latest
Every few weeks, HTC does a big sale on its devices and now's the time for another one. HTC is celebrating 10:08, the default time on its devices' press images by discounting some of its phones and giving away some free gear. The offers last until October 8, or 10/08.
Google has made Android 8.0 Oreo official, and some Pixel and Nexus phones have already gotten the OTA. So, the time has come for OEMs to make vague promises about updating their existing hardware to Android 8.0. First up is HTC, which has said on Twitter the Android 8.0 update is coming to the HTC U11, HTC U Ultra, and HTC 10.
One of the biggest criticisms about HTC smartphones as of late has been about their prices. For instance, $749 is kind of a lot for a U Ultra when you can get a Galaxy S8 for less. But with HTC's Summer Sunset Sale, you can chop a couple hundred bucks off the MSRPs of the U Ultra, the 10, the Under Armour HealthBox, and more.
The U Ultra is HTC's first flagship phone for 2017, and it didn't get great reviews. It's expensive, has poor battery life, lacks waterproofing and a headphone jack, and the US model only supports GSM networks. If you really wanted one for some reason, the U Ultra is now $150 off at HTC's website, along with several other phones.
Despite its great looks, the HTC U Ultra wasn't very well received by the press. In his review of the U Ultra, David absolutely ripped the phone apart, saying that it's unclear why the phone exists at all, and that HTC should go back to the drawing board. One of David's complaints about the phone was how easily the display scratched. In his latest video, JerryRigEverything proves that there's a lot more wrong with the phone's durability than that.
I've been using the HTC U Ultra for a little over a full week now. It's the latest "flagship" (I know, that word) from HTC, and the specifications generally would support such a classification. A Snapdragon 821 processor, 5.7" Quad HD LCD display, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, f/1.8 rear camera, UltraPixel front camera, and USB Type C with Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 round out the major talking points. The price tag, too, says "top of the line": you'll pay $749 for the privilege of owning a U Ultra here in the US, and that doesn't even mean four-carrier support - you're stuck on GSM networks only.
We already covered the TWRP 3.1.0 update, which brings several new features and bug fixes to the massively-popular custom recovery. TWRP is also expanding official support to several new devices, including the HTC U Ultra and Xiaomi Mi Max.
We got our first look at the HTC U Ultra back in January, but it has only been (officially) available in Europe until now. If you've been waiting to purchase one on this side of the Atlantic Ocean, you're in luck - the unlocked U Ultra is now available from HTC's US website.
The U Ultra is HTC's latest attempt to get back on track, and it's shipping soon. How soon? March 10th. The pre-order page now lists that as the shipping date, whereas previously it only said "mid-March." The U Ultra could be reaching doorsteps by early next week.
Last week at CES, I had a chance to spend some time with the new phones from HTC, the U Play and U Ultra. You already know the details on these phones (check out our post here), so I'm more interested in the question of what, if anything, makes them worthy of your attention.
HTC has been lagging behind its competitors for years, despite some fantastic hardware and critical acclaim. So for 2017 the company is going in a completely new design direction, dumping the aluminum unibody phones it's become known for and shifting to a more generic glass front and back. The first products displaying this new direction are the HTC U Ultra, the new flagship phone, and the U Play, a mid-range model. They'll both go on sale later this year.