HTC U11 Life and U11 Plus: Two successful successors
from David Haydl 
on November 03, 2017, 16:04 p.m. | Write a comment
Other manufacturers like Sony seem to be releasing a new smartphone every week, while companies like HTC take a little more time. Nevertheless, they have now presented the successors for the U11, the U11 Life and the U11 Plus. And both of them are pretty good.
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Housing
Let's start with the U11 Life. This consists of acrylic glass, also known as plastic. Under this plastic layer is the liquid surface, which consists of several layers of paint. Similar to the normal U11, this enables different color effects on the back, depending on how you hold the smartphone up to the light. The frame is pressure-sensitive again, which means that Edge Sense is back on board and the entire device is splash-proof according to IP67. All in all, the case is very similar to the U11 that is already available.
Things are a bit different with the U11 Plus. As with its predecessor, HTC opted for glass when choosing the material for the case. In the case of the Transluent Black color variant, this is even a bit transparent. Overall, the device was also a bit more angular than the U11. As with the U11 Life, you also get the Edge Sense feature here. However, there is a little extra here that HTC has named Edge Launcher. This is a small turning wheel that appears on the screen as soon as you press Edge Sense. There you can then add a total of 24 apps that you can start quickly from there. According to HTC, this feature should improve one-handed operation. Incidentally, the HTC U11 Plus is completely waterproof according to IP68.
Displays
Next, let's take a look at the fronts and the displays. Here, too, the two new devices differ a little. The HTC U11 Life has the same display as the normal U11. This means that it is a 5,2 inch LCD panel and was built in 16: 9 format. The resolution is full HD. Because the display was built in 16: 9 format, there was still space under the display for a home button with fingerprint sensor and two touch-sensitive buttons.
The display of the U11 Plus is 5,2 inches instead of 6 inches. In addition, it is no longer installed in 16: 9 format, but in 2: 1. As a result, the display bezels are much smaller, which is why the fingerprint sensor is on the back and navigation works via on-screen buttons. The IPS panel has a QHD + resolution and even supports the HDR 10 standard.
Software: Android One and the well-known
HTC chose Android 11 Oreo for their U8.0 Life. It is also shipped with Android One. Android One is very similar to Stock Android and was developed for smartphones with poorer specs. This is supported by little bloatware, which can slow down a device pretty quickly. In addition, there are software updates for at least two years and security updates for at least three years. As a language assistant is the Google Assistant on board.
The software of the U11 Plus is boring in comparison. Android 8.0 Oreo with the HTC Sense interface and Sense Companion, Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. Well known.
Specs
If we look at the specs, one notices that the U11 Plus clearly plays in the upper class. That means the following: Snapdragon 835, 128GB internal memory and 6GB RAM. The internal memory can also be expanded with a microSD card.
With its specs, the U11 Life is in the middle class. That means that a Snapdragon 630 with 3GB or 4GB RAM was installed here. You can choose between 32GB and 64GB for the internal memory, which can also be expanded. However, the version with more memory and more RAM is only available in the HTC webshop.
Camera
Although the U11 Life has a higher resolution of 16MP than its predecessor, it is more difficult to take good photos with it. This is because dual flash, OIS, and ultraspeed focus are missing. In addition, the sensor is comparatively faint with f / 2.0.
The camera of the U11 Plus has a resolution of 12MP. Fortunately, the things that are missing in the U11 Life have been integrated here. The aperture is also a bit brighter with f / 1.7. Videos can be recorded in 4K with 60fps, as well as in Full HD with 120fps.
Price & release
The U11 Life will cost € 3 in the version with 32GB RAM and 349GB internal storage. The version with more memory and more RAM is exclusively available in the HTC webshop for 379 €. There is no specific release date yet.
The HTC U11 Plus is expected to hit the market at the end of November at a price of € 799. When it comes to colors, you can choose between black and the slightly transparent Transluent Black, which will not be available until spring 2018.
