The Pimax 8K VR headset isn’t actually 8K, but it’s still pretty cool

Sometimes it feels like CES is all about big numbers — whoever plants their flag in the biggest, most impressive spec, wins. Pimax is a Chinese startup company which made waves in 2017 with its virtual reality headset that it claimed was the first 8K VR headset. The promise of the highest-resolution VR experiences won over nearly 6,000 backers invested more than $4.2 million into the Kickstarter campaign.

Here at CES 2018, we got to try out the newest iteration of the company’s VR headset. It still promises an 8K resolution, but now includes head-tracking technology this time around, which was missing in previous models.

Before we move any further, it is important to point out the marketing trick being used surrounding the phrase “8K VR headset.” The actual resolution of the headset is a pair of 3,840 x 2,160 LCD displays. Now if you add those up, you might get 8K — but as we all know, that’s not how 8K or virtual reality works! So while the marketing might be a little suspect, the experience of VR in the two 4K displays is certainly still something special.

We tried out the popular VR app TheBlu, which puts you into a deep sea environment. What we noticed right away was just how incredibly crisp the images were. It was most noticeable when something like a massive jellyfish floated right by our vision. The amount of detail you can make out in VR really is stunning. But the resolution isn’t actually the most exciting thing about Pimax’s VR headset: It’s the field of view.

At 200 degrees, it’s got the widest field of view of any VR headset we ever used. Compared to other premium headsets, the wider view makes it feel like you’re much more present in the scene, and less like your looking through a black box. The human eyes’ natural field of view is 220 degrees, so the Pimax headset gets closer to that experience. The result is quite impressive.

The closest competitor in terms of pure specs was also announced this year at CES: The Vive Pro. On its high-end Vive, HTC bumped the resolution to 2,880 x 1,600, which still doesn’t quite hit 4K. Furthermore, its field of view is only 110 degrees.

All that said, it should be noted that the Pimax still very much feels like a prototype. The head strap is a made of a stretchy rubber, which was probably a cheap way to make sure it fits heads of most sizes. The trade-off, of course, is comfort. Compared to something like the Vive Pro, the Pimax headset is definitely not the kind of thing you want to have on your face for long periods of time.

Pricing and shipping details for the Pimax 8K headset have not been announced, but shipments for the Kickstarter backers are currently set for May.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Pimax ‘8K’ headset bests original Oculus in Kickstarter funding
• LG will roll into CES in style with the world’s first 88-inch 8K OLED display
• Samsung’s Dave Das discusses MicroLED, 8K QLED, and new goodies for gamers
• Sony’s blinding 85-inch 8K TV made us squint, while its OLED made us smile
• Pilot Era offers high-res in-camera 8K stitching, no computer necessary

Intel ‘Hades Canyon’ NUC hands-on review

Research Center:
Intel ‘Hades Canyon’ NUC

At CES 2017, we saw Intel’s first NUC built for gamers. Called Skull Canyon, the NUC combined an Intel quad-core with the company’s most powerful Iris integrated graphics. It was supposed to be a showcase of Iris’ potential – but it didn’t quite work out. Our review found performance left much to be desired, and driver woes meant some games never launched properly.

Intel is back at CES 2018 with another gaming-focused NUC, Hades Canyon. But this year, it’s not using its own integrated graphics, but instead features Intel Core i7-8809G. That’s the most powerful version of Intel’s 8th-gen Core with AMD Radeon RX Vega M graphics, and while we haven’t tested it yet, its specifications look promising. The Vega GPU includes 24 compute units. The Vega 56 graphics card, as its name suggests, has 56 – and it can play some games at 4K resolution. Intel’s own data suggests the i7-8809G will compete well with Nvidia’s GTX 1060. Intel even says Hades Canyon will be able to handle VR. Given its specifications, it may just meet the minimum requirements for most headsets – but even that would be impressive.

Matt Smith/Digital Trends

Matt Smith/Digital Trends

That makes Hades Canyon instantly look like a winner. Yes, the size of the system has more than doubled over last year, but it’s still only 1.2 liters. That’s smaller than the Alienware Alpha, or any of Zotac’s pint-sized gaming desktops. Size aside, its has kept a broad, rectangular look that gives plenty of space to cram in ports. A lot of ports. That includes a dual DisplayPort, dual Thunderbolt, and dual Ethernet. Up to six displays can be connected simultaneously, which is an incredible number for such a small system, and twice as much as last year’s Skull Canyon NUC.

Great hardware needs great drivers.

