HTC U Ultra, U Play, X10 Expected Tipped to Be Unveiled on January 12; Vive-Branded Phone Leaked in Promo Video

HTC decided to host its dedicated 'For U' event after CES 2017 on January 12, where it is expected to unveil three smartphones. The company is tipped to flag off its 'U' series and launch its flagship HTC Ocean Note aka HTC U Ultra at the event, alongside two other mid-range smartphones.

The other two smartphones are tipped to be the HTC Alpine and HTC One X10 aka HTC X10. Onleaks claims that the HTC Alpine is actually the HTC U Play, and it is essentially the smaller variant of the HTC U Ultra - expected to boast a 6-inch display. The HTC U Play may sport a smaller 5.2-inch display, and is tipped to be devoid of the 3.5mm audio jack as well.

The third handset is the HTC One X10 smartphone. The successor of the HTC One X9 will sport a 5.5-inch full-HD display and an MediaTek octa-core processor. Both the HTC U Play and HTC One X10 are expected to be shipped in the first quarter.

Evan Blass aka @evleaks has also separately leaked two videos, one that shows off the HTC Ocean, and one that shows off a new Vive-branded smartphone. The HTC Ocean video shows off a new edge-controlled interface, where a tiny scroller function resides at the side giving the user many shortcuts just at the flick of a thumb. However, the tipster notes that this is just a concept video made by one of the designers and not the official Ocean promo video. This means the feature could just be plain fiction, and may never be introduced on the actual device.

Furthermore, he also leaked a separate video that shows off HTC's roadmap ahead. The company looks to focus more on design and creative cases (made out of cloth and even different colour patterns), and hints at a new 'Vive' branded series that could provide just that. The tipster has also released an image of the Vive smartphone which has the camera in the middle, synonymous to HTC phones, but antenna bands spread on all four sides. It remains uncertain whether the new Vive phone will be released alongside the new 'U' series at the January 12 event or not.

We already know that the flagship HTC Ocean Note aka HTC U Ultra will be a slim metal device with round edges, and a top-of-the-line camera. A past leak suggests that the HTC U Ultra camera is set to receive the highest ranking from DxOMark, beating the current topper Google Pixel. It may come with a curved display, and support Adaptive Audio technology that automatically adjusts the volume of the speaker based on ambient noise.