HTC U Play First Impressions

A few days ago we gave you a quick tour of the HTC U Ultra, this time we’re going to take a look at its cousin, the HTC U Play. It sports a build and design similar to the U Ultra but in a smaller package with a 5.2-inch display, MediaTek Helio P10 processor, and 16MP camera. Read our first impressions below.

As mentioned earlier, the HTC U Play comes in a smaller package compared to the HTC U Ultra phablet. For starters, it has a 5.2-inch display with Full HD resolution. Placed above it is the earpiece and 16MP front camera. Down below are the fixed capacitive Home key/fingerprint scanner, and two lit keys for Back and Recent Apps.

Like the U Ultra, it has a curved Gorilla glass on top which blends almost seamlessly to the black glossy frame. It actually reminds me of the kind of quality exhibited by the iPhone 7 or the Huawei P10.

Similarities with the U Ultra doesn’t end here as it also has a curved metal frame. Found on the right are the volume and power/lock buttons, the top houses the hybrid SIM tray and microphone, while down at the bottom are the microphone, USB Type-C port, and loudspeaker.

Turn it on its back and you will be greeted by the same glossy and highly reflective “liquid surface”, along with the protruding 16MP camera and dual-tone flash. The Sapphire Blue color really stands out, but just like the U Ultra, it is prone to fingerprints and smudges.

On the hands, the U Play is more wieldy and comfortable. It has the same thickness as the U Ultra at 8mm but the smaller frame makes it lighter, and easier to grip and navigate even with one hand.

HTC U Play specs:
5.2-inch Full HD Super LCD display
Corning Gorilla Glass
MediaTek Helio P10 octa-core CPU
4GB RAM
64GB storage
up to 2TB via microSD (uses SIM 2 slot)
16MP rear camera, 1um pixels, OIS, PDAF, f/2.0 aperture, dual-tone flash
16MP front camera, 1um pixels, Ultrapixel mode, f2.0 aperture
Dual-SIM (hybrid)
4G LTE
FDD: Bands 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20, 28
TDD: Bands 38, 40
WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
DLNA, Miracast
Bluetooth 4.2
NFC
GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, Beidou
Fingerprint sensor
USB 2.0 Type-C
Dual-mic w/ Noise Cancellation
Android 6.0 Marshmallow w/ HTC Sense
145.99 x 72.9 x 3.5 ~ 7.99 mm
145 g

Stay tuned for our full review. If you have questions about the device, feel free to ask in the comments below.