Premium midrange smartphones are a new category of smartphones which is making great success in the past couple of years, especially in Asia. They are not flagships, but they usually have high-end features and good cameras. HTC U11 Eyes and Oppo R11s are two of them, and in this HTC U11 Eyes vs OPPO R11S comparison we will show you the difference between these handsets and which one has the best value for money — after all VFM is the most important thing when it comes to mid-range Android devices.

HTC U11 Eyes vs OPPO R11S

Don’t expect completely different devices, these two phones are similar enough to make this comparison challenging. We like the design and the build quality of HTC U11 EYEs better, which is more beautiful and it is also waterproof, unlike its opponent. On the other hand, in terms of display and hardware Oppo R11s is better. It has a very nice AMOLED display and a more powerful SoC. The Snapdragon 660 is a more recent, powerful and efficient chipset compared with the Snapdragon 652. The camera departments are both really good and, until we see some camera samples of HTC U11 EYEs, we can not judge the handset’s camera (it has just been unveiled, so it is still not possible to see how it captures photos).

Even though HTC U11 EYEs has a dual selfie camera, Oppo R11s should make better selfies with its 20 MP resolution and its f/2.0 aperture. Both the devices feature facial recognition through the front camera, but HTC U11 EYEs might be safer thanks to its secondary sensor. HTC U11 EYEs should have a much longer battery life due to its 3930 mAh lithium unit, while its opponent has just an average battery with a 3200 mAh capacity. While HTC U11 EYEs has just been made available to pre-order with a price of about €500, Oppo R11s has a listing price of about €450. I would personally pick the HTC U11 EYEs because of its bigger battery, its more interesting build quality, IP67 certification, and Android Oreo installed out of the box.

HTC U11 Eyes vs OPPO R11S: PROS and CONS

HTC U11 EYEs

PROS

• Potentially better primary camera
• Waterproof
• Original design
• Big battery

CONS

• Higher price

Oppo R11s

PROS

• More interesting display
• Better hardware
• Hi-res selfie camera
• More affordable price

CONS

• Nougat out of the box

The post HTC U11 Eyes vs OPPO R11S: Specs Comparison appeared first on Gizmochina.

Back in December 2015, Qualcomm announced that it was going to rename its new SD620 and SD618 chipsets as Snapdragon 652 and Snapdragon 650 processors. The rebranding made sense, since these two chipsets were much more powerful than its other SD600 series counterparts. The first SD652 smartphones started appearing around early 2016 and since then we have seen an influx of solid mid-rangers powered by this chip. In fact, even in 2017, there were a few smartphones with SD652, like the standard edition of the Nubia Z17 Mini.

The chipset was quite popular among mid-rangers, but that was more than a year ago. In 2018, the Snapdragon 652 is nearly two years old and technically, it’s three generations old now: succeeded first by SD653 (October 2016) and then by SD660 (May 2017).

So, despite its popularity back in the day, does it make sense to use Snapdragon 652 inside a $500 HTC U11 Eyes upper mid-ranger announced in 2018?

To be honest, using Snapdragon 653 would have made more sense. It’s slightly faster, features a new generation X9 LTE modem, and is just over a year old. It’s like a refreshed SD652, with small upgrades. The performance is slightly better given its higher clock speed, and it scores around 90,000 points vs 78,000 by SD652 in the AnTuTu benchmark. Similar difference can be found in other benchmark scores as well.

Ideally, for a upper mid-range device like the HTC U11 Eyes, the Snapdragon 660 would have been perfect. But the company likely skipped on the chipset in order to save cost. Another possible option would have been the SD636, which although comes from the lower SD63X series, is quite powerful thanks to its 8 x Kryo 260 custom cores (same ones found on the SD660 chip) clocked at 1.8GHz. It’s much more advanced as well, featuring Qualcomm’s aptX codec technology, Spectra 160 ISP, X12 LTE modem (Cat. 13), and manufactured on a much efficient 14nm node. In all counts, the SD636 would have been another option that was better than the SD652.

For a tech enthusiast, seeing Snapdragon 652 on a 2018 upper mid-range smartphone is really a disappointment. But end of the day, for a regular smartphone user, SD652 could be sufficient. With the right UI optimisations, you should still see all the features work smoothly, with minimal lag. It may not be very quick in opening apps as other 2017 / 18 smartphones, but it sure has enough firepower to get the job done. Agreed, SD653 would have been better, but the difference wouldn’t have been significant. Maybe that’s why HTC didn’t care to use an updated chipset on its new model. Luckily, the battery is quite large, so despite SD652 being manufactured on a larger 28nm node, battery life should be good.

