HTC’s New Flagships U Ultra and Play Have Arrived
HTC’s recent flagships have struggled to stand out in a market ruled by iPhones and Samsung Galaxies. HTC’s has officially launched its latest smartphone duo – the HTC U Ultra and HTC U Play in Malaysia. These phones were announced a month ago. The HTC U series is trying to stand out with a 4-way 3D glass back which gives it a distinctive look in various lighting conditions. HTC has come up with HTC Sense companion that tries to learn from you through continuous machine learning.
Similar Designs.
The HTC U Ultra and U Play both feature similar designs with a 3D contoured reflective liquid surface with a curved glass construction coloured with layered materials. There is a capacitive button that has a fingerprint sensor on the front of each device. The volume buttons and HTC’s signature ridged power buttons are to be found on the right and USB Type-C at the bottom. The U Ultra has a square rear camera lens, while the U Play has a circular rear lens. Both the lens offer different flash setups.
Gorilla Glass 5.
The HTC U Ultra comes with a 5.7-inch main display and a 2.1-inch secondary display. It allows users to see information such as notifications and the weather without powering on the main display. The main display has a 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution. The displays are either protected by Gorilla Glass 5 or a special edition Sapphire Glass. In comparison to that U Play has a smaller 5.2-inch display with a Full HD resolution. Dual Display function is not for U play and its lower resolution means it offers a softer display with a 423ppi pixel density. It too is protected by Gorilla Glass.
16 Megapixel Front Facing A Camera.
Both HTC U Ultra and U Play feature a 16-megapixel front-facing BSI sensor with an UltraPixel mode, 28mm focal length and f/2.0 aperture. They are both capable of Full HD video recording. They offer modes such as Auto HDR, Voice Selfie and Live Make-Up. The U Ultra has a 12-megapixel UltraPixel sensor featuring 1.55µm pixels and an aperture of f/1.8. The phone features a dual-tone LED flash, OIS, laser autofocus and phase detection autofocus. It also offers 4K video recording with 3D Audio. On the other hand, U Play has a 16-megapixel rear camera with an aperture of f/2.0, phase detection autofocus and OIS. It has a dual-tone LED flash but is only capable of Full HD video recording.
Storage Capacity.
The HTC U Ultra comes with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 chip, paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal memory. MicroSD expansion is available with support up to 2TB. The U Play has the MediaTek Helio P10 processor. That is supported by 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage or 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, but that depends on the region. MicroSD storage expansion is also there, with the same support for up to 2TB and adaptable storage feature.
Battery Life.
The U Ultra has a larger and better battery capacity of 3000mAh, compared to 2500mAh. It also offers better audio capabilities. The U Play possesses dual microphones with noise cancellation, along with HTC USonic. On the other hand, the U Ultra has four microphones for 3D Audio, USonic, BoomSound Hi-Fi edition and it is Hi-Res audio certified.
Final Word.
The HTC U Ultra and U Play look pretty similar but they are very different beneath their surfaces. The U Ultra is a more powerful device, and it also offers better rear camera and audio capabilities, along with a larger and sharper display, secondary display, larger battery and more. The U Play still offers the same software experience and an identical front-facing camera to the U Ultra, as well as a similar design.
Dhruvil is a Writer & Marketeer for Nimblechapps, joined in December 2014, based out of Sydney, Australia. He has worked briefly as a Branding and Digital Marketing Manager before moving to Australia. At Nimblechapps, he worked on Social Media Marketing, Branding, Email Marketing and Blogging. Dhruvil studies Business at University of Western Sydney, and also handles Operations for the company in Australia.