HTC U (Ocean) pictured for the first time - is this HTC's true flagship for 2017?

Back in January, HTC said that it was not planning to release an HTC 11 smartphone. This, however, doesn't mean that the U Ultra - available in the US since last month - will remain the company's only high-end handset throughout 2017, as an HTC U (codenamed Ocean) is expected to be launched in the near future.

Thanks to Evan Blass (aka @evleaks), we now have what's likely the first legit photo showing the HTC U. The upcoming smartphone seemingly has a glossy finish, a small fingerprint scanner on the front, plus rounded corners and edges. The device kind of looks like a smaller HTC U Ultra, though it obviously doesn't offer a secondary display, while its rear camera has a different design. Truth be told, this new rear camera looks a bit weird, but maybe it's just this particular image that doesn't do the phone justice.

According to previously revealed information, the HTC U sports a 5.5-inch Quad HD (1440 x 2560 pixel) display, and is powered by Qualcomm's latest and greatest Snapdragon 835 processor. One of the handset's highlights should be a touch-sensitive frame (dubbed Edge Sense) that allows you to perform certain actions using gestures - like swiping or squeezing. Other features may include 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB of internal memory, a 12 MP rear camera, and a 16 MP front-facing camera. Android Nougat with Sense 9 should run the show.

Right now, there's no info on when and where the HTC U will be released. In any case, it looks like this will be HTC's true flagship for 2017, though we wouldn't go as far as calling it a successor to the HTC 10.


source: Evan Blass (Twitter)