Like other NUCs, Hades Canyon supports a surprising amount of customization. Removing six screws lets you lift off the top, providing access to the RAM, two m.2 hard drive slots, the Wi-Fi card, and a few other minor ports. The RAM slots were filled on the unit we saw, but there was room to add a second hard drive. The Intel 8th-gen Core with AMD Radeon RX Vega M graphics is soldered on, of course, so it can’t be replaced, but the system’s upgradability is otherwise much better than you might expect.

And there’s one more cool touch – a light-up skull. The new NUC may not be called Skull Canyon, but Intel has kept the cool skull logo. This time, though, its backlit – which makes it twice as awesome, of course. It also makes the logo customizable. Want to change the color? You can do that? Want to turn it off entirely? You can do that, too. I’m sure some will think it silly, but I think it’s a nice touch that most gamers will enjoy.

On paper, the Hades Canyon NUC sounds good. It has a fast processor, reasonably fast graphics, and gobs of connectivity, all in a small form factor. Yet there’s still reason to be skeptical. Great hardware needs great drivers. While the driver interface will be identical to AMD hardware – only branded as Intel – we’re told driver releases will come from Intel. We’ll just have to wait and see how that goes. AMD releases drivers frequently, of course, and we’d like to see Intel deliver at a similar cadence, but that hasn’t happened in the past.

Intel will need to get serious about drivers if it hopes for Hades Canyon to stand a chance in hell, but the project otherwise looks promising. And if Intel does prove reliable, this NUC could inspire a new wave of small, console-like gaming PCs. That would be a win for everyone.

Hades Canyon will ship in March starting at $799 for the less powerful Core i7-8705G edition, or $999 for the Core i7-8809G.

Intel ‘Hades Canyon’ NUC Compared To

Intel NUC Core i7

Samsung Series 3 Chromebox

HP Envy 23

Lenovo IdeaCentre Q180

HP Omni 27

HP TouchSmart 520-1070

HP TouchSmart 610

Asus EeeBox EB1501

Acer AspireRevo

HP Pavilion Slimline s5160f

Maingear Dash

VidaBox RoomMate

Apple Mac mini Dual Core 1.66GHz

Enpower Media Center Xpress EN-MX1

Gateway 610XL

Digital Trends Top Tech of CES 2018 Award Winners

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When it rains, it pours. And on the first day of CES 2018, the monstrous gadget expo that drew an astounding 184,000 people to Las Vegas this year, it rained. Hard. Traffic snarled, Google’s parking lot tent at the Las Vegas Convention Center flooded, drones were grounded, autonomous cars sat parked.

The next day, a power outage plunged the entire show floor into darkness.

It would be fair to say that CES 2018 gave us plenty of ominous reasons to remember it, but fortunately for us, there also were plenty of fun things to see when the lights were on. From the usual spate of wall-sized TVs to servile robots, crazy-fast PCs, and new VR headsets, all the usual culprits were in attendance. But we set out to find the best of the best for our annual Top Tech of CES awards.

Digital Trends section editors trudged through downpours, waded through darkness, and choked down gallons of press room coffee to uncover the tech that will define 2018. We discovered a tech world on the precipice of tilting into a new era of autonomous cars, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and connected everything. As those fledgling technologies mature, there’s also plenty of exciting news from established categories, including some of the most promising computers we’ve ever seen, cameras that let anybody shoot like a pro, and new phone sensors that will make the next generation even sleeker.

Here’s what we found!

They’re smart AF, and Nvidia’s monstrous BFGD monitors are a BFD

What if the TV tuner was removed from your television? Technically, it would no longer be a TV. But would you notice? Even if you did notice, would you care?

Probably not. Millions of people have cut the cord from their cable service, instead relying on Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video for entertainment. Game consoles have also stepped into the void left by old-fashioned, scheduled programming. There are more gamers than ever, playing longer than ever.

In short, the way people use televisions has changed. Maybe it’s time for the TV too change, too. Nvidia’s Big Format G-Sync Displays (BFGD), which debuted on the show floor at CES 2018, show one possible future for the TV, a future that focuses on gaming, streaming video, and smooth delivery of any content thrown at it.

Just don’t call it a monitor

It would be tempting to dismiss the BFGDs as 65-inch monitors. They’re designed to connect over DisplayPort 1.4, instead of HDMI (though HDMI is present for audio), and the early marketing positions them as the ultimate accessory for a PC-gaming den.

That sells the BFGDs short. Yeah, they’re targeting the PC, but they also have an Nvidia Shield built in. The Shield, if you’re not familiar, is a cross between a Roku and a bare-bones Android game console. It can handle all the online streaming apps you’d expect from an entertainment box, as well as play games – both Android titles, and games available through Nvidia’s GeForce Now subscription streaming service.

