HTC U Ultra Review: Stunning Performer Packed With Amazing Front Camera

Recently HTC announces two smartphones with its two new U series devices – Play and Ultra. I have already talked about HTC U Play and today, I am going to explore the functionalities and performance of HTC U Ultra.

Similar flaunty glossy design

In terms of out body shell, HTC U Ultra shares the similar gloss body as U Play. It looks stunning, as the phone has a new, beautifully contoured, liquid surface with symmetrical construction. But, the glossy body attracts smudges, thankfully not works as a magnet to scratches. Similar to U Play it also comes with a transparent back cover to protect the body from smudges and scratches that steal the beauty of the phone.

Vibrant FHD screen

It has the dual display, main screen 5.7-inches, Quad HD (2560 x 1440 pixels) with 513ppi pixel density and secondary 2.05-inches (160 x 1040 pixels). The screen produces vibrant colors and the fair amount of brightness. Protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5. The display is quite responsive and produces accurate colors with dark blacks. I enjoyed playing games, watching movies, etc on it. Even in direct sunlight, I was able to read texts, thanks to it bright screen.

The secondary screen, which we have seen in LG V20, lets you get various notification and control music without unlocking the device. It could be useful for some of the users, at the same time it can feel annoying.

The U is really cool

As I have already talked about “U” that lets the phone adopt you. It comes with HTC Sense Companion that tracks your activities then suggest you the best. It is a personal companion to every user who is always learning from you and the things you do every day. It can suggest leaving early if heavy traffic congestion on your daily route or any weather change could happen. It can recommend a restaurant when you are looking for a break or be going to celebrate with your loved ones.

HTC Sense can also recognize your voice and respond even when it is locked. You can make a call, send messages, set an alarm and begin hands-free navigation. It can also identify your ear to offer the immersive experience.

Spectacular performer

Packed with Snapdragon quad core processor and 4 GB RAM, it is one of the muscular devices that can handle almost any app. I used the phone for more than three weeks and enjoy several games and did multitasking as well. I played several high-graphics intensive games on it including WWE, NFS, Asphalt 8 Airborne and Mortal combat, etc. The phone manages all the games easily without any visible performance lag. Even while switching between them there was no glitch.

The speaker is as awesome as we can expect from HTC. It produces rich sound with balanced treble and bass. The phone comes with a type C headphone, which is really awesome, but a few people may miss 3.5mm jack as they won’t be able to charge or transfer the data while using the headphone.

Capture great selfies and landscapes

The phone packs 12 MP (HTC UltraPixel 2 with 1.55μm pixel) BSI sensor with dual tone LED flash at the back. It captures beautiful images in different lighting conditions with the fair amount of details. The daylight images come with good details and rich colors.

At the front, it has 16 MP, with HTC UltraPixel mode, BSI sensor to capture amazing sefies. It also has different modes such as Live make-up, Auto Selfie (keep still or smile), Voice Selfie, etc. The camera UI is similar to U Play offering various modes including Zoe camera that captures 3 sec of video. It also has pro option where you can control every part be it exposure, sensitivity, shutter speed, ISO and many other. Using the pro, I got better quality images.

Decent battery

The phone is backed by a 3000 mAh battery that can easily run for more than one day with moderate usage like calls, internet surfing etc. On the other hand, watching videos or playing games on it will drain the battery soon. In our battery loop test, it lasted for 6 hours 08 minutes while playing video over Wifi with full brightness and volume.