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

The HTC brand is far from the most popular when choosing a smartphone. And in vain. If consumers understand the technical characteristics of the offered models, then HTC gadgets can at once go 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 has 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 "got 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 small bezels on the front panel. And the consequence of reducing the frames is the fingerprint scanner "moved" to the rear panel.

The appearance, frankly, cannot be called elegant. Like many flagships released in 2017-2019, it is quite large and not very comfortable in the hand. But all these little things are very reasonable: HTC sacrificed a little design in order to "shove" a more powerful battery into the smartphone.

But you shouldn't conclude from this that the design of the gadget is unattractive. Not at all. It just doesn't belong to the super thin smartphones.

The body of HTC U11 Plus is metal and is waterproof and dustproof. By the way, the protection level has grown to IP68. The back of the phone is made of high quality glass and looks very stylish. Reverse side of the coin: due to the material of the cover, the device slides into the palm of your hand. And it captures every touch of the phone in the form of fingerprints on its mirror surface. There are rescues in the form of a cover. Although in it the phone, which is not distinguished by its compactness, grows even more in size.

The “plus” color scheme is presented in the following variants: black, silver-blue and transparent-black.

Display

The display size has increased by half an inch compared to its predecessor and is 6 inches. The pixel density (538) and the screen resolution (1440x2880 pixels) have also increased. 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 - a speaker and a USB Type-C port. On the right side there is a slider for adjusting the volume level and an off key. By the way, the card slot did not bring any pleasant surprises. All 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 high 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 disadvantages.

DCI-P3 mode is responsible for more accurate color reproduction. There are no significant differences in color indicators.Is that the contrast increased slightly, and the brightness, on the contrary, dropped slightly.

The main characteristics of the gadget

Camera

The main camera of HTC U11 Plus remains 12-megapixel and still takes excellent quality footage. Color rendition, 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 that's understandable: HTC partnered with Google on the Pixel.

But the front one has cut megapixels in half (8-megapixel). But in this matter, the manufacturer claims that the quality of selfies 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 average weight of files is 24MB.

Sound and speakers

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

There is a peculiarity with the connection of a standard headset: the U11 Plus lacks a 3.5mm jack. But in the box with accessories for this case there is an adapter (if you want to connect your own headphones).

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

The main feature of the "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 by microphones in the headphones. There is a good quality dictaphone, the sound quality is close to a professional one. Writes sound in AAC and FLAC.

Autonomy

Non-removable 3930 mAh battery. Here, a clear advance is noticeable compared to its predecessor (3000 mAh). And the reason for the bulkier 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 completely discharged. Standby time - 1.5-2 weeks.

There is also a plus sign 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. The shell, like all smartphones from the Taiwanese manufacturer, is a proprietary HTC. There is a program that analyzes all user actions and periodically gives hints - HTC Sense Companion.

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

Now about custom modes. There is a mode for working with gloves in the cold season. By activating it, the sensor's sensitivity to touch increases. Of course, keeping correspondence with gloves will be very problematic, but you will be able to 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-established schedule.

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

You can also set a color profile according to your preference. Colors are varied on a warmer / colder basis. The default is DCI-P3.

Motion Launch gestures open predefined applications or functions.

About the communication capabilities of U11 +

The 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. If you have an appropriate headset, the gadget supports the LDAC codec, previously only the AptX HD codec. Using LDAC on a wireless headset increases the sound quality dramatically.

Processor and memory

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

Memory. It was 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 - 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of built-in storage. Basically, the price difference is small. Here everyone decides according to their needs.

There are no complaints about games, it "pulls" 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

The smartphone is standard:

• Telephone;
• User's manual;
• A clip for removing from the microSD slot and SIM card;
• Stereo headset;
• USB Type C cable;
• 3.5 mm adapter;
• Phone charger;
• Plastic cover.

Pros and cons of HTC U11 Plus

• Good battery life;
• Decent main camera;
• Excellent performance;
• Approximate to a professional voice recorder;
• Sound quality.
• Fast charging capability.

• Bulky design;
• On the back, fingerprints are very noticeable from use;
• Can slide in hands;
• No wireless charging
• Hybrid SIM and memory card slot;
• The price is higher than the average budget.

HTC U11 vs HTC U11 Plus comparison

Outcome

What can be said about the bottom line? The 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 had much of a budget. The average price of HTC U11 Plus 128 GB is on average 45000. The price of HTC U11 Plus 64 GB differs by about 5000.

Let's summarize. Overall, the HTC U11 Plus is as good as its predecessor. There is not much difference between the phones.

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

When it comes to replacing HTC U11 with HTC U11 Plus, it hardly makes sense. The difference will be greater 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 is quite a good option.