Think of it as a smart TV without a TV tuner. A very smart TV. It’s not embroiled in any stupid competition between streaming services’ corporate overlords. It can play popular games without any additional hardware. And it’ll receive all the same updates as the Shield console, which should mean a steady stream of new features over the years.

A different approach to image quality

The smart features that’ll come bundled in every BFGD are far more modern than the hodgepodge interfaces that ship with many televisions, but that’s less than half of what makes them great. The real secret sauce can be found in the BFGDs’ radically different approach to image quality.

Think of it as a smart TV without a TV tuner. A very smart TV.

A typical, top-tier television from LG, Samsung, or Vizio is built to deliver maximum visual punch. It seeks to maximize contrast, serve a wide color gamut, and minimize artifacts. The results are undeniably spectacular, but there’s a downside. Modern televisions have high latency and confusing image quality settings, and can suffer unusual frame pacing problems when they’re not fed ideal content.

BFGDs are different. They do have HDR, 4K resolution and, according to Nvidia, are built with a panel that uses a technique similar to Samsung’s Quantum Dots. Yet they’re also fast and fluid. Every BFGD will offer at least a 120Hz refresh rate. Latency numbers aren’t being quoted yet, but Nvidia told us that even 16 milliseconds would be considered “really quite high.” LG and Samsung’s best displays can’t dip below 20 milliseconds, even when turned to game mode.

Then there’s Nvidia’s not-so-secret weapon: G-Sync. It synchronizes the refresh rate of a BFGD with the input framerate of whatever G-Sync-capable device it’s connected to, including the built-in Shield. That synchronization can occur with any content, including video. It doesn’t matter if a video was shot at 24, 60, 120, or 29.997 frames per second – it will always display smoothly, without any added stutter or lag caused by the display.

BFGDs could be a BFD

Acer, Asus, and HP are lined up to build the first BFGDs, all of them 65-inchers using the same panel. I doubt they’ll sell anywhere near the volume of modern televisions. At least, not at first. But if Nvidia and its partners can deliver on the BFGD’s promise, it won’t just be PC gamers who take notice.

You can expect to see the first BFGDs in the second half of 2018. Pricing hasn’t been announced.

Editors’ Recommendations

• 65 inches. 4K. 120Hz. Nvidia’s BFGD is all the monitor you will ever need
• Razer Phone vs. iPhone X: Android newcomer takes on Apple’s finest
• Watch LG’s 65-inch rollable OLED TV curl up like a poster, disappear from sight
• Google’s parent company quietly purchases U.K. startup Redux
• LED vs. LCD TVs explained: What’s the difference?

AMD’s Mark Papermaster on why its collab with Intel is good for Radeon fans

AMD has been making tons of noise in the CPU and GPU markets with the introduction of its new Ryzen processors based on the Zen architecture, and the Radeon Vega line. Proving the point that sometimes competitors find good reason to partner up, AMD also struck a deal with Intel to mate its Radeon Vega M GPUs with Intel CPUs to create the Kaby Lake-G solution for high-performance mobile computing.

Mark Papermaster, AMD’s Chief Technology Officer, stopped by the Digital Trends booth and spent some time discussing all of the company’s efforts to gain market share and increased relevancy. According to Papermaster, AMD is making some progress on both accounts, whether we’re talking about the consumer market or the enterprise.

Of most pressing concern, Papermaster provided some background on the recent speculative execution exploits that have rocked the computing world. If you’ve been looking for a clear and concise explanation of the exploit variants, why they’re important, and how they’re being addressed, then you’ll definitely want to give the video a watch.

It likely doesn’t hurt Papermaster’s presentation that AMD is not as affected by all of the exploits as is Intel. Of the two exploit types, Meltdown and Spectre, AMD processors are only affected by the later variants. As Papermaster outlines, the company spent months working with other industry members to address the exploits through software and firmware patches.

Of course, Papermaster gave plenty of attention to AMD’s newest products. Kaby Lake-G was discussed, including a description of why AMD partnered with Intel. He also covered AMD’s newest Ryzen CPUs for mobile and the new low-end Ryzen 3-series chips. Of particular interest for notebook buyers will be the upcoming accelerated processing units (APUs) combine Ryzen CPUs and Radeon RX Vega GPUs. According to Papermaster, that will afford buyers a significantly more competitive offering compared to Intel’s eighth-generation processors with Integrated HD graphics.

If you want to know what AMD has coming soon, then this is the video for you. Whether it’s the budget market, premium notebooks, gaming systems, or virtual reality (VR) systems, AMD has something available now or coming soon that should be of interest to every PC user.

