HTC’s Android One phone sounds like another good addition to the program

The Android One program has been revitalised recently with the addition of more premium handsets including two large shots in the arm thanks to releases by Motorola and Xiaomi. The Android One program is looking set to expand shortly with the launch of an Android One phone from Google’s newest partner, HTC.

The U11 Life as it’s been called by noted HTC leaker @llabtoofer in this latest leak shows as a decently specced Android Phone that could do well in the markets it will eventually be released to. The specs are shown in this tweet from earlier this week:

U11 Life (AndroidOne program)
SD630
RAM/ROM 3/32gb or 4/64gb
5.2' 1080p
Cameras 16/16mp
Battery 2600mah
Edge Sense, USonic
IP67
Android O

— LlabTooFeR (@LlabTooFeR) October 3, 2017

The specs are quite decent from that list. The octa-core Snapdragon 630 SoC can be clocked up to 2.2GHz also includes the Qualcomm Spectra ISP for better quality photos and with 16MP sensors there’s a lot to work with there. The inclusion of their Edge Sense squeezable action is an interesting decision but would be at the very least a cool addition to try out, whether it’s designed to launch Google Assistant like the newly launched Pixel 2 phones we’ll have to wait and see.

Like the Moto X4, the U11 Life will come in both Sense and Android One configs, with Evan Blass showing off the U11 Life with Sense early last month, replying to @llabtoofer who was detailing the new ‘HTC Ocean Life’ as he called it then.
https://twitter.com/evleaks/status/907873099319791616

HTC’s new relationship with Google is in the very beginning stage. Google recently invested heavily in the Taiwanese manufacturer to the tune of $1.1 billion in order to acquire their mobile team, and some non-exclusive access to their patent portfolio. HTC’s work on the original Pixel phones and new Pixel 2 handset likely resulted in the interest in launching this new Android One phone.

Android One has yet to land here in Australia. The US only saw their first Android One handset launch locally when Google’s Project Fi service requested an Android One version of the phone for their Project Fi customers.

Whether HTC, who has traditionally been rather popular here in Australia, will launch the new Android One phone in our market is something we’d be interested in. We’ll find out more when HTC is rumoured to announce the phone, possibly alongside the HTC U11 Plus in China next month.