if you want to connect your headphones).

And, of course, the Taiwanese manufacturer took care of the "native" headset. The headset, it should be noted, is of fairly good quality.

The main feature of "native" headphones is the HTC USonic function. The point is that the equalizer is adjusted individually by analyzing the shape of the ear. And this form is analyzed specially by the microphones in the headphones. There is a good quality voice recorder, the sound quality is close to professional. Writes audio in AAC and FLAC.

autonomy

Non-removable 3930 mAh battery. Here, there is a clear progress compared to its predecessor (3000 mAh). And the reason for the more voluminous body of the HTC U11 + is obvious.

The full charging time of the phone is 90 minutes. The manufacturer claims that you can talk for 25 hours without interruption until it is completely discharged. In standby mode - 1.5-2 weeks.

There is also a plus for the updated version of the gadget. The phone comes with a special adapter for fast charging (Qualcomm QuickCharge 3.0 standard).

Wireless charging is not supported.

Interface

The gadget operates on the Android 8 operating system. The shell, like all smartphones from the Taiwanese manufacturer, is proprietary HTC. There is a program that analyzes all user actions and periodically gives hints - HTC Sense Companion.

Boost + is an installed application (a set of utilities) designed to optimize the performance of a smartphone.

Now about custom modes. There is a mode for working with gloves in the cold season.Activating it increases the sensitivity of the sensor to touch. Of course, it will be very problematic to correspond with gloves, but you can answer a call or open an application.

It is possible to set the "night mode" so that there is less stress on the eyes. Activation can be performed according to a pre-set schedule.

You can also control the gadget by squeezing its sides. This thing is called HTC EDGE Sense. This is a completely new way to interact with a smartphone. By setting the phone to the desired function, you can, for example, take a selfie simply by squeezing the body of the phone. The compression level is also set independently.

You can also set the color profile according to your preference. Colors vary according to the principle "warmer / colder". The default profile is DCI-P3.

Motion Launch gestures open specified apps or features.

About U11+ communication features

Navigation is great. There is a GPS that supports A-GPS. And also the gadget is equipped with the GLONASS system. Dual band WI-FI 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac.

Memory card version 3.1. The phone supports NFS, it is possible to use the chip in Android Pay.

Bluetooth with version 5.0.

There is another interesting point. With the appropriate headset, the gadget supports the LDAC codec, previously only the AptX HD codec. Using LDAC on a wireless headset, the sound quality grows exponentially.

Processor and Memory

The hardware of the device is absolutely identical with the HTC U11. Powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 - the most powerful Android chipset of 2017, 64 bit, 8 cores, frequency up to 2.45 GHz. Octa core processor. Responsible for graphics Adreno 540. Supports microSD up to 256 GB. The performance of the gadget is decent, and therefore the phone itself is nimble in use.

Memory. It is by this criterion that the gadget was divided into HTC U11 Plus 64GB and HTC U11 Plus 128 GB. The first option has 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of ROM. A more sophisticated second option is 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal storage. In principle, the difference in price is small. Here, everyone decides according to their needs.

There are no complaints about games, it “pulls out” all popular toys without problems. AnTuTu testing recorded 158712 points. On the Price China test, the performance score was 9.8 points, and the overall score was 9.9 points.

Contents of delivery

Standard smartphone package:

• Telephone;
• User manual;
• Paperclip to remove from the microSD slot and SIM card;
• Stereo headset;
• USB Type C cable;
• Adapter for 3.5 mm;
• phone charger;
• Plastic case.

Advantages and disadvantages of HTC U11 Plus

• Good autonomy;
• Decent main camera;
• Excellent performance;
• Close to professional voice recorder;
• Good sounding.
• Fast charging capability.

• Bulky design;
• Fingerprints from use are very noticeable on the back panel;
• Can slide in hands;
• No wireless charging;
• Hybrid slot for SIM card and memory card;
• The price is above average.

Comparison HTC U11 and HTC U11 Plus

Outcome

What can be said in summary? An improved model of the previously released HTC U11 was a success. But, let's be honest, the U11 Plus (64,128) is not much different from it.

HTC gadgets have never been particularly budget-friendly. The average price of HTC U11 Plus 128 GB is 45,000 on average. The cost of HTC U11 Plus 64 GB differs by about 5,000.

Let's summarize. In general, the HTC U11 Plus smartphone is as good as its predecessor. There is little difference between phones.

The smartphone has increased the size of the display and the size of the battery. Good sound. And both with headphones and without them. The volume of the speakers is at the level, you can not be afraid to miss an incoming call in a noisy place. The gadget is smart, with powerful performance.

If we are talking about changing HTC U11 to HTC U11 Plus, it hardly makes sense. The difference will be more in price than in the appearance and technical characteristics of the smartphone.

But for those who want to change their outdated gadget to something more advanced and powerful, it’s quite a good option.