HTC U Ultra: A Beautiful Phone With A Not So Good UI

There is something unique about HTC that others don't have. Even when Google comes with its own phone, Pixel, it chooses HTC to make their phone. HTC has so far had a class of its own, a well-defined premium segment, that comes with a price tag. In recent times that space has had more players enter and more variety. HTC's latest offering, HTC U Ultra, is a premium phone priced at Rs.52,000 targeted at the premium segment.

HTC U Ultra
It's a good looking phone which brings glossiness back. With a shining, glossy and curvy coloured glass back the phone comes in two variants, Brilliant Black and Sapphire Blue. The richness in the design of the phone does stand out. The 3.5 headphone jack is done away with.

With the latest Android 7.0, one would expect an awesome experience however the user interface leaves you wishing HTC had done a better job with the inside too. The screen is cluttered and finesse in UI is missing. That smoothness in the user experience is not there. Maybe it's the high expectation that one expected from a Rs.52,000 device from HTC that everything to be near perfect.

What's Great

An awesome design
HTC U Ultra stands out in its design. It's a phone that is likely to get noticed. The glossy glass backside in a truly brilliant black complexion is well crafted. At 175 gms it's lighter than iPhone 7 Plus.

Great Processor
Qualcomm snapdragon 821 ensures gives a good performance even with multiple apps and multitasking.

Dual Display
2560 x 1440 pixels Super LCD 5 ensures 5.7 crystal clear crispy 5.7-inch display. The display truly stands out. The secondary display is 2 inches 160 x 1040 pixels.

The bigger screen on this phone is for regular day-to-day activities; while the secondary display is perfect for fast, convenient access to the things you use the most.

Camera
One of the best features of Pixel (made by HTC) was its camera. Here too the camera performs well. The main camera is 12 megapixels and the front camera is 16 megapixels. The camera is sensitive in capturing the finer details.

Free Space
You also get 100GB of Google Drive space free for two years worth Rs.2600.

What's Not Great

Single slot
The microSD card supports up to 2TB. If that sounds great read the next line, but you do lose the ability to use the second SIM.

Battery
3000 mAH is too less for a phone of this size and stature. I wonder why HTC compromised on this.

User Interface
The smoothness in the UI is missing. It's cluttered, to say the least. I definitely wish there were a finesse and a certain breezy smoothness in the UI in this beautifully crafted phone.

The Last Word
Spending Rs 52,000 on buying this phone the user would have certain expectations that he won't have in a cheaper 20,000 phone. HTC needs to take note of that. Beyond a certain point, it's difficult to leverage the brand simply because of the name. While the hardware is good, HTC needs to work on the user interface. HTC U Ultra is a beautiful phone that I wish gave a better experience.