HTC U11 ‘Squeezable Smartphone’ to Launch in India Today

HTC is all set to launch the HTC U11 in India today. The smartphone’s big attraction is its Edge Sense feature that promises to bring a complete new way of interacting with the device, making it ’squeezable’. The HTC U11 will be launched at an event in New Delhi, where the price in India and availability information will be revealed.

The HTC U11 smartphone was launched in Taiwan last month. To recall, price of the HTC U11 starts at EUR 749 (roughly Rs. 53,000) for Europe, and in the US it’s at $749 (roughly Rs. 48,000). A recent leak claims that India will get the 6GB RAM and 128GB storage variant of the HTC U11.

HTC U11 specifications

HTC U11 runs on Android 7.1 Nougat with the company's HTC Sense skin on top, and it comes with support for dual-SIM cards (Nano-SIM). It features a 5.5-inch Quad HD (1440x2560 pixels) Super LCD display with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 The HTC U11 is powered by a 2.45GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC. There are two storage and memory variant - 4GB RAM/ 64GB storage and 6GB RAM/ 128GB storage. Only the latter variant is tipped to be coming to India, though we will know for sure only after the launch event. The HTC U11 also offers storage expansion via a microSD card slot (up to 2TB).

As for optics, the HTC U11 sports a 12-megapixel camera with 1.4-micron pixel, ultra spread autofocus, BSI sensor, OIS, f/1.7 aperture, dual-LED flash, slow-motion, and 4K video recording. Camera features include Face Detection, Pro mode with manual control, 32-second long exposure, and RAW format support, HDR Boost, Panorama, and Hyperlapse. The HTC U11 has a 16-megapixel front camera with BSI sensor, full-HD recording. Front camera features include live make-up, auto selfie, voice selfie, HDR Boost, and Selfie Panorama. The HTC U11 packs a 3000mAh battery that is rated to offer up to 24.5 hours of talk time, and 14 days of standby time. There's also an extreme power saving mode, and Quick Charge 3.0 support. Connectivity options include GPS/ A-GPS, GLONASS, USB 3.1 Type-C port, Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4GHz & 5GHz), and NFC support.

The HTC U11 also sports IP67 water and dust resistance and is Hi-Res audio certified. The fingerprint scanner is housed underneath the Home Button in the front. With respect to design, HTC U11 retains the U Ultra's design language and sports 3D glass both on the front and back of the device. The device has no 3.5mm audio jack, just like the HTC U Ultra, and the company is bundling a 3.5mm audio jack to USB Type-C adapter.

HTC U11 Edge Sense feature

The highlight of the HTC U11 is the Edge Sense feature, which lets you launch the camera, and send texts by squeezing the metal edges of the smartphone. You can customise the squeeze gesture to open email, and even launch your favourite app or game. When users activate advanced touch mode, they can use a "short squeeze" as well as a "squeeze and hold" for even more functionality at your fingertips. The HTC U11 squeeze feature works while wearing gloves as well, as Edge Sense is based on actual pressure applied to the side of the device.