HTC U11 vs. Apple iPhone 7 Plus: Can Android champ beat Apple’s flagship?

HTC has finally taken the wraps off of the HTC U11, the company’s latest-and-greatest smartphone. The device is sleek, stylish, and boasts some pretty impressive specs under the hood. Of course, it’s not the only phone that fits those criteria.

Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus isn’t just sleek and stylish, it was also the most powerful phone around when it first debuted in September. Whether you’re an Android or iOS user, the fact remains that the iPhone is an impressive device. But how does the newly-unveiled U11 compare? Here, we take a closer look at both devices to find out.

Specs

Apple iPhone 7 Plus

HTC U11

Size
158.2 x 77.9 x 7.3mm (6.23 x 3.07 x 0.29-inches)
153.9 x 75.9 x 7.9mm (6.06 x 2.99 x 0.31 -inches)
Weight
188g (6.63 oz)
169g (5.96 oz)
Screen
5.5-inch LED
5.5-inch LCD
Resolution
1,080 x 1,920 pixels (401 pixels per inch)
1,440 x 2,560 pixels (534 pixels per inch)
OS
iOS 10.0.1
Android 7.1.1 Nougat
Storage
32/128/256GB
64GB (U.S.), 64/128GB (International)
MicroSD card slot
No
Yes
NFC support
Yes
Yes
Processor
A10 Fusion
Qualcomm Snapdragon 835
RAM
3GB
4GB (U.S.) 4/6GB (International)
Connectivity
GSM / CDMA / HSPA / LTE
GSM / CDMA / HSPA / LTE
Camera
Dual 12MP rear, 7MP front
12MP rear, 16MP front
Video
4K
4K
Bluetooth
Yes, version 4.2
Yes, version 4.2
Fingerprint sensor
Yes
Yes
Other sensors
Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer
Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, magnetic
Water resistant
IP67
IP67
Battery
2,900mAh
3,000mAh
Ports
Lightning
USB-C
Marketplace
App Store
Google Play
Color offerings
Jet Black, Black, Silver, Gold, Rose Gold, Red
Blue, black, white, gray, red
Availability

Apple, Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile

Sprint, HTC.com, Amazon

Price
Starts at $770
$650
DT review
4 out of 5 stars
Hands-on

It’s normally easy to compare Android smartphones because they often use the same Qualcomm-built chips. When comparing an Android device with an iPhone, however, things become a little more complex.

The HTC U11 features Qualcomm’s latest chip, the Snapdragon 835, which has only been featured in a couple new phones since its launch. Now, pair that with 4GB of RAM — or 6GB, if you’re buying the more powerful international version — and you have a very powerful phone.

The iPhone 7 Plus, in comparison, also features a very powerful chip — the Apple A10 Fusion, which partners with 3GB of RAM to run the iPhone. The U.S. version of the U11 offers 64GB of storage, while the international version provides 64 or 128GB. The iPhone, on the other hand, is available in 32, 128, and 256GB configurations. While there are more storage options for the iPhone, the HTC U11 does have a microSD card slot, so you can easily expand storage.

Now, there’s a few things to consider when comparing performance, including processor speed and RAM, but the most important thing is how that hardware works with software to deliver real-world performance. That’s where benchmarks can help in comparing the two devices. While we haven’t received any benchmarks since the launch of the phone, before launch the device was spotted scoring 1,912 on Geekbench’s single-core test, and 6,137 on the multi-core test. By comparison, the iPhone 7 Plus scored 3,331 on the single-core test, and 5,520 on the multi-core test.

In other words, it’s a little unclear who the winner is here. Most apps use only one thread at a time, meaning the single-core test is a better indicator of real-world use when one app is being used. However, if you start multitasking, the multi-core score becomes more important. Because of that, this one is a tie.

Winner: Tie

Design and display

The iPhone has long been hailed as the king of design, and the iPhone 7 Plus is the culmination of years of excellent design choices. The HTC U11, however, certainly doesn’t look bad. In fact, it looks pretty great. While the iPhone boasts a simple, yet sleek look, HTC has taken a shinier approach with the glass-backed U11. The back of the U11 is also quite simple, featuring only the camera and HTC logo. Phones are also becoming thinner, and while the new HTC U11 is thin, it doesn’t beat the iPhone, which sits in at 0.29 inches. Another important thing to note is that neither of these two phones have a headphone jack — you’ll need to go wireless or use USB-C/Lightning headphones to listen to your music.

