[vegetaleb]

Ok so what matters most now for us audiophiles is the audio quality and loudness of the adapter, I hope unboxing therapy or other reviewers who care about audio will give us their impressions specially compared to the 10

 

[stenog]

A Danish mobile website already got the phone, it's only hands on impressions, a detailed review will follow later. These guys don't write in depth about audio so we won't get any info about audio quality from them. And yes that's the most important thing, I do believe that audio on the U 11 is at least on par with the HTC 10, but time will tell

http://www.mobilsiden.mobi/nyheder/htc-u-11-forste-indtryk-og-hands-on,lid.38105/
This is in Danish, but a few first impressions.

- good camera
- fingerprint magnet
- press the sides and activate camera or Google assistant
- they do like the design
- is slightly bigger than G6/S8

 

[RockStar2005]

It says liquid alloy, I'll check it out when I'm home! The wifi here is just bad! I can't view the live stream. The Taiwan website has more detail than the English one http://www.htc.com/tw/smartphones/htc-u11/
And there is a clear case but doesn't cover the sides just the corners

Hamster,

Thanks for checking on that. But yeah, still no confirmation it will be shatterproof, esp if it comes with a clear case. Obviously they're doing that b/c they're worried it will shatter. lol This might be the deal breaker for me. Need more info though.

 

[Whitigir]

No 3.5mm out, no interest

 

[RockStar2005]

Ok so what matters most now for us audiophiles is the audio quality and loudness of the adapter, I hope unboxing therapy or other reviewers who care about audio will give us their impressions specially compared to the 10

I HAVE the answer on the DAC thing!!

See article here. And quote below BY author (not from Comments lol).

Spoiler

HTC also hits all the necessary spec points for a modern high-end handset: Snapdragon 835, and models with 4GB RAM + 64GB storage, or 6GB + 128GB, plus microSD. (In the U.S., it's 4 + 64.) That's paired with a 3,000mAh battery, Quick Charge 3.0, and IP67 water and dust resistance. Like the U Ultra, there's no headphone jack, but HTC will at least package a USB-C to 3.5mm dongle in the box this time. (The dongle itself contains a high-end DAC, I'm told.)

Thoughts??!

In other news, the U 11 camera got a 90 on DxoMark..........highest rating ever. See comparisons to S8 and G6 here.

 

[RockStar2005]

No 3.5mm out, no interest

See my post #245. May or may not change your mind. lol

 

[Whitigir]

See my post #245. May or may not change your mind. lol

I know, but I honestly rather have Separated 3.5mm socket. I dislike all products that use 1 single hole for all connections.

 

[RockStar2005]

I know, but I honestly rather have Separated 3.5mm socket. I dislike all products that use 1 single hole for all connections.

Ok. I'm not even sure either about the U 11.

The dongle DAC thing is fine by me I guess. The issues I still have with buying it are: 1) the size......still not sure if I'm gonna be ok with a 5.5 incher lol.......2) the "glass" back..........is this special glass-like polymer shatterproof? I'm guessing no since HTC is including a clear case cover for the back side (doesn't cover corners per Hamster), and I really don't want a case, though this is a THIN case, so I dunno. 3) Will it be 100% compatible with T-Mobile like the HTC 10 was? Meaning did or will HTC certify VoLTE with T-Mobile so it will work on their network (a requirement)??? I'm guessing I'll have to wait to find out. The fact that T-Mobile apparently isn't getting the locked U 11 is a bad sign for that as the 10 was at ONE time available locked via T-Mobile. (The LOCKED U 11 in the U.S. will be a Sprint exclusive. F Sprint. lol)

 

[Whitigir]

I rather stick to HTc10 to be honest. The T-Mobile connectivity on the HTC 10 is awesome and I can tell that T-Mobile has been upgrading their infrastructures nowadays. There are places that my 10 barely had any receptions, and now all full 4 bars LTE. Unlocked unlimited data, now that is what I am talking about.

 

[oryan_dunn]

Ok. I'm not even sure either about the U 11.

The dongle DAC thing is fine by me I guess. The issues I still have with buying it are: 1) the size......still not sure if I'm gonna be ok with a 5.5 incher lol.......2) the "glass" back..........is this special glass-like polymer shatterproof? I'm guessing no since HTC is including a clear case cover for the back side (doesn't cover corners per Hamster), and I really don't want a case, though this is a THIN case, so I dunno. 3) Will it be 100% compatible with T-Mobile like the HTC 10 was? Meaning did or will HTC certify VoLTE with T-Mobile so it will work on their network (a requirement)??? I'm guessing I'll have to wait to find out. The fact that T-Mobile apparently isn't getting the locked U 11 is a bad sign for that as the 10 was at ONE time available locked via T-Mobile. (The LOCKED U 11 in the U.S. will be a Sprint exclusive. F Sprint. lol)

The other issue with a single USB C is listening while charging. For me, this is when I'm in bed at night watching YouTube and I don't want to disturb my wife, or when I'm listening to music at my desk at work. If the included dongle had a USB C pass-through, then it'd be less of an issue, but still an annoyance to have to have the dongle. I'm still not sold on how good of a dac/amp combo you can stuff in a tiny dongle.

 

[RockStar2005]

I rather stick to HTc10 to be honest. The T-Mobile connectivity on the HTC 10 is awesome and I can tell that T-Mobile has been upgrading their infrastructures nowadays. There are places that my 10 barely had any receptions, and now all full 4 bars LTE. Unlocked unlimited data, now that is what I am talking about.

