Putting you first

HTC recently launched two innovative smartphones – the HTC U Ultra and the HTC U Play – that stand apart from the typical stock.
Carrying the slogan: ‘It’s all about U’, the HTC U Ultra and U Play are touted to have features that put the user first.
“Everyone with a smartphone today leads vastly different lives, and we each have our own individual needs that we consider important,” said HTC Smartphone and Connected Devices Business president Chia-Lin Chang at the launch.
“By pursuing our passion and the things that make us unique, we believe that is when we are able to truly become brilliant. This belief has led us to rethink our approach to smartphone design by putting you [the user] first above all.
“Our all-new line of HTC U devices are designed to grow with you and develop a bond with you [so as] to help realise the potential that comes from being different.”
Also present at the launch were Zitron Enterprise CEO Albert Goh, HTC Malaysia country manager Cheong Wah Tong, HTC South Asia president Faisal Siddiqui, and Brightstar Distribution managing director Steven Tan.
What can’t be denied is how beautiful the two debut phones in the HTC U series look.
Both feature a curved scratch-resistant sapphire glass surface, a design that HTC calls 3D contorted liquid surface. It looks and feels like the smooth curved surface of a body of water.
The colours of the phones are also spectacularly vibrant, and slightly iridescent.
According to HTC, the effect was achieved by coating the inner layer of the glass panel with vaporised minerals and colour particles, giving the phone’s surface a glittery effect.
The phone feels excellent in the hand, but is also a fingerprint magnet.
Inside, both the flagship HTC U Ultra and the casual HTC U Play share certain key features.
Both phones are fitted with HTC Sense Companion – its own blend of digital assistant and adaptive technology – and HTC USonic adaptive earphone technology.
Both phones also sport 64GB of expandable storage and 4GB of RAM.However, the HTC U Ultra has a more powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor compared to HTC U Play’s MediaTek Helio P10.
Also the 5.7in screen HTC U Ultra runs Android 7.0 with HTC Sense right out of the box, compared to the Android 6.0 with HTC Sense on the 5.2in HTC U Play.
For the camera, the HTC U Ultra has the better 12MP HTC UltraPixel 2 camera with f1.8 aperture compared to the HTC U Play’s 16MP f2.0 aperture camera.
Notably, both phones lack a 3.5mm audio jack. Instead, each unit comes with a pair of HTC USonic earphones, which plug into the USB Type-C port.
These earphones work with the software in the phone to create a soundscape specifically customised to user’s ears to create the best audio experience.
The HTC U Ultra comes in brilliant black, cosmetic pink, and sapphire blue, and will be available in early March for RM2,999.
The HTC U Play comes in black oil and iceberg white, and will be here at the end of March for RM1,899.
For more, visit the HTC Malaysia Facebook page (www.facebook.com/HTCMalaysia/).