Review: HTC’s latest smartphone flagship, the U Ultra, looks good and is full of desirable features
Eyecatching design, all the hardware specifications you’d expect from a top-tier device, impressive software that includes Dual Display, and a great camera make the HTC U Ultra a decent device
HTC is not having an easy time on the smartphone front, having recorded its seventh consecutive quarterly loss in the last quarter of 2016. However, the company has a new strategy of targeting the high-end market with a more streamlined portfolio, and the HTC U Ultra is among the first of these new devices to be rolled out.
Design and hardware
The HTC U Ultra comes with a 5.7-inch display protected by a curved Gorilla Glass 5 screen, as well as an independently controlled two-inch “Dual Display” screen along the top. Like an increasing number of smartphones, it is a dual-nano SIM device, with the second slot able to accommodate a micro-SD card to bump storage up to 2TB.
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The most distinctive aspect of the HTC U Ultra is probably the curved “liquid surface” glass back of the phone. HTC curved the glass not only along the four sides of the device, but also at the corners, giving it a sleek, polished appearance that looks better in real life than in photos.
Unlike a metal smartphone, the UTC U Ultra does not feel cool to the touch in an air-conditioned room. This is likely due to the poorer heat dissipation of glass, though it never warmed to an uncomfortable level. As you can expect, the glass back is highly reflective and is a magnet for fingerprints, though the liquid surface treatment makes them somewhat less visible.
The hardware specifications look like what you would expect from a top-tier flagship device today: 4GB RAM, Bluetooth 4, NFC, USB 3.1 Type-C port, GPS and GLONASS for location, and even support for China’s BeiDou satellite navigation system. The HTC U Ultra feels noticeably lighter than other 5.5-inch to 5.7-inch devices in its class.
