There is no official announcement yet regarding the arrival of HTC's next smartphone flagship this year, although the public is already anticipating the launch of HTC U12 in the coming months. The Taiwanese tech manufacturer made its presence felt in the smartphone industry by introducing the HTC U series to the world, and the rumors are rife that the upcoming U12 model will deliver impressive new features and design, including a bezel-less display and a four camera build.
In spite of the HTC U12's absence at the previous Mobile World Congress (MWC), the flagship is still expected to drop in the early part of 2018. Further supporting the U12's imminent release is the leaked renders of the smartphone posted by Venture Beat's trusted tech tipster, Evan Blass. The latest leaked report is quite different this time, as the handset being shown is actually called the HTC U12 Plus. The leak does not indicate if HTC will launch a regular-sized U12 along with U12 Plus, or the company will go straight to the large variant this time.
The HTC U12 Plus is said to have the codename "Imagine," and it looks like the smartphone has been under development for some time. HTC is expected to unveil its latest flagship at a solo event this April, although there is a possibility that the launch will be delayed until early May due to production issues.
Blass's leaked photos reveal that the U12 Plus will sport a 6-inch extra tall LCD panel with 1440p screen resolution. Unlike the previous U models, the U12 Plus has very minimal bezels to make way for an immersive, full view front display.
Another eye-catching highlight of the HTC U12 Plus is its four camera setup. The front and rear shooters of the upcoming flagship are expected to receive two camera sensors each. The front-facing camera will get a pair of 8-megapixel lenses, while the back camera will have dual lens combination of 16-megapxel and 12-megapixel sensors. This is the first time that a four camera build was brought up in the HTC U12 leaks, as previous reports only hinted on a dual-lens rear camera.
Other leaked specs and features of the HTC U12 Plus include the Qualcomm Snpadragon 845 processor, 6GB of RAM with built-in storage options of 64GB and 128GB, expandable memory via microSD card, and a 3,420mAh battery cell. As the U12 Plus will have an all-screen front display, the fingerprint sensor will be positioned at the rear side, or just below the camera module. The smartphone will get an advanced Edge Sense technology that makes the U series phone to perform tasks by squeezing the edges of the device. The HTC U12 Plus is also tipped to run the latest Android 8.0 Oreo version out of the box.