While design is largely subjective, the quality of a display is not. Both of the phones feature a 5.5-inch display, with the iPhone display being LCD and the U11 display being S-LCD. On the iPhone, you’ll find a 1,080 x 1,920-pixel display, which offers a pixel density of 401 pixels-per-inch. The U11, on the other hand, boasts 1,440 x 2,560 pixels, with a density of 534ppi.

Again, while design is largely subjective, resolution is not. The HTC U11 is the winner here.

Winner: HTC U11

Battery life and charging

The HTC U11 and the iPhone 7 Plus are pretty equal when it comes to battery capacity. The U11 has a slight edge in capacity with 3,000mAh over the iPhone’s 2,900mAh, and that extra capacity translates to longer battery life, at least in this case. While the U11 has a more power-intensive display, it seems as though the device also has a longer battery life. The U11 supposedly provides 24.5 hours of talk time on a single charge, while Apple claims the iPhone 7 Plus can provide 21 hours of talk time.

The HTC U11 also offers Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0, which allows you to get hours of use out of a couple minutes of charging. The iPhone 7 Plus has no such feature.

The longer battery life and the inclusion of Quick Charge 3.0 make the HTC U11 the winner here.

Winner: HTC U11

Camera

Apple has long been hailed as a leader in the mobile photography world, but the HTC U11 could be the phone to beat. The iPhone 7 Plus offers a dual 12-megapixel camera on the back, with optical image stabilization, phase detection autofocus, and an aperture of f/1.8. It also offers 2x optical zoom. The HTC U11 offers similar features — you’ll find a 12-megapixel camera with an f/1.7 aperture, optical image stabilization, and phase detection autofocus.

While the iPhone 7 Plus certainly offers some great features in its camera thanks to the dual-lens, the U11’s camera is both better for low-light situations thanks to its larger aperture, and is rated higher by camera testing site DxOMark. The HTC U11 scored 90 in tests, while the iPhone 7 Plus scored 86.

The front-facing camera on the U11 is also better. The iPhone 7 Plus’ front-facing camera sits in at 7-megapixels with an f/2.2 aperture, while the HTC U11’s selfie cam comes in at 16-megapixels.

The U11 is the winner here, though, in some situations, the iPhone may offer a better shot thanks to its dual-lens and software.

Winner: HTC U11

Google sheds more light on mobile VR headset, next-gen Daydream platform

Why it matters to you

Google is refining its Daydream VR platform for Android to support the upcoming stand-alone headset and make it a more immersive experience.

On Thursday during Google I/O, Daydream Director of Product Management Mike Jazayeri talked more about the company’s upcoming stand-alone mobile virtural reality headset and the platform powering the device, Daydream 2.0 “Euphrates.” As previously reported, the device will not require a smartphone like Gear VR and Daydream View but will be self-contained and rely on Google’s Worldsense system to make the mobile VR experience more immersive.

Worldsense consists of two wide-angle cameras that track all objects within the environment to build a virtual “blueprint.” This enables users to walk around freely without having to worry about connected cables and bumping into physical objects and people. This also means the headset will not require external sensors (as seen with the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift), nor will users need to pre-define the playing space.

Google partnered with Qualcomm to create a reference design based on the latter company’s Snapdragon 835 processor, custom-designed tracking cameras, and high-performance sensors. Unlike the smartphone-dependent Daydream View headset, this reference design is optimized for mobile VR without touch-enabled screens, thus retail devices will provide the optimal mobile VR experience.

But with powerful hardware comes the need for a solid software platform and that is where the next version of Daydream comes in. It will be powered by Android O, which will include a new VR window manager that supports non-touch screens. That means the operating system user interface will be accessible in VR.

Daydream 2.0 will also see an update to the Daydream Home experience to support both Daydream View and stand-alone headsets. For starters, users will see a cascading list of content consisting of media, app, games, and so on in horizontal tiles. Google added a new dashboard too that is accessible inside any app that does not require the user to exit the current VR experience.

“You won’t have to leave the experience to check a notification, change settings, or even to switch apps,” he said.

