HTC announces new squeezable U12+ smartphone with two dual cameras

The new HTC will recognise in which hand it is being held, and also let users squeeze its frame to trigger certain functions. — dpa

HTC has announced a new top-of-the-range smartphone with dual cameras both on the front and back, as well as a special edge that you can squeeze to activate certain functions.

The U12+'s rear setup features a 12-megapixel wide-angle camera (f/1.75 aperture) with optical and electronic image stabilisation paired with a second 16-megapixel telephoto lens (f/2.6), giving the camera a 2x optical zoom.

It can record image-stabilised 4K videos at 60 frames per second and allows an exposure time of up to 32 seconds in its manual mode, allowing for nighttime shots of starry skies. The new HTC also supports the uncompressed RAW format, meaning you can perfect your shots later in an editor like Photoshop.

The front setup includes two 8-megapixel cameras (f/2.0) that allow you to take images with bokeh and high contrast (HDR) effects.

The six-inch 18:9 display sports a Quad HD Plus resolution (2880 x 1440 pixels). The glass-back casing is water and dust resistant (IP68). The Snapdragon 845 Qualcomm processor supports Gigabit LTE and has 6 gigabytes (GB) of memory at its disposal.

HTC has further refined its Edge Sense technology for the U12+. The smartphone will recognise in which hand it is being held. By squeezing the bottom part of the device, the user can initiate previously defined actions, like with the latest Pixel smartphone from Google. This is supposed to make one-handed operation easier. By default, squeezing the device briefly will open the camera app.

Four microphones and a feature called Sonic Zoom are supposed to help your phone zero in on more distant voices or sounds. The smartphone also comes with a headset with active noise cancelling and supports high-quality codecs such as aptX HD or LDAC for music playback.

Including its 3500 mAh battery, the U12+ weighs some 188 grams and is 8.7 millimetres thick. If you opt for the translucent blue version, then you'll be able to see some of the components through the back of the phone. The phone also comes in two other colours: ceramic black and and flame red.

The U12+ with 64GB of expandable storage and Android 8.0 will be available in some regions from mid-June for US$799 (RM3,183). HTC has also announced a version with 128GB of storage space. — dpa