HTC Ocean is coming later this year as the HTC U.
HTC is said to be working on a flagship simply called the HTC U that will be powered by a Snapdragon 835. Codenamed Ocean, the phone will be the third in the U series — after the U Ultra and the U Play — but it will introduce a new input method called Edge Sense.
HTC is embedding sensors into the metal frame of the device, through which you’ll be able to control various facets of the interface by squeezing or swiping along the sides of the phone. The idea was shown off in a concept video that leaked last year, and it looks like HTC succeeded in turning it into a usable feature for its upcoming flagship:
More cool HTC stuff here (including the tablet that launched @evleaks): https://t.co/S3WaZkeog9 Check it out before it gets pulled! pic.twitter.com/YJwmZb0Sje
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) September 20, 2016
Other specs include a 5.5-inch QHD display, 12MP Sony IMX362 camera at the back, 16MP shooter up front that utilizes the IMX351 imaging sensor, 64GB or 128GB internal storage, and a microSD slot. HTC will introduce Sense 9 with the handset, which will be unveiled mid- to late-April with global availability kicking off in the month of May.
The HTC U Ultra turned out to be underwhelming for its $750 price tag, and HTC needs to come up with a better device to challenge the likes of the Galaxy S8 and the LG G6. The HTC U looks like it could be that device, but we’ll have to wait and see how it holds up next to the competition.
