U Ultra, U Play quick review: HTC's new phones are a whole new level of shiny - India Today

"It has taken us almost two years to design the U Ultra. It is probably the best phone that we've designed so far," is what Faisal Siddiqui who is president of HTC South Asia told me about the company's first major smartphone of 2017.

Come to think of it, it isn't all that surprising. The U Ultra and the U Play launched alongside are, after all, pretty unique smartphones vis-a-vis design. It must have taken HTC a great deal of effort to come up with something like it. Both the phones are carved out of highly polished glass -- Corning's new Gorilla Glass 5 in the U Ultra and an unspecified older-gen Gorilla Glass in the U Play -- that reflects light differently when viewed at different angles. The outer frame is, meanwhile, carved out of metal. A glass-and-steel sandwich design may not be a new concept, but, there's a certain bit of originality about the U Ultra (and the U Play) that only a certain HTC could have conjured. The same is true about its ch oice of colours.

Also Read: HTC U Play, U Ultra phones launched in India starting at Rs 39,990

While the U Ultra will be available in Brilliant Black, Cosmetic Pink and Sapphire Blue options, the U Play will be available in Iceberg White, Indigo Blue, Black Oil and Cosmic Pink Gold. The U Ultra, just so you know, is one trippy smartphone, especially in blue. The U Play, I'd say, is a lot more sober. There's a 'huge' price difference between the U Ultra and its palm-sized sibling, the U play, and yet HTC has incorporated pretty much the same level of detailing in both the phones, down to the T. Again, something that only a certain HTC could have conjur ed.

There are, of course, certain disadvantages of having an all-glass design. Even more so in the case of the U Ultra and the U Play, because well, HTC's new phones are a whole new level of shiny. For one, they are super glossy and accumulate fingerprints by the millisecond. Secondly, they are super slippery. And last but not the least; they don't look like they could take a beating. Then again, HTC has a solution for all these problems. Both the phones ship with a transparent back cover in the box to begin with. Both the phones also come with a one-year insurance that covers liquid damage and any physical damage to the phones. Note that c ompanies like Apple do not cover liquid damage even for a water-resistant phone like the iPhone 7. If only the U Ultra was (also) water-resistant. Sigh!

Let's just leave nit-pickings for another day for now; for HTC's new phones have plenty of tricks up their sleeve to keep you coming back for more, at least on paper. Both the phones, come with HTC's Sense Companion AI which "isn't only about machine learning, but also an extension of you, the user," according to the company.

The Sense Companion "can suggest that you dress warmer and leave a little earlier for work if snow is forecast; remind you to take a power bank on longer trips; and even recommend a restaurant when you're away for the weekend and then book seats for you2. Best of all, it's made to evolve and get to know you better over time," HTC adds.

There is, however, a catch. The feature isn't available for now. "It will be available for download very soon via a system update. We are still tweaking an d fine-tuning it. We are trying to get it out as quickly as possible," Faisal Siddiqui confirmed.

Since HTC did not have even one single demo unit running Sense Companion (beta) at the launch event in the national capital, anything and everything that it can do (in future) cannot be independently confirmed for now.

A glass-and-steel sandwich design may not be a new concept, but, there's a certain bit of originality about the U Ultra (and the U Play) that only a certain HTC could have conjured. The same is true about its choice of colours

"The U Ultra (and U Play) is an amalgamation of Google Assistant and Sense Companion. It is different (and in a way better than the Google Assistant on-board the Pixel phone) because it's not just about AI. The Google Assistant is essentially cloud behaviour. Here, the phone is learning from your unique personal behaviour. The experience is m uch more personalised as opposed to learning from an aggregate behaviour in the cloud," Faisal explained.   

To make the phones more AI-friendly, HTC has incorporated four always-on low-power microphones inside them, so they can respond to every command (as also to record 3D audio while shooting videos). Both the phones also come with a biometric voice unlock and control mechanism so users can securely unlock their phone without even interacting with it.   

The U Ultra, in addition, comes with a secondary ticker display -- much like the one on-board the LG V10 and V20 -- above the main screen that's also a window to the Sense Companion, according to the company. It is capable of prioritising your top contacts, app shortcuts, event notifications and more that will then be delivered to you in a discreet manner without lighting the screen and also the technology inside will be able to learn (and evolve) with time, claims HTC. Then again, since HTC did not have e ven one single demo unit running Sense Companion (beta) at the launch event, anything and everything that it can do (in future) cannot be independently confirmed for now.

