HTC U11 Plus brings a bigger display, a bigger battery, and bigger functionality

HTC took the wraps off the HTC U11 Plus at a press event this morning. It’s everything the leaks said it would be, folks: a bigger, badder HTC U11.

The U11 Plus retains much of the original’s charm, good looks, and immense strength (particularly in that camera department). But now we’re getting a 2:1 6-inch LCD display (up from your standard 5.5-inch 16:9 affair), and a bigger 3,930 mAh battery (up from the 3,000mAh pack in the original). The fingerprint also moves from the front to the back in this iteration as HTC shoots for that zero-bezel look.

HTC U11 Plus Specs

• Display: 6-inch 2,880 x 1,440 Super LCD5; 21:9 Aspect Ratio
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 835
• RAM + Storage: 4GB/64GB; or 6GB/128GB; UFS 2.1 (microSD up to 2TB)
• Rear Camera: 12.2MP UltraPixel 3 f/1.7 aperture, OIS, and EIS; 4K video recording; 120fps @ 1080p
• Front Camera: 8MP f/2.0 aperture
• Battery: 3,930mAh; Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0
• Other Features: Edge Sense, Fingerprint Sensor, IP68 Water Resistance, 3D Audio Recording, HTC USonic Headphones
• Connectivity: USB-C 3.1, WiFi AC 2.4GHz + 5GHz, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS + aGPS w/ GLONASS, NFC, Dual Nano-SIM
• Software: Android 8.0 Oreo with HTC Sense
• Dimensions: 158.5 x 74.9 x 8.5mm
• Weight: 188 g

One other notable area of improvement is with Edge Sense. It still retains the same squeeze gesture capabilities as the original (complete with custom actions within different apps), but it also now acts as a quick apps launcher, so your most used apps are always a squeeze away. Mind you, this is also all sitting on top of Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box.

Otherwise, what we have here is the U11 you all know and love. That includes a top-notch 12.2MP camera, a Snapdragon 835 chipset, and your choice of 4GB of RAM + 64GB of storage or 6GB of RAM + 128GB of storage. Unfortunately, that also means there’s no wireless charging, despite that distinctively cool coil you see in the rear of the translucent model (that’s just the contact coil for NFC, folks).

All of it sounds great, except for the one sour point that much of our readership will likely take issue with: it’s not coming to the US. Expect to see it in Europe for €799, including the UK (£699), with other not-so-US markets set to be announced in due time.