HTC U11 - The loud one with the camera... and the touch edges
16.6.2017
Translation: machine translated
Video: Linus Konetschnig
The successor to the HTC 10 is here. After testing it, one thing is clear: yes, the HTC U11 manages to hold a candle to its predecessor. What's more, the phone actually manages to bring new features that have never been seen before into your pocket. How? By thinking beyond the edge of the screen.
The HTC U11. Let's talk about the smartphone that is truly innovative. "Innovative" is an overused marketing term that is used for anything and everything, but in the case of the HTC U11, it actually applies. Because although the shape of the phone is still "rectangle with rounded corners", HTC has thought beyond the edge of the screen.
The edges of the HTC U11 are touch-sensitive. This means that a function can be triggered simply by touching it. I held a prototype of the technology in my hand at a meeting last year and, although promising, the device could only detect the intensity and location of the pressure. And I was able to squeeze really hard, which was quite fun. Since then, I've been eagerly awaiting the HTC U11.
The disappointing edges
Edge Sense is the name of the latest feature, which sounds great in theory but isn't really convincing in practice. Because the problem is not that the feature is bad or unnecessary. No, HTC simply hasn't gone far enough. Not yet.
The theory goes like this: The edges of the phone are touch-sensitive. This means that all kinds of functions could be controlled in this way. In theory. In practice, it looks like HTC was just brave enough to put camera functions on the edges.
If you press the edges on the home screen, the camera starts. If you then press again, a photo is taken. That's it
.
Edge Sense has a number of interesting features, however, and I just think they're totally wasted, especially with the camera.
- The touch sensitivity is customised to you, the user, during the initial setup
- The HTC U11 recognises where you press
- It recognises how hard you press
- It recognises how many fingers you press with
The possibilities are endless. Let's say "press on the side and move up and down" controls the volume or zoom. We could do without the volume control on the side. The same with "Press firmly on the side to switch off the screen". Away with the power button. The result: no more buttons all over the phone. Sounds nice, doesn't it?
But the whole thing isn't a complete wash. The hardware of the HTC U11 is designed so that these functions can be retrofitted in future software updates. I would simply have liked to have seen them at launch, because the feature doesn't really impress at the moment.
So in general: The critics say that HTC has to impress now because the HTC U Ultra from spring wasn't that impressive. I dare to disagree, because in the past - between the HTC M7 and the HTC 10 - HTC has delivered solid mass-produced goods, but not really impressed. The spring models were okay, but somehow underwhelming. The demise of HTC has been conjured up time and again, but HTC is still here and bolder than ever. Therefore, the doom and gloom is nothing more than the disappointment of critics. I can understand that a tester is disappointed when a promising phone is simply rated as "okay" in the end, but that's no reason to conjure up the downfall of a company?
The beautiful noise
The far less noisy new feature of the HTC U11 is the headphones. HTC is one of the few manufacturers to follow Apple's lead and abolish the 3.5 mm jack plug. In the comment columns on articles in which this becomes a topic, the USB-C connection as a replacement for the headphone jack is blowing a hard wind.
Without the essential headphone jack, not an essential purchase. - Spl4tt in the article on the Essential PH-1
When Apple did away with the headphone jack, the Cupertino-based manufacturer didn't really come up with a replacement. Of course, there are the AirPods, because Apple likes to sell its products. But if you don't necessarily want white earbuds, regardless of the sound quality, you just had to reach for the dongle. Stupid.
HTC provides the alternative right away. And the reason why the headphone jack is actually in a pretty good place. Because USB-C technology enables bidirectional data exchange. This means that data can not only flow from the phone to the handset, but also from the handset to the phone. Doesn't sound all that exciting, but HTC is demonstrating what this could look like in the future.
When you plug in the supplied, rather cheap-feeling headphones for the first time, a dialogue pops up. This dialogue is there to adjust the sound to your ear. The dialogue explains quite superficially that it plays you a sound and uses it to create an echo in your ear. Based on this, the phone then adjusts how the sound should sound best. Of course, you can make your own adjustments and move the equaliser controls, but the sound from the automatically set headphones is awesome.
The bass is wonderfully deep. The treble is clear and thanks to noise cancelling, I no longer have to turn up the music on the tram to what feels like 400 decibels so that I don't hear the screaming child, which is now apparently standard equipment on every tram. If the screaming child isn't there, it's the obligatory loud phone caller.
The noise cancelling cannot compete with that of over-ear headphones. It is absolutely sufficient. In general, I am convinced that the technology in HTC's grey headphones is still a long way from being fully developed. I can hardly wait until headphone manufacturers like Marshall or Bose or Sennheiser jump on the bandwagon. Because I suspect that there is still a lot to be gained.
The difference is massive. Really. I wouldn't have expected that. The included headphones leave many higher-quality competitors' headphones eating dust. The sound really is so much better.
If you don't like the USB-C jack at all, HTC supplies a dongle with it.
Speaking of sound: I've noticed that the U11 has a good grip in the hand, but then tends to become unstable when you place it on a smooth surface. I noticed this when I was cleaning the bathroom and placed the smartphone on the washbasin to listen to background music. Two minutes later, it was in the sink, which was fortunately empty. The U11 is waterproof to IP67, which means it should survive a metre under water for thirty minutes, but I'm still glad that the sink was empty. HTC does supply a case that is less slippery, but I wonder: if HTC knew that their phone could slip and needed a case, why didn't they go back over the books and redesign the back of the phone?
The top-rated camera
So the innovation is over, even if the HTC marketing machinery probably has umpteen other innovative points. Perhaps even "synergies" in the "workflow". One of the advertised innovations is the camera, which according to the manufacturer is better than anything that has gone before. This is not innovation, but an upgrade. A massive upgrade, because the camera takes really great pictures.
I'm not the only one who feels this way, as the experts at DxOmark also give the HTC U11's camera almost full marks. The camera only loses points for fine details in video recording.
The HTC U11 has the best mobile phone camera that we have tested to date. - David Cardinal, editor DxOMark
The video effects "Slow Motion" and "Hyperlapse", i.e. super-fast and super-slow recordings, are also permanently installed. Although this is fun for a short time, I somehow missed the use case for hyperlapse during an extended trip through the city of Zurich. Gimmicky, yes, really useful, well. Or maybe they are useful and I just haven't discovered the use case yet. If you know what I can use them all for, let me know in the comments.
However, I did notice one thing that really spoilt my fun with the camera in the sun. I wear polarised sunglasses because I have sensitive eyes. If I hold the mobile in portrait mode, it's no problem, but the screen goes dark as soon as I switch to landscape mode. At first I thought I was crazy or the camera was up to some kind of mischief, but this is a fault - or perhaps a feature? - of the screen.
The HTC U11 is a phone that is definitely worth a look or two. Because devices that really come up with something new and do it well are rare. The U11 is not only a powerful phone, but also shows that the Android platform has not yet reached its performance limits or the limits of boredom. There is still room for tinkering, inventing and experimenting, even if many manufacturers still lack the courage to do so.
I don't begrudge HTC its success with the U11, because it is well deserved.
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