HTC U Ultra Review

A large phone that doubles its screens

HTC has launched its latest flagship smartphone in the all-new HTC U series, the HTC U Ultra. The smartphone was first sighted in January when it was officially announced.

What makes the U Ultra standout is its secondary display which gives you access to some extra useful functions alongside the ones the main display gives you.

The U Ultra has been announced alongside another new HTC smartphone in the U series, the HTC U Play. HTC has priced the U Ultra at the top end of the market, at a whopping $749. That’s quite a step up from the HTC 10, which at the moment you can get for $599 – and it can be found for even less when there’s a sale on.

It puts the HTC U Ultra in a similar price bracket to the iPhone 7 Plus, which is the most expensive of Apple’s line of phones.

U Ultra pre-orders are available for the US right now and it will begin shipping in mid-March. While its coming to the UK on March 1, and you can buy it directly from HTC,  Australia will see a release on March 8.

HTC U ULTRA SPECIFICATIONS, REVIEW AND HIGHLIGHTS

Display & Design

The HTC U Ultra comes with a 5.7-inch Super LCD 5 primary display with a Quad HD resolution and Gorilla Glass 5 protection for the standard 64GB ROM variant and Sapphire Glass protection for the 128GB ROM variant. It also has a 2.05-inch secondary display which is made with the same technology as the primary and has a 1040 * 160 pixel resolution and 520 PPI pixel density.

The phone is made of metal and both the front and back are covered with glass finishing, the rear glass being fully curved at all edges.

Storage & Processor

Under the hood, the HTC U Ultra is powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor with a 2.15 clock frequency and an Adreno 530 GPU.

It has 4GB of RAM and comes in 64GB and 128GB internal memory variants, both of which can be expanded up to 2TB via its microSD card slot.

Camera

The primary camera is 12MP UltraPixel 2, with a dual-tone LED flash at the rear and a 16MP selfie shooter with UltraPixel mode and a f/2.0 aperture at the front.

The rear camera is said to capture excellent pictures in low-light situations since it has a f/1.8 aperture. It also has OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) for capturing more stable images, and its Laser Autofocus (AF) feature allows it to focus on images faster.

Battery & Connectivity

It packs a 3000mAh battery with Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0 feature which allows you to charge the battery up to 56% in just 30 minutes.

Like in recent HTC smartphones, the U Ultra lacks a 3.5mm audio jack and forces you to make all your connections through its USB 3.1 Type-C port. You can make wireless and seamless payment transactions with the phone since it comes enabled with NFC.

The phone comes with a hybrid dual Nano SIM slot and supports 4G LTE networks.

Software & Hardware

On the hardware side, the HTC U Ultra uses the HTC Usonic and BoomSound Hi-Fi audio technologies with 3D Audio recording with 4 microphones. It also sports a fingerprint sensor embedded into its home button present below the display.

The smartphone runs on Android 7.0 Nougat with HTC’s Sense UI layered on top. Software-wise, the HTC U Ultra comes with HTC’s new smartphone AI – HTC Sense Companion which learns about its user over time, offers advice based on his/her preferences, and helps the user to carry out tasks on the smartphone.

Verdict & Competition

The HTC U Ultra is a phone that doesn’t really know where it sits in the market, and it’s hard to fathom who it was built for. It takes a lot of what made the HTC 10 a great device and sprinkles on a little extra, but the design is very different, and it all comes at a higher price.

The lack of powerful speakers and an overtly premium design don’t help the U Ultra to shine, though, and it’s a little disappointing that HTC hasn’t just super-sized the metal HTC 10 with a larger display.

Who’s this for?

The U Ultra is built for those who like the HTC look and ethos, but who want a larger device than the HTC 10.

Most of what made the HTC 10 one of the best Android devices on the market is on display here, packaged with a larger screen and a few extra added features.

The secondary display on its own isn’t a reason to buy this phone, but it’s a nice little addition – and it makes some of the irritating elements of jumping around on an Android phone that little bit easier to handle.

The screen on the HTC U Ultra is also another big plus. The large QHD display is a thing of beauty, and if you’re going to be regularly gaming or watching video, this is a great phone for doing both.

Should you buy it?

If you’re looking for the best battery life on the market, go for the slightly smaller Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. The battery life isn’t atrocious on the U Ultra, but there’s certainly better available, and that’s a disappointment in the latest from HTC.

Its also recommend to take a good look at the design of the U Ultra before you splash out. It can look great from afar, but this certainly isn’t a design that will appeal to everybody, especially those who are used to phones with full-metal unibody designs.

If you want a big phone and you’re a fan of HTC’s design ethos, the U Ultra may well be the handset for you. Just bear in mind that you won’t be getting that much more than the HTC 10 offers, while paying a good deal more.

Competition

Not a fan of the HTC U Ultra? Here are the phones you may want to consider instead.

HTC 10

Last year’s flagship HTC phone continues to feature in roundups of the best phones money can buy. It has a stylish all-metal uni-body design, a beautiful QHD display and amazing audio capabilities.

It also features an improved battery, but it’s only running Android 6 Marshmallow software at the moment, and doesn’t have the dual screen you get on the HTC U Ultra. However, considering that the HTC 10 costs quite a bit less than the U Ultra it’s hard to recommend the U Ultra over it if you’re looking for a great-value HTC device.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge

At the time of writing the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge is ranked among the number one phone in the world – and it’s clear that with the U Ultra, HTC is trying to achieve a lot of what Samsung has done fantastically well with this device.

While you don’t get the U Ultra’s secondary display you do get a lovely curved display here, along with phenomenal picture quality that arguably makes this the better pick.

Huawei Mate 9

Looking for a phone with a large display that doesn’t cost as much as the U Ultra? Huawei’s latest phablet may be the best option for you. It features a 5.9-inch Full HD display and the latest Kirin 955 SoC (system-on-a-chip) inside, as well as a 20MP rear camera.

The spec isn’t as impressive on Huawei’s latest phablet, but it’s quite a bit cheaper than the U Ultra at $599.99.