"The second screen is not just a gimmick. This is not a screen that's just about notifications. As we roll out the AI, the real ability of the second screen would be more obvious. Right now you can do only a few things on it," Faisal reiterated.

While I cannot independently confirm the usefulness of Sense Companion, there's something that I can, confirm. The U Ultra and the U Play are capable of churning out fabulous audio, over headphones. Both the phones come with a sonar-based audio system, called U-Sonic (because, BoomSound was apparently in dire need of a paint job) over headphones, that is claimed to deliver true(r) sound that is also capable of adapting to the user. There is, however, a catch. Both the phones come without a standard 3.5mm audio jack and instead have (only) a single USB Ty pe-C out for charging, data syncing and high-res audio out. The technology, also, works only with compatible USB-C headphones. No strike that. The technology, also, works only with compatible USB-C headphones that HTC ships in the box. You can blame Apple all you want for it, but, I like to call it the LeEco syndrome.

"U-Sonic creates a profile for you and then scans both your ears. There is a difference in frequency between the two ears. Our technology sends sonar waves into your eardrum and based on that it then normalises the frequency. So you actually hear the music the way it's supposed to sound. Moreover, a mic on-board the ear-buds constantly listens to the ambient noise available and then increases or decreases the output volume accordingly. This exchange of data back and forth with the phone cannot be done via a 3.5mm jack," Faisal explained.

"U-Sonic will be useless without proprietary headphones," he added.

Well at least HTC has a method (more than just courage) to its madness. The U Ultra, in addition, also supports BoomSound Hi-Fi sound technology via a mono speaker out located on the lower edge of the phone.

Moving on, the HTC U Ultra has a gorgeous 5.7-inch 2K Super LCD 5 screen while its secondary display has a 160x1040 resolution. The phone is powered by a 2.15GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor clubbed with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal memory which is further expandable by up to 2TB via a hybrid microSD card slot. The dual-SIM phone runs Android 7.0 Nougat-based Sense UI. The Ultra further sports a 12-megapixel (UltraPixel) rear camera with f/1.8 aperture, OIS, PDAF and a dual-tone flash along with a 16-megapixel front-facing camera. It is backed by a 3,000mAh battery and supports Quick Charge 3.0.

The Play, meanwhile, comes with a 5.2-inch 1080p display and is powered by a 2GHz octa-core MediaTek Helio P10 processor clubbed with 4GB RAM and 64GB of internal memory with support for expa ndable storage. The dual-SIM phone runs Android Marshmallow-based Sense UI. It further sports a 16-megapixel rear camera with f/2.0 aperture, OIS, PDAF and a dual-tone flash along with a 16-megapixel front-facing camera. The phone is backed by a 2,500mAh battery and includes a 5V/2A charger in the box.

HTC's new U Ultra and U Play are super-shiny phones with great emphasis on AI and audio tech. HTC has built a reputation for itself in design and audio over the years. The U Ultra and U Play are no different. While the U Ultra is a high-end phone with high-end specs and premium pricing, the U Play is a relatively affordable phone with mid-tier specs. While the U Ultra has been priced at Rs 59,990, the U Play will cost buyers Rs 39,990. You can say that they are (very) expensive, and you're absolutely right.

"We need to make sure that we are competitive (in pricing) with our primary competition which is the other multinationals who have been in the business (along with us) for a while. We are perceived at that level. We compare our pricing with them. We don't compare our pricing with the mass-market products," says camp HTC. Even HTC isn't entirely wrong here because it is, after all, a legacy brand.

Also Read: HTC U Ultra, U Play: Full specifications, top features, India price & everything you need to know

Problem is the U Ultra and the U Play will be available in the Indian market from March 6 and mid-March respectively. At a time when companies like LG would have launched their next flagship phone, aka the G6. At a time when companies like Samsung would have given the world a glimpse into their next flagship phone, aka the Galaxy S8. At a time when companies like Nokia and BlackBerry would have announced their comeback. Not to mention, even Sony would have something interesting to say at MWC.

The fact that the biggest killer feature of HTC's U Ultra and U Play isn't available at launch doesn't help its case either. And oh, even Apple is (still) criticised for killing the audio jack. Just saying!