Whenever anybody puts “Life” in the name of their product, I somehow think of a Vauxhall Corsa Life. It’s a typically entry-level car with eco credentials. Here though, the new HTC U12 life (with a lower-case “L”) offers a high-end spec for a midrange price.
Available in Moonlight Blue or Twilight Purple, it weighs in at 175 grams and measures 158.5 x 75.4 x 8.3mm. It’s powered by a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 octa-core 1.8GHz CPU and runs Android 8.1 Oreo with HTC Sense. There’s a large 6″ 1080×2160 (FHD+), 18:9 screen and you get either 6GB or 4GB RAM plus 128GB or 64GB storage depending on region and model. There’s also a microSD slot for additional storage.
At the back there’s a 16 megapixel and 5 megapixel dual camera with phase detection autofocus. Up front is a 13 megapixel shooter for your selfies. Other details include a 3600mAh battery, dual-band WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC and a fingerprint sensor.
HTC tell us that the HTC U12 life is….
The newest and most affordable member of (our) award-winning U family: the HTC U12 life. Designed to reflect “U” – your unforgettable photos, your unique sense of style, your personal way of interacting with your phone – the new U12 life shines with impressive features and gorgeous, eye-catching design at an unbelievable value.
The U12 life features an exceptional dual camera on the back that takes the difficulty out of capturing artistic bokeh photos. Add next-level creativity to your portraits with pro-like focus on your subject and a soft, delicate blur in the background, much like an expensive, high-end camera. Or shoot beautiful 4K videos with stunning clarity, perfect for your next viral clip on YouTube or Instagram. The front camera delivers richly detailed selfies with flash and beautification mode, even in low light, so you’ll always be ready for your close-up.
It’s made from an acrylic glass unibody with subtle stripes and a “metal-like design”. There’s also a “new dimensional touch with a solid grip that feels great in the hand”.
We’ve just gone to the UK HTC website and found that the 64GB / 4GB model has been lined up for UK customers. HTC tell me that the price will be £299, which is really rather good, and it’ll be available later in September. No news on network availability though, but we’ll give you details if and when we get that.