The new dashboard will allow users to send their experience to Chromecast, take screenshots, and capture video. On the Chromecast aspect, users simply pull up the dashboard, select the Cast button, select the Chromecast device, and then the experience can be viewed on the connected screen by anyone. This will be a single view, and not a two-screen rendering as seen in the stand-alone headset. The Chromecast device will be set as the default destination as users move from app to app.

Like the Cast feature, users can pull up the dashboard and select the Camera icon. From there, users choose to capture a screenshot or record video and then send that content to social networks or messaging apps. The YouTube VR team is also working on features for Daydream 2.0 Euphrates, smartphones, and the stand-alone headsets.

Daydream 2.0 Euphrates will hit smartphones and the stand-alone headsets later in 2017. HTC and Lenovo will be the first to produce stand-alone headsets based on the reference design. Google’s Clay Bavor also talks about Daydream, Tango, and VR/AR developer tools in a new blog here.

Google sheds more light on mobile VR headset, next-gen Daydream platform

Why it matters to you

Google is refining its Daydream VR platform for Android to support the upcoming stand-alone headset and make it a more immersive experience.

On Thursday during Google I/O, Daydream Director of Product Management Mike Jazayeri talked more about the company’s upcoming stand-alone mobile virtural reality headset and the platform powering the device, Daydream 2.0 “Euphrates.” As previously reported, the device will not require a smartphone like Gear VR and Daydream View but will be self-contained and rely on Google’s Worldsense system to make the mobile VR experience more immersive.

Worldsense consists of two wide-angle cameras that track all objects within the environment to build a virtual “blueprint.” This enables users to walk around freely without having to worry about connected cables and bumping into physical objects and people. This also means the headset will not require external sensors (as seen with the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift), nor will users need to pre-define the playing space.

Google partnered with Qualcomm to create a reference design based on the latter company’s Snapdragon 835 processor, custom-designed tracking cameras, and high-performance sensors. Unlike the smartphone-dependent Daydream View headset, this reference design is optimized for mobile VR without touch-enabled screens, thus retail devices will provide the optimal mobile VR experience.

But with powerful hardware comes the need for a solid software platform and that is where the next version of Daydream comes in. It will be powered by Android O, which will include a new VR window manager that supports non-touch screens. That means the operating system user interface will be accessible in VR.

Daydream 2.0 will also see an update to the Daydream Home experience to support both Daydream View and stand-alone headsets. For starters, users will see a cascading list of content consisting of media, app, games, and so on in horizontal tiles. Google added a new dashboard too that is accessible inside any app that does not require the user to exit the current VR experience.

“You won’t have to leave the experience to check a notification, change settings, or even to switch apps,” he said.

The new dashboard will allow users to send their experience to Chromecast, take screenshots, and capture video. On the Chromecast aspect, users simply pull up the dashboard, select the Cast button, select the Chromecast device, and then the experience can be viewed on the connected screen by anyone. This will be a single view, and not a two-screen rendering as seen in the stand-alone headset. The Chromecast device will be set as the default destination as users move from app to app.

Like the Cast feature, users can pull up the dashboard and select the Camera icon. From there, users choose to capture a screenshot or record video and then send that content to social networks or messaging apps. The YouTube VR team is also working on features for Daydream 2.0 Euphrates, smartphones, and the stand-alone headsets.

Daydream 2.0 Euphrates will hit smartphones and the stand-alone headsets later in 2017. HTC and Lenovo will be the first to produce stand-alone headsets based on the reference design. Google’s Clay Bavor also talks about Daydream, Tango, and VR/AR developer tools in a new blog here.

Smog-Free Bicycle’s pedal power could scrub pollutants from Beijing’s air

Why it matters to you

This innovative bicycle concept won’t just make you fitter, it will clean the environment, too.

Riding a bike instead of driving a car may be the more environmentally friendly choice of transport, but could bicycles actually help fight pollution more directly? The Netherlands’ Studio Roosegaarde claims the answer is a resounding “yes” — and it’s got its eyes set on Beijing’s notoriously high levels of smog to prove its point.

Right now, the Smog-Free Bicycle is still just a concept, but it’s a pretty darn intriguing one that’s already captured our interest. “It is still in development, but as with our Smog Free Tower, it sucks up the dirty air and releases clean air in its vicinity,” creator Daan Roosegaarde told Digital Trends.

