HTC U12 Plus vs HTC U11: What’s the difference?
Now that the HTC U12 Plus is official, some HTC U11 owners will be asking themselves whether it’s worth the upgrade – and we’re on hand to help make the decision-making process as easy as possible, as we’re about to run through all the differences between the two handsets.
HTC U12 Plus vs HTC U11 Design: Do they look the same?
The HTC U12 Plus is built using the same metal-and-glass frame as the HTC U11, though there are a number of subtle differences; the main being that there’s a dual-camera on the rear, which comprises of a 12MP and 16MP sensor, the latter of which is used for harvesting detail and zooming.
There’s also a dual-camera on the front, housed in the upper-left corner, where the lone selfie shooter on the HTC U11 resides. The screen on the HTC U12 Plus is a little bigger too, measuring in at 6-inches, instead of 5.8-inches, and HTC scrapped the capacitive Home button in favour of on-screen navigation.
Since HTC removed the Home button, where the fingerprint reader was harboured on the HTC U11, it had to move it to another location on the HTC U12 Plus. It decided to take a leaf out of Google’s playbook, mounting it in the centre of the rear – something Big G has been doing on its smartphones since the Nexus 5X.
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The result is a handset that feels like a more refined version of its predecessor – and that’s what you’d want if you were to upgrade from the HTC U11. Oh, and and the frame we mentioned earlier – as was the case on the HTC U11 – is pressure-sensitive, letting users trigger a slew of different actions by squeezing the handset.
HTC has improved the so-called Edge Sense feature on the U12 Plus, with the introduction of Edge Sense 2, according to our Mobile Editor Max Parker, who spent some time with the device last week. The second iteration of the feature is a little more sensitive and bundles more customisable toggles than before, he added.
HTC U12 Plus vs HTC U11 Specs: Which is the most powerful?
The HTC U12 Plus comes out on top in the specs department, thanks to its top-of-the-line Snapdragon 845 CPU. It also has 6GB of RAM, 64GB of expandable storage, a dual-camera on the front (8MP + 8MP) and rear (12MP + 16MP) and a 3500mAh battery that supports Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 4.0 fast-charging tech.
The one-year-old HTC U11, for comparison, is equipped with a now-outdated Snapdragon 835 CPU, 4GB of RAM on the base 64GB variant, a 12MP rear-facing camera, a 16MP front-facing shooter and a 3000mAh cell, which is compatible with Qualcomm’s slower Quick Charge 3.0 fast-charging standard.
Here’s a full breakdown of the internal differences between the HTC U12 Plus and HTC U11:
| HTC U12 Plus | HTC U11 | |
| Battery | 3500mAh (USB-C) | 3000mAh |
| Camera (Front) | 8MP + 8MP | 16MP |
| Camera (Rear) | 12MP + 16MP | 12MP |
| Display | 6-inch QHD+ LCD | 5.5-inch QHD LCD |
| OS | Android 8.1 Oreo | Android 7.0 Nougat (upgradable to Android 8.0 Oreo) |
| Processor | Snapdragon 845 | Snapdragon 835 |
| Storage | 64GB (expandable via microSD) | 64GB/128GB (expandable via microSD) |
| RAM | 6GB | 4GB/6GB |
HTC U12 Plus vs HTC U11 Summary: What’s the difference?
Design: The HTC U12 Plus and HTC U11 are quite similar from a cosmetic standpoint in the sense that they’re both built using a mixture of metal and glass. The former, however, has a dual-camera on the rear, an additional camera sensor on the front and lacks a Home button. It also has a rear-facing fingerprint reader.
Specs: The HTC U12 Plus is the clear winner here, with its Snapdragon 845 CPU, 6GB of RAM and dual-camera on the front (8MP + 8MP) and rear (12MP + 16MP). The HTC U11, the other hand, has a Snapdragon 835 CPU, 4GB of RAM on the base 64GB variant, a 12MP rear-facing camera and a 16MP front-facing shooter.
Do you like the look of the HTC U12 Plus? Let us know over on Facebook or Twitter @TrustedReviews.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
