HTC U Play with 5.2-inch FHD display, 16MP cameras, AI Sense Companion officially announced

HTC U Play officially announced. Mid-range specs with glass design and HTC Sense AI Companion. Pricing, specifications and features included.

Thursday, January 12, 2017

/ by Aman Banka


After series of leaks and rumours, HTC earlier today officially took the wraps off its new U series of smartphones. The new HTC U series include mid-range HTC U Play and flagship HTC U Ultra.

Talking about the HTC U Play first, the smartphone is a smaller and affordable variant of the HTC U Ultra smartphone. The device comes with mid-range specifications and lacks some of the key features found on the HTC U Ultra.

Also Read: HTC U Ultra with 5.7-inch QHD display, secondary display, Snapdragon 821 officially unveiled

HTC U Play comes in four color options including Brilliant Black, Ice White, Sapphire Blue and Comestic Pink. According to HTC, the U Play will be available in two storage options with different RAM configurations - 3GB RAM with 32GB ROM and 4GB RAM with 64GB ROM.

HTC has priced the 4GB RAM variant of the U Play in Taiwan at NT$13,900, which roughly translates to US$438 or Rs. 29,834. The device is said to be available in select global markets in early 2017.


With the introduction of the U series, HTC has moved away from metal build and has shifted to glass design — following the footsteps of Samsung. Even LG is rumoured to launch the upcoming LG G6 with glass design.

The HTC U Play comes with a metal frame with front and back made up of glass. On the front, there's a fingerprint scanner with volume rockers and power / lock button on the right. The device lacks 3.5mm headphone jack, as the bottom consist of speaker grill and USB 2.0 Type-C port, with SIM card slot on the top.


Though HTC is lacking the headphone jack (#courage), HTC promises high-quality personalised sound experience via USonic adaptive sound technology. This tech has built-in microphones in the earbuds that figures out the optimal sound conditions for your ear by listening for sonic pulses and noise around you.

Also, the device comes with HTC's newly announced Sense Companion. Basically, it's an voice controlled AI assistant similar to Google Assistant and Siri. The Sense Companion learns from your habits using 4 always-on active microphones. It helps users in performing various tasks like unlocking phone with voice commands, manage battery to reflect your daily pattern, recommend restaurants, warn about weather and road conditions, make suggestions about your agenda and more.


HTC U Play Specifications

  • 5.2-inch Full HD Super LCD display with Corning Gorilla Glass protection
  • 64-bit octa-core MediaTek Helio P10 processor with Mali-T860 GPU
  • 3GB / 4GB RAM
  • Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow with HTC Sense UI on top
  • 16MP rear camera with dual-tone LED flash, BSI sensor, f/2.0 aperture with 28mm focal length, PDAF and OIS
  • 16MP front-facing camera with UltraPixel mode, BSI sensor, f/2.0 aperture with 28mm focal length
  • 32GB / 64GB internal storage with expandable memory up to 2TB using microSD card
  • 2500mAh battery with fast charging support
  • Measures: 145.99 x 72.9 x 3.5-7.99mm | Weighs: 145 grams
  • 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 & 5GHz), Bluetooth 4.2, GPS + GLONASS, USB 2.0 Type-C and NFC support
  • Additional features: Motion Launch, Quiet ring on pick-up, Pocket mode, Flip to mute, Display color personalization



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edited with by Aman