HTC U Ultra was announced at a special event on January 12, making it one of the first major smartphone flagships to be unveiled this year.
From what the phone comes with, it is easy to see that HTC is indeed looking to position itself as the best smartphone maker this year. The HTC U Ultra ships with a decent 5.7-inch Super LCD 5 display screen with a QHD resolution with curved edges. Under the hood, the U Ultra has the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor that has been clocked at a speed of 2.15GHz and is paired with a RAM of 4GB. In terms of storage, there are two variants – the base model has 64GB while the special sapphire edition comes with 128GB of storage. The back of the phone has a 12MP UltraPixel 2 lens on the main shooter that ships with PDAF, OIS and f/1.8 aperture while the front has a 16MP shooter.
There is a huge 3000mAh battery unit that is built-in and supports fast charging technology from Qualcomm. It is also charged via USB-C and like a few flagships that have been released in the recent past, there is no room for the 3.5mm audio jack.
The HTC U Ultra has a huge display screen that takes after the LG V20 thanks to a primary display of 5.7 inches in size and a secondary ticker display that appears just right above the primary screen. At the time of launch, the company only mentioned the pricing and availability details of the standard U Ultra, but the details of the special edition variant remained vague. Well, we now have fresh details about this phone.
According to reports surfacing from Taiwan, the HTC U Ultra sapphire edition will be available in Taiwan starting mid-February, but shipping will begin on March 2. Currently, the 64GB version of the U Ultra is valued at NT $23,900 or about $750, which is the same price for those in the U.S. As for the incoming 128GB variant, the locals will be set back NT $28,900, an equivalent of about $910.
Be reminded that the special edition of the HTC U Ultra only gets a sapphire glass finish and 128GB of storage but keeps the same hardware components and features.
So, will you buy this pricey edition of the new HTC phablet flagship if it comes to your local HTC store? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.