HTC U11 Life hands-on review

Introduction

Life is short... no, we mean Life is short for Lifestyle. The HTC U11 Life certainly enjoys fine living, but it won't make you spend your life at work. Affordability, flagship looks and respectable specs were the goals HTC set for itself when designing this phone.

The U11 Life has a bit of a split personality. In most of the world, it will be an Android One phone launching with Oreo. In the US, it will launch with Nougat and HTC Sense, though an Oreo update is only a month away.

Android One has become trendy recently as Pixels are exclusively high-priced and there are few other options for unmodded Android. This particular phone has a unique style with the U11-like back - the rear has an eye-catching translucency and a tendency to change colors depending on light and viewing angle.

HTC U11 Life at a glance

• Body: Polycarbonate frame, IP67 waterproofing
• Screen: 5.2" Super LCD, 1080p resolution (424ppi), Gorilla Glass 3
• Platform: Snapdragon 630 chipset; 3GB of RAM, 32GB storage, microSD slot
• OS: Android One Oreo (non-US), Android 7.1 Nougat (US)
• Camera: 16MP main with 4K video recording; 16MP selfie
• Audio: USonic headphones in box (noise canceling); Hi-Res audio; no 3.5mm jack
• Battery: 2,600mAh
• Misc: EdgeSense, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, HTC Sense Companion

So the design of the U11 Life is a virtual copy of the more expensive U11. And it shares its love of photography and music too.

See, the pricey Google Pixel 2 does not come with headphones. This HTC does and not just any pair, but USonic headphones with noise cancellation. The phone is also Hi-Res audio certified, you don't get this level of attention to sound from many others (other than Sony, perhaps).

The camera is also a focal point of the HTC U11 Life. It's not going to beat the big U11 in a head-to-head combat, but the 16MP sensor is helped by the same HDR Boost algorithm. And it's capable of 4K video capture too.

While it won't run Android One in the US, HTC has partnered with T-Mobile to offer aggressive pricing. The carrier will include it in its "Smart Picks" list of best value phones that are available in all of its retail locations.

Anyway, Android One is gaining popularity as people got fatigued with overstuffed skins and slow (if any) updates. These days most people upgrade their phones either because they want a better camera or because the software got too slow. The HTC U11 Life has you covered on both counts.

Hardware

Visually the HTC U11 Life seems like a smaller copy of the flagship U11 - a classic smartphone look made more attractive by the Liquid glass back. Some might not like the bezels, but others won't mind. The comparison to the Google Pixel 2 is apt as it was built by the same company and has bezels of similar proportions.

The screen - a 5.2" SuperLCD panel with 1080p resolution (424ppi) - appears to match the bigger LCD panel of the U11 in terms of image quality. The colors are pleasing if a bit oversaturated.

The U11 Life is more compact though not massively smaller than the flagship U11. The 0.3" difference in screen size is enough to make it fit more comfortably in small hands. The back of the phone feels flatter, but barely so (this helps mask the fact that the Life is 0.2mm thicker).

HTC U11 Life and U11 side by side

And the U11 Life is nearly half the price of the new Pixel and the flagship U11 (both currently $650). Some cost-cutting measures were employed, however, so all is not as it seems.

For one, the back is no longer glass, liquid or otherwise. Instead HTC used acrylic with paint on the inside. We have to say that it looked identical to us and we may not have noticed the change in material.

Still, acrylic is softer than glass meaning that it's more prone to scratching. At least the paint will never wear out, it's on the inside.

By the way, HTC says that the Sapphire Blue was the successful U11 color worldwide. The Life will also come in Brilliant Black and Ice White.

The back reflects its environment and always seems to change color

The frame of the phone has been changed as well, it's now made of polycarbonate instead of aluminum. The upside of this is that there are no more antenna lines. Polycarbonate is less rigid than aluminum, but does not bend permanently.

A third material change sees Gorilla Glass 3 take the place of GG5 used in the flagship device. We have not noticed any meaningful improvement in scratch resistance between Gorilla Glass versions so that will probably have minimal impact to durability.

Despite all these material swaps, the HTC U11 Life remains IP67 waterproof - up to 1m for up to 30 minutes, the same specifications as before.

We mentioned that not everyone is opposed to a bit of bezel and that is especially true if you're getting stereo speakers in return. Except you are not with the Life - there's only a single speaker on the bottom. Also, BoomSound is missing.

Single loudspeaker in the center, USB-C port off center

Speaking of, the USB-C port is on the bottom and we have to say that it bugs us slightly that it is off-center. Another issue we have is the lack of fast charging - the best you're getting is 10W, which is pretty standard. The other U11 comes with a 15W QuickCharge 3.0 charger for example.

The U11 Life has a 2,600mAh battery, about as much as the HTC U Play has. Still, 3,000mAh batteries are fairly common in this size class.