The Smog Free Tower that Roosegaarde refers to is a 23-foot wind-powered structure that essentially functions as a giant air purifier. In a study by Eindhoven University of Technology, the technology used for the Smog Free Tower was found to remove up to 70 percent of the ingested PM10 and up to 50 percent of the ingested PM2.5 — two of the pollutants which contribute to smog. In an open field in calm weather, the Smog Free Tower is able to cause smog reductions of more than 20 meters around it.

Roosegaarde’s idea is to now take that technology on the move with a bicycle that releases positively-charged ions into the air, which then capture pollutants and suck them back inside. “It reflects our drive to activate new solutions together with citizens, makers, NGOs and governments towards smog-free cities,” he continued. “The Smog Free Bicycle, along with Smog Free Tower and Smog Free Jewellery, are part of the larger Smog Free Project. More concepts will be added along the journey.”

At present, Roosegaarde said the team is working on a prototype, which it will be developing with a partner in China and the Netherlands. One possibility is that the bike will be used in local bikesharing programs in China, such as Mobike. There’s no word on when it might be available as a commercial product that international customers can get their hands on, but hopefully we won’t be waiting too much longer.

Augmented reality developers can win up to $100,000 in Hololens contest

Why it matters to you

If you have a great idea for an augmented reality application, now is the time to flesh it out and see if it has legs.

Microsoft has partnered up with 3D engine maker Unity to offer $150,000 in total prize money to prospective Hololens app makers. If you have a great idea for an augmented reality application and the chops to make it a reality, you could win up to $100,000 and a headset for your trouble.

Much in the way Oculus, HTC and Sony helped fund the early developments in virtual reality software, Microsoft and Unity are looking to solve the age-old chicken or the egg issue of new hardware platforms. Augmented reality has a lot of potential but until the software is there, people are not going to buy the hardware and without the hardware, software developers are not going to be so keen to create content for it.

But for $100,000? That is enough to get excited about and it’s just one of several prizes that are up for grabs. Along with that $100,000, top prize winners will walk away with a $3,000 Hololens developer edition headset and a 12-month subscription to Unity Pro. Second place gets much the same, though with a $30,000 cash prize.

There is also a third place, which comes with the same Unity subscription and Hololens headset, with $20,000 as a bonus. Five honorable mentions will each be awarded a 12-month Unity subscription.

If you think you have a great idea for an application, all you need to do is craft a proposal with art, video, and details of the idea, according to MSPoweruser and submit it all through the Unity portal. From there, Microsoft and Unity will select 10 finalists who will each receive a Hololens headset on loan, to help them develop a prototype of the app.

Finalists will have a few months to work on their apps before winners are announced toward the end of 2017. For this first stage though, you have until June 10 to submit your proposals, with the finalists announced on June 16.

There are some rules, though they are not too exhaustive. You must develop in Unity, you must develop it on the Universal Windows Platform, it must be original, and you cannot use any third-party resources unless you have explicit permission to do so.

Other than that, have at it. Microsoft and Unity are specifically looking for apps that solve problems within the home, office, schools and hospitals, though they leave it relatively open. If you’re solving a problem using augmented reality, chances are they are interested.

The LG Stylo 3 Plus comes with a Full HD display and only costs $225

Why it matters to you

If you’re looking for a beautiful display on a phone under $250, this device suits those needs.

LG is taking its mid-range smartphone offerings to the next level. The company has taken the wraps off of the LG Stylo 3 Plus, a device that really pushes the boundaries of what “mid-range” really means. The device serves as a more powerful version of the original LG Stylo 3 and is now available from T-Mobile.

The LG Stylo 3 has some great specs under the hood, for the price. Inside, you will find the Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 processor, along with 32GB of storage and a Full HD display. Full HD displays are normally reserved for slightly more expensive phones — so it’s nice to see one show up on a sub-$250 phone.

On the back of the phone, there is a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera, along with a 5MP front-facing camera. The phone comes with Android 7.0 Nougat software, 4G LTE connectivity, and Bluetooth 4.2. As the name suggests, the phone also comes with a “premium” stylus pen, and you will find a fingerprint sensor on the back of the device.