Yeah. As you can see in my last post (#3), this is a concern of mine as well. I will probably have to wait to find out on that as someone has to confirm HTC did this for U 11 too. It's NOT enough for the phone to have VoLTE on it, which the U 11 does. HTC MUST certify it (which costs time & money) with T-Mo or else I will not be able to enable it. I had same issue with my Sony Xperia X Performance last year cuz Sony Mobile was TOO CHEAP to pay for the certification. F them too. LOL!

 

[RockStar2005]

The other issue with a single USB C is listening while charging. For me, this is when I'm in bed at night watching YouTube and I don't want to disturb my wife, or when I'm listening to music at my desk at work. If the included dongle had a USB C pass-through, then it'd be less of an issue, but still an annoyance to have to have the dongle. I'm still not sold on how good of a dac/amp combo you can stuff in a tiny dongle.

They have "splitter" dongles but the problem there is now that we know the high-end DAC is IN the dongle, using one of those splitter dongles means you won't have the high-end sound in the mix if you use it over the included one because you want to charge your phone at the same time as well. That p's me off now cuz I just realized I wouldn't be able to charge my phone while in my car listening to music w/o sacrificing sound quality. F! I usually don't charge it though so it might be ok, but that's NOT a good thing. HTC could've included a splitter dongle w/ high-end DAC, but that would've brought the price up I'm sure. F!!!!!!!!! lol

 

[Superposition]

Ok. I'm not even sure either about the U 11.

The dongle DAC thing is fine by me I guess. The issues I still have with buying it are: 1) the size......still not sure if I'm gonna be ok with a 5.5 incher lol.......2) the "glass" back..........is this special glass-like polymer shatterproof? I'm guessing no since HTC is including a clear case cover for the back side (doesn't cover corners per Hamster), and I really don't want a case, though this is a THIN case, so I dunno. 3) Will it be 100% compatible with T-Mobile like the HTC 10 was? Meaning did or will HTC certify VoLTE with T-Mobile so it will work on their network (a requirement)??? I'm guessing I'll have to wait to find out. The fact that T-Mobile apparently isn't getting the locked U 11 is a bad sign for that as the 10 was at ONE time available locked via T-Mobile. (The LOCKED U 11 in the U.S. will be a Sprint exclusive. F Sprint. lol)

I think it's Gorilla Glass 5 on the front, 3 on the back, so not a shatterproof polymer. (Source: if I remember correctly that's what the HTC guy said on a video on ars technica).

The HTC US site's order page has the text "The unlocked HTC 11 is compatible with AT&T and T‑Mobile Networks." on the pre-order page, above the order button. So hopefully that does mean fully compatible but yeah, if you have a specific requirement like T-Mobile VoLTE it's probably worth checking explicitly.

I worry about the ergonomics. 5.5" 16:9 is bigger than I'm comfortable with, and it looks like they've not helped by bringing the capacitative buttons in towards the middle, so they are both far out and very low down. Since I struggle to reach the back button on the 10 I think this is likely to be a deal-breaker for me.

As for the DAC in the dongle, I'll be surprised if it's not the same as the Bolt/Ultra dongle. Sadly all I can tell from their site is that it has the same price tag

 

[RockStar2005]

I think it's Gorilla Glass 5 on the front, 3 on the back, so not a shatterproof polymer. (Source: if I remember correctly that's what the HTC guy said on a video on ars technica).

The HTC US site's order page has the text "The unlocked HTC 11 is compatible with AT&T and T‑Mobile Networks." on the pre-order page, above the order button. So hopefully that does mean fully compatible but yeah, if you have a specific requirement like T-Mobile VoLTE it's probably worth checking explicitly.

I worry about the ergonomics. 5.5" 16:9 is bigger than I'm comfortable with, and it looks like they've not helped by bringing the capacitative buttons in towards the middle, so they are both far out and very low down. Since I struggle to reach the back button on the 10 I think this is likely to be a deal-breaker for me.

As for the DAC in the dongle, I'll be surprised if it's not the same as the Bolt/Ultra dongle. Sadly all I can tell from their site is that it has the same price tag

Yeah..........not shatterproof = me NOT happy. lol The thin clear cover they include with it......... if it's REALLY thin that would help, but I still hate the idea of having to cover up the phone. I've learned that even clear cases still somewhat HIDE the phone's looks.

Yeah. They fixed the Verizon thing to show it as separate b/c Verizon is CDMA so it made no sense to include them as a GSM carrier. But yeah..............it saying that there is NOT enough. I need confirmation like I got with the 10 that the U 11 is VoLTE-certified. I have a feeling it won't be though and that's a deal breaker for me, despite the DAC thing being resolved.

Yeah me too..........if all else was fine I might look the other way on the 5.5" 16:9 thing, but I dunno. I was hoping the phone would not have any side buttons, but I guess that was too much for hope for. I just don't get why they felt the need to make it bigger. Man F this garbage movement of making phones bigger and thinner. At least do what Samsung does and offer 2 different sizes like for S series. The battery is another issue too. GSM Arena shows LESS max talk time AND less standby time for the U 11 vs. 10. So I guess me hoping it would be the same or slightly better than 10 is a no-go there.

 

[RockStar2005]

HTC 10 vs. HTC U 11. Good comparison article.