HTC is not a company afraid to try new issues. In the last few years several of these haven’t panned out too smartly, like the HTC U Extremely‘s 2nd touchscreen, but the HTC U11 Life is a phone with an idea we are able to take pleasure in straight away.
It Can Be a mid-range telephone with an available price that makes use of Google’s new Android One program. This Implies you get a virtually untouched version of Android, with the aim of getting so much faster updates than Other mobiles. That’s, except you’re in the united states, in which case you get HTC’s Experience skin on prime.
There are striking shortfalls to compare the reduce-down price ticket, like Negative low mild Picture high quality, somewhat susceptible audio system and a physique fabricated from plastic. But It Surely’s an outstanding choice for these on a mid-size finances.

HTC U11 Lifestyles worth and availability

The HTC U11 Existence prices $349/£349 (around AU$460), half the cost of top-end choices and a lot lower than the whole-fats HTC U11.
It sees it rub shoulders with the likes of the Honor 9, Moto X4, Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact and Samsung Galaxy A5. These are some seriously robust mid-vary contenders which ensure that the U11 Existence won’t have a very easy ride.

Key features

  • Power-sensitive facets assist it stand out
  • Sensible compromises other than the battery
There are two major the right way to view the HTC U11 Life. It Is a much cheaper alternative to the unique HTC U11 that will get you a roughly an identical expertise, with some parts reduce down to lower prices.
It’s Also an Android One phone in most regions, that means it makes use of the standard Android interface, making it just a little like a Google Pixel cellphone now not made through Google.
Core components it inherits from its bigger, more expensive brother embody a vibrant, curved rear and Power-delicate sides that permit gestures no longer considered in Different telephones.
That Is HTC’s try to stand out. It may not change how you utilize a telephone, however HTC has made it customizable enough to Permit You To dig deep and make the feature your personal.
Value compromises are, for essentially the most part, now not too evident. The Reveal is 1080p Somewhat than Extremely-high decision, and the HTC U11 Lifestyles’s chipset is a mid-vary Snapdragon 630 Slightly than a high-tier chipset. Major growth within the pics chip method it performs well in Actual Life, though.
As is common among mid-vary telephones, the Digicam cannot relatively compete with one of the best in all situations. Nice Picture processing makes day-lit Pictures steadily Look fantastic, But It Surely falters at Evening and Positive detail is not as sharp or clear as that of a higher-quality, decrease-decision sensor.
The build isn’t quite on-par with the HTC U11 either. That phone has a pitcher Again, the U11 Existence an acrylic/plastic one. The Biggest difference in feel is that Whereas glass is cold to the touch when There Is the slightest chill within the air, plastic isn’t.
You’ll Have To come to a decision whether or not that matters to you or now not.
After using the cellphone for a while the only compromise that we predict might annoy some is battery Lifestyles. Whereas no longer flat-out Negative, the Moto X4 and Honor 9 last longer between expenses. The HTC U11 Life’s 2,600mAh battery shouldn’t be all that enormous.

Design

  • Clean plastic/acrylic Back
  • Fingerprint scanner
  • Squeezable Force-delicate aspects
From arm’s length the HTC U11 Existence appears loads like the normal U11, which is a costlier telephone. The Again is curved and shiny, reacting to gentle as if the stuff will get it excited.
Alternatively, the HTC U11 Existence’s Back is fabricated from “acrylic glass” Relatively than precise glass. And what’s acrylic glass? Plastic.
There Is not one of the cool hardness that comes with metallic or glass, and consequently the HTC U11 Existence does now not feel particularly dear. The Moto G5S Plus, Moto X4 and Honor 9 all feel extra impressive.
The HTC U11 Life’s construct is agreeable sufficient, although. HTC has made certain there are no exhausting, flat surfaces. Everything is Clean and curvy, Whereas the Ultra-available 5.2-inch Monitor welcomes palms of all sizes.
This Is Not, However, some of the new breed of phones with an Extremely-slim Reveal surround. There are a couple of blank millimeters to every facet, and about an inch above and beneath the Display.
It appears petty to make too much of an issue of this presently, although, when the trend is best creating, now not slightly the norm but. Let your eyes decide whether you are or now not.
Other parts of the HTC U11 Life hardware are sound too. The cellphone has IP67 water resistance, meaning It May Possibly take being submerged, and there’s a Just Right fingerprint scanner on the entrance.
Some variations of the HTC U11 Lifestyles have an ideal 64GB storage too. Ours has “simply” 32GB, but purchase from HTC and you get 64GB. Ours is the european edition, the place the usa and UK get the 4GB RAM/64GB model.
The hardware characteristic that sets the HTC U11 Existence apart, though, is Part Experience. This uses Pressure sensors on the perimeters of the cellphone to enable gestures when those sides are squeezed. As usual, a handy guide a rough squeeze launches the Digicam and a long one fires-up the Google digital assistant.
Then Again, Edge Sense can also be custom-made too. It Could Actually zoom in Google Maps or Google Photos, snooze alarms, or resolution calls. These are sensibly disabled as usual as a result of HTC does not need you to accidentally hearth off these options and start pondering your phone is haunted.
Which You Could even create your personal macros by way of going into an app and “recording” commands. We doubt whether many HTC U11 Existence patrons will put the trouble in, but HTC is evidently making an attempt hard to squeeze essentially the most out of Side Experience.
HTC introduced Facet Sense with the U11: It Can Be not an old characteristic.
One omission could kill the enchantment of the HTC U11 Life for some of you, though. It does not have a headphone jack, just a USB-C port. An Inexpensive pair of USB-C earphones is included, however There Isn’t Any Three.5mm adaptor.

