HTC has unveiled two of its new smartphones today, the flagship HTC U Ultra and a stripped down version called HTC U Play.

Both of these phones are part of HTC’s new U-Series, that aims to provide better user experience to “You”, the customers.

These phones offer HTC own AI assistant named as Sense Companion. Unlike Apple’s Siri or Microsoft’s Cortana it focus more on collecting relevant data and presenting helpful information.

HTC says that the companion platform will keep learning about the way you use your phone and will get more productive with time. Like it handles the notifications for you and show only those it thinks are important. Similarly it makes lists and favorite contacts based upon your interactions.

The U Ultra phone also features a secondary display, which is used by the Sense companion. Most of the time, the companion will show the recommendation and insights at that display.

The HTC U Ultra:

This phone packs a 5.7-inch screen with Quad HD display, along with 2-inch secondary display that has 160x1040p resolution.

HTC says the device doesn’t have a regular glass screen, rather it uses ‘liquid surface’, with glass on the front and rear. There is a limited edition as well that uses Sapphire glass on both front and back.

U Ultra comes packed with a Snapdragon 821 chipset, along with 4GB of RAM and 64GB internal storage. You can boost the space up to 2TB with a dedicated microSD card slot.

It features a a 12-Megapixel “UltraPixel” rear camera with f/1.8 lens, OIS and phase detection autofocus. The UltraPixel means that it has large 1.55µm pixels.

The front camera boasts a normal 16-Megapixel resolution. However, you can also convert it to 4-Megapixel UltraPixel shooter.

This phone is powered by a 3000 mAh battery that support Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 and Extreme Power Saving modes. U Ultra also ditches the dedicated 3.5mm headphone jack in the favor of a single USB Type-C port. Although HTC claims that the included pair of headphones uses HTC USonic. It analyzes your inner ears with a sonic pulse, and then provides superior audio quality suited for each individual.

The U Ultra also includes four always-on microphones that helps the Sense Companion listen to your every command and could unlock your phone with biometric voice match as well. In case you don’t like talking to your phone, you can also the fingerprint scanner that doubles as the home key.

HTC U Ultra runs Android Nougat 7.0 with a cleaner version of HTC Sense. That is essentially the basic Android with some slight modifications.

It will be available in four color options, including Sapphire Blue, Brilliant Black, Cosmetic Pink and Ice White priced at $749. A special edition sapphire glass model with 128GB of storage is also available for pre-order.

HTC U Play:

The HTC U Play is the stripped down version of the flagship. Its has the same all glass design with 5.2 inch screen boasting 1080p resolution. Unlike Ultra there isn’t a secondary display, but it do come with the Sense Companion.

U Play has two versions, both have Helio P10 chipset along with 32GB storage and 3GB RAM and the another with 64GB storage and 4GB RAM.

Both front and back cameras have 16-Megapixels sensor with 1 µm pixels and F/2.0 aperture. The rear camera also features OIS, along with a single LED flash.

As compared to Ultra, the U Play features a smaller 2500 mAh battery and doesn’t offer quick charging. This model also doesn’t feature a 3.5mm headphones jack and a single USB Type-C port ensures connectivity.

In terms of software U Play runs the outdated Android Marshmallow 6.0. However it seems like HTC will provide an update after launch for Android Nougat 7.0.

The U Play will be available in Sapphire Blue, Brilliant Black, Cosmetic Pink and Ice White colors, however no information about pricing and sales have been revealed yet.

HTC aims that the new Companion AI will turn it from a smartphone company centered on your life, to making you the center of your smartphone. Let’s see if this AI can help users manage things better or make them even worse.

We are waiting for HTC Pakistan’s response to tell us if both of these devices will be launched in Pakistan. So don’t forget to check back.