Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsExceeded expectations.
Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2019
I was looking for something that was high performance, but did not have a notch or a hole in the screen. I loved my U11, but my wife wanted it, and she suggested I upgrade to the U12 Plus and give HER my beloved U11. Fortunately, the U12 turned out to be a real beast, and the haptic buttons have become a feature I like. The camera can go toe-to-toe with the Google Pixel in everything but Night Sight, but it also has the telephoto camera which makes a big difference for someone who admires architecture. The primary camera is wide angle, but not super wide.
The screen is more beautiful than an LCD has a right to be, and is just as vibrant as the Note 8 I use at work. For some reason, my eyes do not get as tired with this phone, and a friend and I watched an entire movie on it because it looked so good and the sound was so immersive. No distracting hole or notch either. It sounded better than my 4 inch stereo speakers on my desktop computer, and we could still see when we were done ;)
Headphone audio with the included earbuds is mindblowing. I don't take that statement lightly, as I'm a professional studio recording engineer with 20+ years experience. I first experienced HTC's USonic audio on the U11, and it took two weeks just to wrap my brain around the spatial imaging, openness, clarity, and bass extension. The noise cancellation works well at reducing engine noise and hum, and these things actually scan your ears to optimize the sound. I know first had what it sounds like to stand in a commercial studio control room during a live mixdown session, hearing the music in its original form, and HTC USonic is the only technology that comes close to that experience.
Performance wise, it handles everything with ease, including heavy gaming. Matter of fact, it runs the game ARK: Survival Evolution fine, while the new Galaxy S10 struggles with it. Battery life is something that is not great out of the box, and that is because the U12 learns your usage patterns and optimizes battery usage accordingly. Give it two weeks to learn, and the battery life will be better than phones which are said to have very good battery life. When you do need to charge, it has Quick Charge 3.0 in the box, and the phone is equipped for Quick Charge 4.0+. I get an initial charge of 2% every 60 seconds. The phone has power save and extreme power save modes, but I've never had to use them. Ever.
As far as feel is concerned, I learned to appreciate quality over the years, and the U12 Plus feels like it was carved out of emerald and then polished. Very dense, refined, and jewel-like. That's not to say it's not tough. I fell on it HARD last week, and the impact left a phone-shaped bruise on my leg, but the phone was fine. We also own the iPhone 8 Plus and XS Max, and the U12 makes them feel like lower grade devices in comparison.