It’s not just about the specs — the phone also looks great. It features a premium metal frame, and a removable back and battery, which is great for those that like to carry an extra battery for a long day of use. You’ll also find the microUSB and 3.5mm ports on the bottom of the phone, while the volume rockers can be found on the right.

The phone is available from T-Mobile and you can either pay the full $225 upfront or you can pay it in $9 installments over 24 months.

LG, in general, has been stepping up its game of late. While the company went through somewhat of a dark period around the time of the poorly received G5, the new G6 has been well-reviewed largely because of its beautiful design, excellent display, and things like IP68 waterproofing.

Google App Signing automatically compresses, secures Android apps

Why it matters to you

Google’s new App Signing service could make apps smaller and more secure than ever.

Google’s using machine intelligence to kill two birds with one stone: Optimize apps and improve security. At the search giant’s 2017 I/O developer conference in Mountain View, California, Google announced a Google Play App Signing, a new cloud-based service that fine-tunes apps for a range of Android devices.

Google Play App Signing, which launches in beta today, automatically adapts apps to fit different screen resolutions, RAM configurations, and processor models. And it compresses apps by eliminating redundant code.

Google said it’s already made a tangible difference. Deliveroo, one of the group of select developers who were given a chance to preview Google Play App Signing, saw its Android app shrink by 36 percent — from 13.6MB before to 9.1MB after. Seven saw a 48 percent reduction in size, from 53.7MB to 28MB.

Google Play App Signing’s security features revolve around private keys, the cryptographic string of characters that app developers use to verify their identities. Private keys distinguish legitimate apps from imposters, but previously, if a developer lost or misplaced their key, they’d have to publish a brand-new app. With Google Play App Signing, that’s no longer necessary.

Now, developers can upload their private keys to Google’s servers. When an app’s uploaded to Google Play, the App Signing service will automatically “sign” — or verify — the app.

The new service is the newest in Google’s ongoing effort to improve the Play Store experience. Over the past two years, Google’s expanded the Play Store to Daydream, its virtual reality platform; Android Wear, its smartwatch operating system; and Chrome OS on laptop computers. And it’s introduced features like Early Access, which lets developers test and provide feedback on beta apps; Indie Corner, which highlights the work of independent developers; and the Google Play Awards.

It’s seen success. Google said that Android users downloaded 82 billion apps from the Google Play store over the past year, and that the number of monthly installs regularly exceeds 1 million. And users are spending more — there’s been a 30 percent uptick in buyers, Google said, and a tenfold increase in the number of monthly subscriptions.

See notifications across Facebook-owned apps with this new feature

Why it matters to you

If you can’t live with all those little red notifications, Facebook’s decision to collect all its apps together with cross-app notifications may bring out the most anxious part of your psyche.

The Facebook family is finally coming together. The popular social media platform, along with its messaging arm Messenger and its photo-sharing arm Instagram, is testing a feature that will show users notification counters from either of the other two apps, and allow them to switch among the three seamlessly. So whether you’re in Facebook proper, Messenger, or Instagram, you’ll never miss a notification that someone has liked your photo or sent you an IM or replied to your comment. Really, you’ll just never leave the Facebook universe.

First spotted by social media analyst Mari Smith, the feature will ostensibly be useful in driving engagement, especially among users who simply must get rid of all those notifications as soon as they pop up (guilty as charged). So even if you don’t necessarily care about your Facebook notifications, but are browsing Instagram, you’ll still be forced to see that someone is trying to get your attention, and perhaps switch platforms, just to dismiss that red flag.

Facebook confirmed the test in a statement to TechCrunch, noting, “We are conducting a very small test to make it easier for people to discover and connect with the people and things they care about. We’re exploring ways to help people switch more easily between their Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram accounts.”

If you’re part of the test, you’ll be able to switch apps when you tap the profile icon in the top corner of any of the three Facebook-owned apps. That little icon will show you the total number of pending notifications you have, with the respective number of unread alerts next to each account. If you want to go to one of those accounts, just tap it, and you’ll be switched into another app. For the time being, the conspicuously absent app from the trio is WhatsApp, which Facebook purchased back in 2014.

So if you’re always looking for notifications, Facebook has just made it infinitely easier for you to keep your eyes in one place.