So if you are not a tech enthusiast, I guess you could live with the Snapdragon 652 inside an upper mid-range smartphone like the U11 Eyes. Moreover, other features of the phone like IP67 certification, Edge Sense, Dual Front cameras, HTC U11’s Rear sensor, and Android Oreo definitely helps in making the SD652 powered U11 Eyes likeable. You can read more about the HTC U11 Eyes in our launch article.

What are your thoughts?

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HTC has unveiled the U11 EYEs as its first smartphone for the year 2018. The USP of this mid-range smartphone is that it comes equipped with dual front-facing cameras and it is the first phone from the company to arrive with facial recognition feature. Also, it features a full screen design and a massive battery.

HTC U11 EYEs Specifications and Features

Measuring 157.9 x 74.99 x 8.5 mm and weighing 185 grams, the HTC U11 EYEs comes in three color choices of Red, Silver (with bluish tint) and Black. Like the other U11 series phones from HTC, the U11 EYEs also features a reflective 3D glass panel that gives it a premium appeal. It is a dustproof and waterproof device as it features a IP67 rated chassis.

The U11 EYEs is fitted with a Super LCD 3 display that measures 6 inches. It offers an aspect ratio of 18:9 and a Full HD+ resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels. The display is protected by a layer of Gorilla Glass 3.

The U11 EYEs inherits the same 12-megapixel UltraPixel 3 rear-mounted camera that is available on the HTC U11. It comes with features like f/1.7 aperture, dual-LED flash, ultrafast autofocus, fast HDR, back-illuminated sensor (BSI), Optical Image Stabilization, slow-motion video shooting, and 4K video shooting.

At the front, it houses an f/2.2 aperture 5-megapixel + 5-megapixel dual camera setup that is designed to capture vivid selfie shots. It is enabled with features like, beauty mode, fast HDR, voice selfie, full HD video recording and bokeh mode that allows users to adjust depth of field in real-time. Apart from facial recognition, the handset also includes a rear-facing fingerprint scanner.

Since it belongs to the U11 family, the U11 EYEs comes equipped with squeezable Edge Sense pressure-sensitive frame. By squeezing the phone, users can perform customized tasks on the phone such as starting an app, snapping a photo and more. The U11 EYEs is running on the Android 8.0 Oreo OS that is customized with the latest HTC Sense UI. HTC is providing the users of the U11 EYEs with USonic Smart Sonar headphones that features advanced sonar-like technology that can analyze the inner shape of the ear to deliver the best audio experience.

The Snapdragon 652 chipset and 4 GB of RAM are present under the hood of the U11 EYEs smartphone. It has an internal storage of 64 GB and it also features a microSD card slot. A 3,930mAh battery found inside the HTC U11+ flagship phone powers the U11 EYEs. The phone supports Quick Charge 3.0. The other features of the U11 EYEs include dual SIM support, NFC, Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, 4G LTE and GPS. The handset does not feature the standard 3.5mm audio jack.

Read More: HTC Announces Vive Pro and Vive Wireless Adaptor At CES 2018

HTC U11 EYEs Pricing and Availability

HTC has started the pre-orders of the U11 EYEs in China from today. It carries a price tag of 3,299 Yuan (~$512) in China. The shipments of the pre-ordered units will begin from Jan. 25. The smartphone has been also unveiled in other markets like Hong Kong and Taiwan. In Hong Kong, it is priced at HK $3,898 (~$498) and in Taiwan, it is available with a pricing of 14,900 TWD (~$505). During pre-orders, the buyers of the U11 EYEs will in these markets will be receiving some accessories such as HTC Rapid Charger 3.0 with USB-C, a protective cover, a screen protector, USB-C to 3.5mm plug adapter and an HTC 20 t-shirt. The freebies may vary depending on the market

What’s your opinion on the HTC u11 EYEs? Share us your thoughts by commenting below.

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Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC has already revealed that it would be launching the U11 Eyes on January 15 simultaneously in Beijing, Taipei and Hong Kong. The HTC U11 EYEs looks like one awesome device worth waiting for, going by the leaked renders we have seen. And now, the specification of the device has leaked ahead of its launch. Not only do we get an idea of the specs of the U11 EYEs, we also get to see the press renders of the model in all its glory.

The renders were official ones and they emanated from HTC Taiwan’s official Facebook page. Lately, HTC has been coming up with some good phones and this is probably one of them. The U11 EYEs and the U11+ both have a similar rear design with the body looked to be made of glass and the fingerprint sensor located just under the main camera. The difference between both models apparently lies in the front design. The upcoming HTC U11 EYEs packs a dual camera setup at the front. The device also has a full-screen design with tinier bezels at the top and bottom edges while those at the two sides look almost non-existent.