Display

  • 5.2-inch Full HD LCD Reveal
  • Excellent picture quality
The HTC U11 Life has a smaller, lower-resolution Screen than the U11. However, It’s a punchy show that, in most conditions, would not Look a lot worse than any phone out there.
It Can Be a 5.2-inch 1080 x 1920 Tremendous LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY. There May Be not too much brightness loss at an attitude, and shade is smartly-saturated without taking a look overdone. The image also appears very with regards to the highest surface, a sign of a complicated Tremendous-skinny Monitor architecture.
You Have To take the HTC U11 Life right into a extra extreme atmosphere to look its limits. We’re not speaking Endure Grylls fodder, just that you’ll see very somewhat raised blacks in a darkened room, and the brightness is vivid however no longer reasonably the A Thousand nits of the brightest. That said, we took the phone out on a moderately vibrant day and the Reveal was once still certainly visible.
HTC’s web page claims There Is a characteristic that permits you to customize the display coloration profile, But It’s not within the tool of our model.

Battery Life

  • Mediocre stamina on this category
  • 2,600mAh cell
  • USB-C Charging
The HTC U11 Lifestyles has a 2,600mAh battery, smaller than those of the Moto G5S Plus, the Honor 9 or the Moto X4.
Due To the vitality improvements of the Snapdragon 630 chipset, stamina is with regards to suited. On The Other Hand, on busier cellphone days when we’ve streamed just a few hours of podcasts over 4G, the HTC U11 Existence needed a high up hours before bed time.
If you need a phone that lasts through a day (nearly) no matter what you topic it to, the HTC U11 Existence is not your best option.
Results In our universal battery benchmark had been Terrible too. A Ninety-minute video performed at most brightness takes 35% off the battery stage. The Moto X4 misplaced simply 10%.

Digicam

  • Superb HDR processing
  • Superb detail often appears to be like mushy shut-up
  • Bad low mild image high quality
The HTC U11 Lifestyles is among the perfect arguments for computational photography you can find. In sure conditions the results It Could pull out of what seems to be a somewhat unremarkable sensor are, smartly, exceptional.
Its dynamic range optimization is every now and then staggeringly Just Right, with shadow detail when taking pictures proper into the solar similar to what it’s possible you’ll see in pictures excited by an APS-C Digicam. For the non images nerds in the market, This Is roughly sensor utilized by compact gadget and DSLR cameras that Cost up to $A Thousand/£A Thousand.
That Is right down to a merging of a few exposures with near to each shot you take. For sundown Pictures and nature photographs where the solar is peeking out behind a tree, This Is an unbelievable benefit. Dynamic range is steadily comparable with that of the very best telephone cameras available presently. It’s Instagram-tastic.
Seem To Be a little closer and you can find some of the obstacles of the hardware, though. The HTC U11 Lifestyles has a 16MP sensor, and While HTC hasn’t introduced the exact sensor used, It Can Be virtually surely one with smaller sensor pixels.
Up shut, Tremendous small print have a lot much less integrity than those of the very best 12MP sensors. At pixel level photography Seem concurrently smooth and a little bit noisy, even in sunlight hours.
So While the resolution is excessive, decrease-res cameras can actually reproduce a lot better, cleaner detail. Like Different cameras struggling in opposition to the bounds of the hardware, the HTC U11 Existence tends to struggle with very vivid purple tones as smartly.
Night Picture quality can be Poor. There Is No optical picture stabilization to allow slower exposures, and consequently High-quality detail disappears totally. It Is A Nice Digital Camera for tough sunlight hours conditions (as long as you don’t zoom in), but a Poor one at Evening.
The HTC U11 Existence also lacks a heritage blur portrait mode, which is usually, however now not at all times, constrained to telephones with dual rear cameras. You do get a pro mode, which saves DNG (UNCOOKED) files as an alternative of JPGs, but such a mode shines with a Camera with a extra versatile sensor and stabilized lens.
On the entrance, the 8MP selfie Digicam is nothing different both. Again, Effective element seems delicate.
Video capture goes as much as 4K decision for the rear Digicam, although, and there’s a 120fps gradual movement mode.