Connectivity

The HTC U11 Life will be available only in GSM flavor. The company says that very few Verizon and Sprint users go for unlocked phones, so it wasn't worth it to build a CDMA model.

This is mostly a US issue. There, the phone will work on both AT&T and T-Mobile, though the latter will have "aggressive pricing" through its website. Anyway, VoLTE and Wi-Fi calling are supported as is HD Voice.

Let's go back to the USB-C port for a moment. It's wired only for USB 2.0 speeds, which is likely not much of an issue for most. It is also the only wired port so this is where you plug in the USonic headphones.

The headphones are included in the retail box (a new pair sells for $40 on HTC.com) and feature built-in noise cancellation. It is very rare to see noise-canceling headphones bundled with a phone, these days you may get no headphones at all (we're looking at you, Google). This phone is certified for Hi-Res audio to boot.

For local connectivity, the HTC U11 Life one-ups its larger sibling with Bluetooth 5.0 (the U11 will get it once its Oreo update arrives). As we see it, the major benefit of version 5.0 is the increased range (4x) and new channel selection algorithms that reduce interference by LTE and Wi-Fi transmissions. Basically, you'll get a much better reception on your BT5.0 compatible headphones.

The phone also offers HTC Connect, which can connect to Apple AirPlay compatible devices, another way to stream media wirelessly.

Software

The HTC U11 Life will run two fairly different software configurations in the US and in the rest of the world. The US is getting the Sense-customized version (Android 7.1 Nougat at launch) while everyone else is getting an Android One phone (with 8.0 Oreo).

Apparently, it was a matter of timing of the certification and Oreo should be fairly quick to reach American units. You can expect it within a month after the launch, so end of November or thereabouts.

As its bigger sibling, the U11 Life comes with three digital assistants - Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and HTC Sense Companion. This time however, Alexa cannot be summoned with a voice prompt, you'll need to use Edge Sense to wake her up. The Google Assistant does support wake word detection.

HTC Sense Companion • Configuring Edge Sense

By the way, we mentioned that HTC Connect supports Apple AirPlay. However, that's a Sense feature so it will not work on the Android One version (i.e. the worldwide version). The Sense Companion will be omitted as well.

Performance

The HTC U11 Life is powered by the Snapdragon 630 chipset - a followup to the popular 625 chip with higher CPU clock speeds and a better GPU. Those are Cortex-A53 and Adreno 508 respectively. The chip is built on a 14nm process again, keeping power use and heat down.

The chipset is paired with 3GB of RAM, same as the Motorola Moto X4 (another Android One handset). The Moto uses the same chipset too. The Xiaomi Mi A1 uses the older 625 instead but comes with 4GB of RAM.

Note that we tested the US version of the U11 Life meaning it ran Android 7.1 Nougat. The worldwide version of the phone will launch with 8.0 Oreo instead.

Anyway, the CPU benchmarks show average performance, on par with the Snapdragon 625 devices and the Exynos 7880-powered Galaxy A5 (2017). The phone easily edges out the Nokia 6 (S430).

However, it struggles against Snapdragon 660 of the Oppo R11 - another 14nm chip from Qualcomm's mid-range but with Kryo cores bringing the power. The year-old HTC 10 is well out of reach.

GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Honor 9
  6457
• HTC U11
  6393
• Oppo R11
  5777
• Xiaomi Mi A1
  4292
• Moto G5 Plus
  4255
• HTC U11 Life
  4178
• Nokia 6 (Global version)
  2841

GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)

Higher is better

• HTC U11
  1919
• Honor 9
  1876
• Oppo R11
  1596
• Xiaomi Mi A1
  877
• HTC U11 Life
  865
• Moto G5 Plus
  847
• Nokia 6 (Global version)
  665

AnTuTu 6

Higher is better

• HTC U11
  177343
• HTC 10
  154031
• Honor 9
  143583
• Oppo R11
  118677
• HTC U11 Life
  72845
• Moto G5 Plus
  63390
• Xiaomi Mi A1
  61762
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  61020
• Nokia 6 (Global version)
  47495

Basemark OS 2.0

Higher is better

• Honor 9
  3072
• HTC U11
  2970
• Oppo R11
  2386
• HTC 10
  1839
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  1417
• HTC U11 Life
  1400
• Xiaomi Mi A1
  1262
• Moto G5 Plus
  1089

The new GPU of HTC U11 Life's chipset shows an improvement in graphics performance compared to the Android One-running Mi A1 and doubles the results of the Nokia 6.