Google Assistant’s new features transform it from product to platform

Google’s next platform is all about machine learning and natural language processing.

A full year on from its launch at Google I/O 2016, Google Assistant has both expanded to new devices and added dozens of features that truly reposition it as a platform rather than a product. With everything announced at this year’s Google I/O conference, Google Assistant is a common backend of knowledge and capabilities that can be accessed through multiple interfaces on multiple devices with limitless third-party extensibility options.

It’s no longer just Google Home and an app on Android phones — Assistant is going to be everywhere you use Google.

Google Home getting smarter every day

Assistant can do more than just answer your questions and tell you jokes.

Google Home was originally the physical embodiment of the Google Assistant technology, but Assistant has since expanded to be so much more with Home leading the charge. Not only has the number of app and service integrations hit a “larger than you can recall” number, but Google is leading the charge by giving the Assistant control over an increasing number of Google’s own products and services.

You no longer just talk to Google Home to have the speaker itself do something, but instead to invoke Google Assistant to do all sorts of things that can then manifest themselves on other devices — all powered by the same cross-device backend. Google Assistant processing and smarts let you ask your Home to send driving directions to your phone, shoot a YouTube video to your TV or control an increasing number of smart home devices.

More: Google Home just leapfrogged Amazon Echo at I/O 2017

Assistant on phones finally makes sense

Google Assistant is a couple of months into its expansion to just about any modern Android phone, but Google I/O 2017 marked an important change to its functionality to make it truly viable and useful to a wide number of people. The biggest change is the interaction model: you can now just type to Assistant. With this being a feature of Allo it was only a matter of time before it rolled out to the Assistant on every phone. Adding text input increases the chances of interacting with Assistant on a more regular basis, lowering the barrier to accessing its wealth of information.

Assistant on the phone is getting feature parity with Google Home.

Another massive barrier destroyed is the Assistant’s move to the iPhone. Argue all you want about Assistant’s seamless integration into Android and how much more powerful it is, but if you want a platform to succeed today it has to be on the iPhone in addition to everything else. Just as importantly, Google Assistant on the iPhone has the same backend powering it as on Android, and within reason it has the same capabilities. Millions more people will soon have access to Google Assistant, completing the loop of using the platform across all of their devices.

The future is bright as well, with the new Google Lens system promising image recognition technology to make Assistant even more powerful. You’ll soon be able to leverage Google’s image recognition and machine learning in a single place — inside Assistant — rather than having the feature spread out across disparate platforms like Google Now on Tap and Google Goggles. Even more important is Google’s expansion of proper “Assistant actions” support on phones — letting you control devices and make device-specific queries of Assistant on your phone the exact same way you can on Google Home.

A platform, not a product

It’s becoming increasingly apparent that Google Assistant is being positioned as the glue that holds together all of Google’s devices. Whether you’re using a connected speaker, phone, smartwatch, car, or TV device, the goal is to have you interacting with Google Assistant in a consistent way with seamless transition between those experiences.

Functionally there are some hurdles to overcome and features yet to hit critical mass, but it’s clear that Assistant is the future of consumer interaction with Google.

VR and AR experiences are coming soon to Chrome for Android

Developers can now enable virtual and augmented reality experiences to run inside your mobile browser.

It’s an issue I face constantly: the inability to download an app because there isn’t enough room on my 32GB Pixel XL. Thankfully, Google’s announced that developers can now run web-based virtual and augmented-reality experiences inside the Chrome browser, though it’s not clear if this includes full-size apps.

The announcement was made at Google I/O 2017 during the virtual and augmented reality session. It isn’t particularly new, as you’ve already been able to access Daydream experiences through Chrome. But now all developers who are interested can build WebVR-enabled experiences that others can view inside Daydream and Cardboard. You’ll be able to launch it simply by navigating to the page and then popping your smartphone inside the virtual reality viewer. Developers can add in Daydream Remote compatibility, too. The experience is built with Javascript.

Google’s Andrey Doronichev shows off AR experiences in the Chrome browser.

Phones that support Tango will also be able to take advantage of web-based augmented reality features, which requires multiple . The AR browser options are available in an experimental Chrome build right now. If you’re a developer, you can check it out on Github. The VR browser experience will hit Daydream later this summer.