Interface and reliability

  • Android 8.0 in a principally pure kind
  • More Likely To receive advised updates
  • HTC’s modifications are minimal and subtle
The HTC U11 Existence runs Android 8.Zero and is without doubt one of the first phones to be a part of the Android One program. This Means it makes use of the usual Android interface Somewhat than HTC Feel, the custom Look viewed in the unique HTC U11 and most Other HTC telephones.
Or at least, it does in lots of the world. Then Again, US consumers will get the usual HTC overlay.
Android One isn’t any dangerous factor. Google’s interface is clean, horny and intuitive. As An Instance, you merely flick up anywhere on the home Monitor to convey up the vertical apps menu. It responds to the speed of the gesture too, giving it a more fluid feel than most rival interfaces.
There are nonetheless the acquainted Android mushy keys too. Little light-up Again and Up To Date Apps icons seem to each and every aspect of the fingerprint scanner whenever the HTC U11 Lifestyles is in use.
Should You’ve no longer used Android 8.Zero yet, you’ll be able to also notice the little dots by using probably the most icons. This Implies there are notifications pending for that app, and one can find them via long-urgent the icon, in addition to dragging down the notification bar.

Motion Pictures, Track and gaming

  • Great gaming Efficiency
  • No headphone jack
  • Competitors have higher audio system
There are no further apps to get to your nerves within the HTC U11 Existence. Even extra features like Side Sense are built into the Settings menu Somewhat than cluttering up your apps menu.
This leaves you with Play Music for tunes and Play Films for video. These are Nice apps that Can Help You play your individual information as well as streaming or buying titles from Google’s library. Naturally, Google would Quite you do the latter and this plays out of their layouts.
It Is the hardware side that involves outline, and limit, the HTC U11 Existence’s media cred. First, There Is No headphone jack. This Means you (more than likely) can not plug-to your favorite headphones without an adaptor and cannot charge the battery and use headphones on the related time. Once More, except you’ve a different adaptor.
The earphones that come in the field are on-par with a good funds pair of in-ears, and will do the job when you are not too picky about sound quality. They Can even be customized-tuned to your hearing and have noise cancellation. Both of those use a mic within the earphones.
This tuning makes the sound more energetic but in addition a bit of extra aggressive, highlighting the shortage of finesse of the drivers. The noise cancelling is nowhere close to as effective as nearly any pair of lively noise cancellation earphones either.
Testing them out on the road, they do appear to cut back the rustle of cable noise a bit, but don’t significantly scale back visitors noise.
Do Not Get too occupied with the bundled earphones.
The HTC U11 Existence’s speaker isn’t absolute best-in-category both. Max volume is decrease than that of the Moto G5S Plus or Honor 9, and there is a little much less energy to the lower frequencies.
It’s still a helpful little speaker, though, with sound high quality Good sufficient for podcasts and the ordinary emergency Song responsibility. It sits on the bottom Area, so There’s No stereo impact when you play a sport.
Normal gaming Efficiency is superb, particularly given the HTC U11 Life uses a mid-vary CPU. Body rates in high-finish games like Real Racing 3, Asphalt 8 and Lifeless Set Off 2 are all very Easy, closer to the Efficiency we expect from a true high-finish phone.

Performance and benchmarks

  • Mid-range CPU does a great job
  • Snapdragon 630 CPU
  • Newly-upgraded pix chipset
The HTC U11 Existence has a Snapdragon 630 chipset. In Geekbench Four, its scores are similar to these of its predecessor, the Snapdragon 625, with 4,125 points on this case. Alternatively, there are some extraordinary improvements.
First, and this explains the great gaming Performance, Qualcomm has significantly more desirable the portraits chipset. The Adreno 508 is clocked at 850MHz, up from 650MHz in the Snapdragon 625.
It additionally has a quicker 4G modem, and techniques its processor cores differently. Like the other 6-series Snapdragon CPUs, all of the cores are Cortex-A53s (a basic “price range” core), but Qualcomm has moved to the usage of 4 lower-clocked ones and 4 sooner Efficiency ones. Slightly than eight at the related velocity.
The purpose is to support battery Lifestyles with out compromising Performance.

Verdict

The HTC U11 Existence is a good telephone in lots of respects. Monitor, software, and day-to-day Performance are all grumble-free, and Whereas the squeezable facets is probably not a revelation they’re almost radically customizable. And due to this fact about as useful as is at present possible.
Battery Lifestyles is just okay, and, like an excessive amount of mid-range telephones, the Camera is not Great at Night Time. Alternatively, the HTC U11 Life is relaxing to make use of and represents Good, if now not really disruptive, worth.
As the associated fee of high-end telephones spirals around, and above, $A Thousand/£A Thousand, our appreciation for phones at costs customary people can abdomen handiest grows.