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• HTC U11
  41
• Honor 9
  33
• HTC 10
  31
• Oppo R11
  15
• HTC U11 Life
  9.8
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  9.1
• Xiaomi Mi A1
  6.4
• Moto G5 Plus
  6.4
• Nokia 6 (Global version)
  4.6

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Honor 9
  33
• HTC U11
  19
• HTC 10
  15
• Oppo R11
  15
• HTC U11 Life
  9.5
• Samsung Galaxy A5

(2017)
9

Moto G5 Plus
6.4

Xiaomi Mi A1
6.3

Nokia 6 (Global version)
4.5

GFX 3.1 Car scene (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• HTC U11
  24
• HTC 10
  18
• Honor 9
  15
• Oppo R11
  8.6
• HTC U11 Life
  5.3
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  5.2
• Xiaomi Mi A1
  3.5
• Moto G5 Plus
  3.5
• Nokia 6 (Global version)
  2.5

GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Honor 9
  14
• HTC U11
  13
• HTC 10
  9.9
• Oppo R11
  8.6
• HTC U11 Life
  5.3
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  5.2
• Xiaomi Mi A1
  3.5
• Moto G5 Plus
  3.5
• Nokia 6 (Global version)
  2.5

Basemark X

Higher is better

• HTC U11
  38399
• Honor 9
  29398
• HTC 10
  28882
• Oppo R11
  20350
• HTC U11 Life
  14367
• Xiaomi Mi A1
  10472
• Moto G5 Plus
  10406
• Nokia 6 (Global version)
  7516

Basemark ES 3.1 / Metal

Higher is better

• HTC U11
  836
• Honor 9
  699
• Oppo R11
  345
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  259
• HTC U11 Life
  186
• Moto G5 Plus
  137
• Xiaomi Mi A1
  136
• Nokia 6 (Global version)
  100

As far as Android One and other pure-Android phones go, the HTC U11 Life offers solid performance. Snapdragon 660 would have allowed it to win this category with ease, but as the Nokia 6 shows performance isn't a priority in this price class.

Camera

HTC equipped the U11 Life with two 16MP sensors. The sensors themselves are virtually identical, but the rear camera is more advanced. It features Phase Detection AF and HDR Boost and can record 4K video. The selfie cam is fixed focus and tops out at 1080p (same as the U11).

Compared to the HTC U Play, the OIS is missing but the addition of 4K video is a big one. The lens is also slightly wider - 26mm vs. 28mm.

If the USonic headphones indicated that the U11 Life is an audiophile-friendly phone, the camera specs should also endear it to fans of photography. The camera app launches quickly and the special HDR Boost algorithm is akin to those found on Google Pixels and Samsung Galaxy S flagships.

The camera shows a strong performance in its class. The photos tend to be grainy and at times the noise reduction is heavy-handed, but pixel peepers aside, people will find plenty of detail in the 16MP photos.

HTC U11 Life camera samples

Here we have some photos we shot with the new Pixel 2, whose camera is a benchmark in mobile photography. Don't forget to use our new comparison tool to get a better understanding of what these two cameras do differently (hit the Compare button to the right of the thumbnails).

Some Google Pixel 2 shots for comparison

Even without the OIS, the camera managed blur-free photos in the dark. The shutter speed dropped to 1/30s and the noise rose as it got darker. It's monochromatic grain which is not too bothersome, especially if you don't view the photos at 100%.

HTC U11 Life low-light photos

Pixel 2 photos in the dark

The selfie camera uses the same 16MP sensor and f/2.0 aperture and the image quality is surprisingly good. The lack of autofocus hurt the camera a bit since some of our selfies were not entirely in focus, but if you hit the right spot you'll get plenty of detail. The camera hurts for extra dynamic range, though.

HTC U11 Life selfies

Pixel 2 selfies

First impressions

The HTC U11 Life will be sold for $350 unlocked in the US - half what a flagship costs, says HTC. The phone certainly falls on the premium side of the mid-range segment.

We could see someone picking one up instead of a Pixel 2 with Google's poor handling of the launch of its new flagship. But then there are some excellent Android One phones that launched recently.

Can the U11 Life beat the Moto X4? The noise-canceling headphones in the retail package certainly give it a leg up and HTC has the upper hand in pricing (especially if you go with T-Mobile). We do wish HTC kept the stereo speakers as they would have made this easier to position this as an audio-centric phone.

Another angle would be sell the Life as a camera phone. It won't displace the flagship U11, but we saw solid performance in both day and night photography, selfies turned out quite good as well. You can add HDR Boost and 4K video to the list of things we liked about the camera.

As before, the Edge Sense is a bit of a gimmick but the Google Pixels have it too (it is more customizable, though). It's not the first time we bring up the Pixels and it has more to do than just HTC building the little one.

Android One (available outside the US) makes the HTC U11 Life an affordable alternative to the Pixel 2. Sure, the chipset isn't nearly as fast but the majority of people don't need that level of performance anyway.

You're getting a solid screen, waterproofing, better audio out of the box and one solid camera (if not quite Pixel-great). It seems that HTC got almost everything right.

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