Apart from the press renders, the key specs of the U11 EYEs have also been exposed ahead of the launch and it comes courtesy of tipster Evan Bass.The details include a 6-inch display with a resolution of 2160 × 1080p and thus, an 18: 9 aspect ratio. In addition, the device is said to pack a Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 backed by 4GB of RAM while there is 64GB of storage onboard. From the press renders, we can gather that the U11 EYEs will pack a 3939mAh battery and will have an IP67 level dustproof, and waterproof build.

Read Also: HTC U11 EYEs Could be Arriving With Amazing Selfie Snapper

Furthermore, the device is expected to pack HTC’s Edge Sense and would run on Android Nougat out of the box. Another interesting feature expected to be on the device is facial recognition technology. The front dual cameras also come with three modes; rapid HDR, Bokeh mode and Beauty mode.  The device will be available in Black, Silver, and Red colors. Finally, the device should come with a price tag hovering around 14900NT (about 32oo Yuan, ~$495).

(source 1, 2, via)

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HTC has sent out media ‘Save The Date’ invites for an event that the company is holding on 15th January. At the event, the company is expected to launch HTC U11 EYEs mid-range phone, which is codenamed Harmony.

While the invite doesn’t specifically mention that the HTC U11 EYEs will be launched, the accompanying post mentions ‘eye’, which pretty much confirms that it will debut at the 15th January event. Some report suggests that the phone will go on sale from 17th January in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

Recently, Evan Blass shared the press renders of the phone and also revealed key specifications. The leaked images suggest that the HTC U11 EYEs will feature a curving glass back that comes in three colours — Red, Black, and a Blue-ish Silver.

The phone sports 5.99-inch Full-HD+ Super LCD3 display with 2160 x 1080 pixels screen resolution and 18:9 aspect ratio. Thanks to the fingerprint sensor on the back, the top and bottom bezels are now thinner. Under the hood, the device is powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 652 processor from Qualcomm with 4GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage.

There is also a microSD card slot, which enables users to further expand the phone’s storage capacity using a microSD card. While not much information is available about the camera specification, from the renders of the phone, it seems that there will be a dual camera setup on the front.

The phone is said to be running Android Nougat operating system out-of-the-box with the company’s own Sense UI on top. It also includes Edge Sense to trigger programmable actions by squeezing the phone. It is IP67 certified, meaning water and dust resistance. The device is fuelled by a 3,930mAh battery.

Read More: HTC U11+ Could Get Red Colour Variant In The Coming Days

The HTC U11 EYEs is expected to be priced around 3,299 Yuan, which roughly converts to $510. Initially, the phone will be available in three countries — China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The post HTC U11 EYEs Mid-Range Smartphone To Launch Next Week appeared first on Gizmochina.

In 2014, HTC had launched the Desire Eye smartphone that came with a massive selfie camera. It seems that the rumored HTC Ocean Harmony could be arriving with Eye branding. According to popular leakster Evan Blass, the Ocean Harmony may be released as HTC U11 EYEs and one of the recent reports have claimed that it may feature dual front-facing cameras.

The upcoming HTC Harmony will come to market as the, ahem, HTC U11 EYEs.

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) December 7, 2017

Blass has not revealed any information on the specifications of the U11 EYEs. However, since it belongs to the U11 family, it is likely to sport a design that is similar to other U-series phones.

Recently, the mysterious HTC 2Q4R400 had received 3C certification in China. It is speculated that this phone could be codenamed as HTC Ocean Harmony. According to the Chinese media, it is likely feature 5.99-inch 18:9 aspect ratio display that will carry support for FHD+ resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels.

Read More: HTC U12 will probably come with 4K display and dual camera

The alleged HTC U11 EYEs is expected to arrive in Snapdragon 652 and Snapdragon 660 chipset variants. The SD 652 model may house 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage whereas the SD 660 variant may include 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. The alleged U11 EYEs may feature a pair of 5-megapixel front-facing cameras and an OIS enabled 12-megapixel rear-mounted snapper. The handset is rumored to be fueled by 3,930mAh battery.

The Snapdragon 652 edition of U11 EYEs may cost 2,599 Yuan (~$395). On the other side, its Snapdragon 660 model may be priced at 3,599 Yuan (~$545). Since the smartphone has bagged 3C certification, it is speculated that its release could be close at hand.

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