Despite releasing a couple of impressive flagship smartphones over the last couple of years, HTC is in dire need of a success. The company has all but vanished from the smartphone market, though it keeps releasing a flagship smartphone to remind people of its existence. With Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S9 receiving a lukewarm response, there’s an opportunity for HTC here to bounce back in the market. And if the leaked specs of its upcoming handset are to be believed, HTC seems to have a very promising handset up its sleeve. 

An allegedly leaked picture of the back of the retail box of the HTC U12+ gives us a rundown on its specs. The handset will sport Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 chipset, 8GB RAM, and 128GB of storage. It will also feature a 5.5-inch QHD+ display protected by Gorilla Glass 5 at the front along with IP68 certification.

The most impressive aspect of the handset seems to be its camera. The leaked image points to the U12+ coming with a 12MP f/1.5 UltraPixel 4 rear camera with OIS and UltraSpeed AF. This is paired with a secondary 16MP lens which should offer optical zoom and also allow the handset to capture photos with bokeh effect. At the front, there is a dual-8MP camera set up with HDR Boost. This set up should help the device in taking portrait selfies. Other notable specs include HTC BoomSound, USonic with Active Noise Cancellation, wireless charging, dual-SIM capability, Quick Charge 4+, Edge Sense 2, and NFC.

Our Take

It is unclear what improvements HTC has in mind with EdgeSense 2. It also remains to be seen if the U12+ will come with a 5.5-inch QHD+ LCD display or not as the device in the leaked images seems to house a bigger panel. A 5.5-inch 18:9 aspect ratio display will be particularly small so I am not sure how the U12+ will live up to its plus moniker here.

Are you still interested in an HTC flagship? Or have you given up on the company completely?