HTC U Play is a smartphone that came out in the winter of 2017. Of course, it’s a great mid-range smartphone, although HTC isn’t exactly the strongest competitor in this class. But it’s still a solid choice and an affordable price, and brings a pretty solid specs sheet we’ll take a look at. The best HTC U Play features include an attempt at personalization. The company promises it will listen to you and learn from your habits using their Sense Companion. But it’s not the thing you’re probably thinking of – Cortana or Amazon Alexa.
This one gives you light notifications in form of a blue bar or those chat-heads you use with Facebook Messenger. We think this is a good way as it doesn’t require too much struggle on your part or talking to the microphone. It will gently to remind you to dress lightly if the weather has changed, if your battery is running out, to recharge you. Also – tracks your steps and allows you to achieve fitness goals based on your height and weight. In short – it’s a second mother, one you never had. But one that is proficient in technology, able to track app RAM usage, and warn you which one to cut off.
The other feature of HTC U Play is USonic earbuds because you don’t have a headphone jack. Before you go running in the other direction, wait to hear what we have to say. You will either have to switch to Bluetooth ones or use the earbuds that plug to USB-C port. There we run into another problem – you obviously can’t listen to music while it’s charging. Depending on your nightly habits, this truly might have you opt for another phone, for example, Nokia 5. To be honest, the audio quality was clear and loud but we’re not sure whether to thank the phone or the earbuds.
Furthermore, the design is one of its selling points. It’s a premium metal/glass design, and it’s surprisingly lightweight and just modern. It’s also very small and fits in your hands comfortably. That’s something you’d expect from a 5.2-inch screen smartphone, and we’re glad there’s no additional stuff weighing it down. HTC U Play sports a full HD, 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution, which on a screen this size makes it ultra sharp. Also, because of that Liquid Surface shine to it, it looked so much more unique, but you lose some grip and should possibly opt for a silicone mask.
Finally, the specs of HTC U Play are very good for this price range. There’s a fingerprint scanner under the home button, which is fast and precise. The battery is only 2500 mAh, which is a bit under today’s mobile phone standards. But the camera is a thing of beauty. It’s 16MP on both front and back, allowing you to take stunning pictures of nature, but of yourself as well. The processor underneath is an Octa-core based on MediaTek Helio P10 architecture. It’s strong, but maybe not as strong as on HTC U Ultra, where they went for Qualcomm Snapdragon 821. In combination with either 3 or 4GB of RAM, it will complete all tasks you require on a daily basis.
HTC U Play U-2u 64GB Black, 5.2", Dual Sim, GSM Unlocked International Model, No Warranty
$219.99
