I have been using the solar red version for the last day and a half. I decided I liked the red more than I cared about the extra RAM, which on this device is superfluous anyway.
My early and possibly final impressions (I'll get to that):
Okay, so overall very positive. Why am I probably returning? The back of the phone is both a strength, and for me, a giant weakness. Understand: I am someone who never uses cases and has dropped exactly one phone in about a decade plus of using these devices. This ain't my first naked-phone-rodeo. However, the U11's shell is just too damn slippery. I am completely uncomfortable holding it, which I believe eventually will become a self-fulfilling prophesy and I'll drop it. So this is a major reason. The next lesser reason is I do find the skin just too outdated for my taste. Granted, I could go with a different launcher but I'm a plug-n-play guy for the most part. I prefer using my phones to tinkering with them.
So there's my take after a little over a day. If you love cases and aren't waiting for the Pixel, I would snatch this guy up in a heartbeat. I think pound for pound this is one that's flying way under the radar due to flashier alternatives that don't perform nearly as well.
My early and possibly final impressions (I'll get to that):
- Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous. The liquid 3D metal back or whatever it's called (I refuse to be a slave to marketing terms!) is really well implemented. Watching the back change colors based on the lighting is freaky and very cool. Definitely a unique looking phone. No one would mistake it for any other phone on the market.
- The downside is the back highlights how staid the front is. HTC needs to up their display game. It's not a bad display, in fact it's really good. It's just a bit of a let down moving from back to front. And since it's a phone, you won't be staring at the back most of the time you're using it.
- Performance is Pixel good. Very fast, very fluid. No stutters or lag. Animations kept to a minimum.
- HTC's OS is badly dated. They need a refresh yesterday. I know that sounds kind of petty but against Samsung's refresh and stock Android's current looks like, HTC's Sense comes across as ancient. Remember what I said about the front being a let down from the back of the phone? The OS plays a role in that. This is mostly an aesthetic issue, not a functional issue. The OS gets you wherever you want to go and does whatever you need done just fine. So this one is a big ol' YMMV.
- Fingerprint sensor is AWWWWESOME!!! Good god, this and the OP5 make me so friggin' annoyed at what Sammy did to their FP sensor this year. HTC's FPS is so fast, so accurate.
- Speakers are tremendous. As good/better than iPhone 7 Plus. Why all OEM's aren't going with dual speakers is a complete mystery to me.
- Camera, for one day's usage, is phenomenal. I've seen some folks complain that it's a little slow but I don't see that at all. Opening the app, shooting a pic/video has been seamless. And the pics seem Pixel good.
- Edge Sense is...NOT A GIMMICK! I was 100% wrong wrong wrong about this. It's actually a very cool feature! I currently have mine set to a short squeeze to launch the camera, long squeeze for screen shot. It works every time and I now wish every phone offered this feature. I thought it would be counter intuitive to using a phone (squeezing hardware??) but nope. HTC's implementation is spot on.
Okay, so overall very positive. Why am I probably returning? The back of the phone is both a strength, and for me, a giant weakness. Understand: I am someone who never uses cases and has dropped exactly one phone in about a decade plus of using these devices. This ain't my first naked-phone-rodeo. However, the U11's shell is just too damn slippery. I am completely uncomfortable holding it, which I believe eventually will become a self-fulfilling prophesy and I'll drop it. So this is a major reason. The next lesser reason is I do find the skin just too outdated for my taste. Granted, I could go with a different launcher but I'm a plug-n-play guy for the most part. I prefer using my phones to tinkering with them.
So there's my take after a little over a day. If you love cases and aren't waiting for the Pixel, I would snatch this guy up in a heartbeat. I think pound for pound this is one that's flying way under the radar due to flashier alternatives that don't perform nearly as well.
