The HTC U 11 and why it could save smartphones

1.2030911-3735634106 — Image Credit: Supplied

Think back on every smartphone you’ve seen over the past few years. Every one of them shipped with a similar shape, similar screens and similar features.

The only differences between phones from different manufacturers were operating systems, slight design tweaks, upgrades and minor improvements.

< Philosophical rant mode on >

This rant has been sparked by the latest smartphone release, the HTC U 11.

Why?

Well, the sides of the device are now pressure sensors. You can squeeze your phone to perform specific functions such as unlock, take a picture.

And that’s amazing! I hate exclamation marks, and I just used one, so you can tell how important this is to me.

With the latest ‘Class of 2016/17’ smartphones in the market, I feel that only two major manufacturers have ‘thought outside the box’: Motorola and now, HTC.

While Samsung’s strapline for their S8 is “Unbox your phone” its unique innovative features are dual curved screens (similar to their previous S7 Edge) and a larger screen in a regular body (similar to the LG G6). Sure it’s tech is top notch, but there’s nothing that memorable about it.

Same with the LG G6. Besides its larger screen-to-body-ratio, it’s still a rectangular piece of metallic tech. I would like to compare it to its predecessor the LG G5, but I know all of us, LG included, don’t want to talk about that anymore.

Both these devices aren’t that memorable. Sure they will be the first two that started the trend of a larger screen in a small body, but that’s it. You’re going to forget about both these devices in a couple of years.

Remember the Xperia Arc S? I rest my case.

This brings me to my headline. The (Snap) Motorola Moto Z and (Squeeze) the HTC U 11, do almost everything their competitors do, and a bit more.

Snap

Last year’s Moto Z is one amazing device. It’s your average simple smartphone that allows you to snap on additional modules to the back of it, transforming your device into a portable speaker, a projector, a professional-grade camera and much more. Mods we could see in the future include a Polaroid-like printer, a Nintendo-Switch-like game pad and literally anything you can imagine.

Squeeze

While the tech journalists around the world will still peg the new HTC U 11 to the latest flagships from other plans, I feel this device is in a league of its own. You can squeeze the phone to trigger actions, open apps, click pics and other things. It might be an incredibly simple feature but the fact that HTC have brought this to a mass-market device is amazing.