HTC U 12 Plus Source: HTC
Earlier in March, news surfaced that HTC was planning on releasing a new flagship Android device, three years after it announced the HTC U12 Plus smartphone that failed to capture any traction. HTC hasn’t been in the news lately, and the company didn’t launch a premium smartphone for over three years. It tried to gain some headlines with its blockchain-focused smartphone, but that too failed.
HTC announced earlier this year that it wanted to create a new premium Android smartphone, which would’ve been the first high-end device since the HTC U12 Plus was announced back in 2018. The new smartphone reportedly focused on metaverse, although we still have no information on how that could work for a smartphone (via PhoneArena). Our best guess is that it would connect, or power an HTC Vive VR headset. The new flagship was reportedly planned to be released sometime in April this year, but it was delayed due to lockdown and other difficulties affecting the supply chain and manufacturing.
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What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a system that records cryptocurrency transactions that are made with currencies such as Bitcoin. It’s maintained by several linked computers in a peer-to-peer network, and it’s nearly impossible to cheat and hack into. It’s essentially a database that stores transaction information electronically, and it’s decentralized. Investopedia made an excellent article about how it works if you want to learn more.
HTC wants to enter the metaverse?
HTC Vive Flow
HTC is one of the biggest players in the VR (Virtual Reality) field with its HTC Vive VR. It’s not surprising to see the company wanting to innovate, especially if it wants to hold on to that leading competition as Meta (formerly known as “Facebook”) wants to get most of the market share with the Meta Quest VR headsets (formerly known as “Oculus”).
HTC also recently announced the HTC Vive Flor affordable VR headset for just $499. The device is designed to work with smartphones, and the news makes us think that the new flagship may be able to coexist with the VR device, and supplement it in some way. It could be more powerful, and there could be some exclusive software features that may enhance the experience on a different level, which may not be possible on other devices. To put it simply, the phone may be proprietary to gain additional features and to make the entire package more appealing.
Should you buy a phone from a company that hasn’t made a proper premium device for many years?
Motorola Edge Plus 2022 and Google Pixel 6 Source: Pocketnow
HTC missed out on LG quitting the market, and it letMotorola and other vendors eat up LG’s remaining market share with great, affordable, and competitive smartphones. The company hasn’t made a proper flagship device since 2018, and even the HTC U12 Plus was behind other smartphones back in the day.
HTC’s last device was the HTC Wildfire E2 Plus, and it was a low-end device, equipped with the Unisoc T610 chipset, running Android 11. It had a 6.82-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 720 x 1,640, and it was far from a high-end offering. HTC hasn’t made a compelling device for many years, and the thought of the company returning makes us hope that it won’t just be a one-off, and it sticks to it and continues to innovate.
HTC U12 Plus
HTC used to be one of the biggest players in the smartphone world, and it has a long history of announcing industry-first technologies, but it couldn’t keep up with Samsung and other big players. The HTC One (M7) was a lot of people’s favorite smartphone, but the company went downhill after that, and it failed to gain any traction by constantly making the wrong choices every year. To demonstrate how badly HTC’s mobile division is doing, it managed to make just $7 million in sales in April. As reported by PhoneArena, that’s the lowest monthly figure since the company went public in 2002.
The fact that HTC has not done anything since then to get back into the high-end smartphone business raises a few red flags with a potential new device, as we’re not sure how long the company would support it. And it’s worth noting that HTC used to be reasonably timely with Android updates, before it started to slip and go downhill on that too, as the profits stopped.
Should you buy a phone from HTC, if it makes a new high-end device? Well, it’s hard to answer, and we would have to see the new offering first, before we could judge it properly, but given the history, it’s not looking promising for now.
HTC Vive Pro 2
The HTC Vive Pro 2 headset provides an immersive Virtual Reality experience with its 120-degree field of view, and 120Hz refresh rate displays. You can customize the experience with the highly adjustable settings to minimize eye fatigue to let you play for hours with comfort.