![]() Amazon's voice interface is available on a few smartphones right now, but the U11 is the first to give it a proper home. I would've preferred it to be a little more in-my-face and but there isn't a way to make the Companion offer handy tips more regularly. In general, Sense Companion plays it safe by only occasionally surfacing notifications. Essentially, HTC's assistant tries to stay subtle while being proactive - it's meant to slide into your life when you need it and disappear when you don't. Once it gets late in the day, it'll tell you how many steps you've taken and even remind you to charge your phone when it knows you have plans later. Is it going to rain? It will suggest you pack an umbrella. HTC's Sense Companion is much less vocal, instead offering up notifications and reminders based on what it knows about you and your environment. Most of you are probably familiar with Google Assistant, and it works the way it always does: Either long-press the Home button or get its attention with "OK, Google," then fire off a request. The U11 comes with support for three - three! - virtual assistants right out of the box, which is a little insane. Rather than revamp the interface, HTC focused its efforts elsewhere. In general, it runs very, very well, but it feels a little stale when compared to updated interfaces from rivals like Samsung. These were steps in a positive direction and led to a mostly uncluttered version of Android 7.1 Nougat for the U11. When the company launched the 10, it also revealed an approach to Android that felt cleaner and fresher than before - Sense UI's visual noise was dialed down and extraneous apps were killed in favor of Google's own. Each audio profile is specifically tuned for your ears, and mine made my music sound noticeably crisper and brighter - good stuff. The U11 can also tailor the way the phone plays audio through those earbuds. While handy, these pack-ins are nowhere as good as isolating noise as, say, a pair of Bose QC35s. Even better, they don't need batteries because the earbuds draw power from the phone. ![]() They're a little too heavy on the bass for me, but they're comfortable and offer a more welcome surprise: active noise-cancellation. Without a headphone jack, you'll need to use Bluetooth cans or HTC's pack-in USonic Type-C earbuds. (To my knowledge, no HR claims have been filed.) You'll need more oomph for, a party, but the U11's built-in sound system is good enough for gathering people around a YouTube video. In fact, while I was testing the speakers at the office, I had to deal with more than the usual amount of stink-eye from non-Engadgeteers because of the volume. It's been a long time since HTC's BoomSound heyday, but the U11 is louder and clearer than any other smartphone I've tested recently. The U11's speakers, on the other hand, are very, very good. It's a little dimmer than the Galaxy S8 and iPhone 7 Plus, making it tougher to read under harsh daylight. I only wish the screen was a little brighter. Colors aren't quite as vivid as on an AMOLED display, but solid clarity and color reproduction put it in the same ballpark as its rivals. That works out to a density of about 534 pixels per inch. We're working with a 5.5-inch Super LCD 5 at Quad HD. ![]() The U11's screen is good but pretty standard. Plus the whole thing is IP67 water resistant, which means it'll handle dips in up to 1 meter of water for around 30 minutes. We'll dig into Edge Sense a little later, but you can squeeze the phone to trigger predefined actions like launching the camera. ![]() You can't see them, but the U11 also has multiple pressure sensors baked into its sides. In the SIM tray, you'll find a spot for a MicroSD card to supplement the 64GB of onboard storage. The headphone jack is over, so you'll use the USB C port on the bottom for charging and audio playback. There's a fast, accurate fingerprint sensor below the screen, wedged between two capacitive navigation keys. Countless phones have done this over the years and they were never worse for it - the U11 is the first that cracked. While we were shooting our review video, the U11 tipped over from its standing position and smacked into our glass studio table. Glass also cracks more easily than metal. You can forget about taking calls with your phone wedged between your neck and shoulder, too, unless you've got sandpaper shoulder pads. I couldn't put the U11 down on the arm of my couch without it skittering to the floor. Phones swathed in glass can be tricky, though. ![]()
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