Editors’ Recommendations

• HP’s Mike Nash on why new Spectre x360 15 is thicker, much more powerful
• Intel’s ‘Hades Canyon’ NUC packs gaming hardware into just 1.2 liters
• Acer Swift 3 gets the AMD APU treatment, adding power to the bargain machine
• Intel’s chip-packing Radeon graphics slips a brief tease just before CES 2018
• Intel promises its new CPUs will match Nvidia’s potent GTX 1060, thanks to AMD

Asus Zenbook 13 (2018) hands-on review

Research Center:
Asus Zenbook 13 (2018)

Asus has more Zenbooks than anyone can keep track of, but it’s newest is a standout. The Zenbook 13, is an ultra-thin clamshell that just might be one of the lightest laptop you’ve ever held. It’s not to be confused with the Zenbook 13 from 2017, which was a heavier product, with options for a 4K display and discrete graphics card.

The new Zenbook 13 has neither of those. Asus is clearly selling this laptop based on the crazy-light design. However, there’s more to a laptop than just it’s dimensions — here’s how the rest of it stacks up.

The Asus you know, with something new

We haven’t always been the biggest cheerleaders of Asus’ laptop design. It’s often a little bland, and the company rarely attempts to change the formula. That’s fine when you’re talking about a budget laptop like the Zenbook UX330UA, but when you’re spending over a thousand dollars, you should expect more from the look of your laptop.

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

Asus must be aware of that perception, because the new Zenbook 13 is a total revamp. The Zenbook 13 doesn’t make any drastic shakeups, but the designers have done enough here and there to make it feel fresh. It has a black (or dark blue), matte finish, rather than the super-glossy texture of many other Zenbooks. It’s still brushed metal, but the non-reflective surface makes it more subtle this time around. Angles are sharpened, and the bezels have been slimmed down.

At 0.55 inches thick, it’s not quite as tiny as something like the HP Spectre 13, or even the Dell XPS 13. Asus used that extra space smartly to include full-size ports like HDMI and USB-A, which are becoming increasingly rare in laptops like these. The Zenbook 13 also includes a microSD card slot and USB-C port (3.1). It’s a great selection of connectivity that should please many — both people who use legacy USB accessories, and those who want future-proofing in their I/O.

Portability is off the charts

But again, the real thing to talk about here is the thinness and weight of the Zenbook 13. At 2.17 pounds, it’s one of the lightest laptops ever made, with only a handful of competitors that have ever gone lighter. It’s so light that when you pick it up, you immediately feel the difference between picking it up compared to a MacBook Pro, Dell XPS 13, or even the 2017 Zenbook 13. Some might even think it’s almost too light, but unlike many laptops this airy, it doesn’t feel flimsy.

One thing is for sure. You’ll hardly notice the extra weight in your bag.

The display didn’t wobble in the slightest, and there wasn’t a hint of flex in the keyboard, which is where you will spend most of your time. Impressively, we could even lift the display with one hand. We did notice a bit of bend and flex in the lid. It was most noticeable when the laptop was set open on a table, as well as on the corners of the lid. While that’s not great, the rest of the laptop does feel sturdy and well-built.

With battery claims of up to 15 hours, the Zenbook will follow you wherever you go. We’ll have to wait until we can put the Zenbook 13’s 50 watt-hour battery to the test, but one thing is for sure. You’ll hardly notice the extra weight in your bag.

Runs fast, looks good

Under the hood you’ll find the usual suspects. There’s 8th-gen Core i5 CPUs and 8GB of RAM as a base configuration, going up to a Core i7 and 16GB of RAM from there. We haven’t been able to benchmark this laptop’s processing power yet, but we suspect that it will perform honorably, like similar machines with those same components. The Zenbook 13 also starts with 256GB of SSD storage and comes with an attractive, FHD display. There’s no option for 4K or touchscreen here — you’ll have to go back to the 2017 Zenbook 13 for that.

Asus Zenbook 13 (2018) Compared To

Asus Zenbook Pro UX550VE

Asus Zenbook UX330UA-AH54

HP ZBook Studio G4

Microsoft Surface Book with…

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (2017)

Acer Aspire VX 5-591G 5652

Dell Latitude E5470

Dell XPS 15 9560

Dell Inspiron 15 7000 (2017)

Lenovo Yoga 910

Acer Swift 7 SF713-51-M90J

Asus Zenbook 3 UX390UA

Lenovo Ideapad 710S

LG Gram 15 Z960

Gateway 200XL

The touchpad and keyboard are similar to those inputs we’ve seen on other newer Zenbooks, featuring 1.4mm of travel and nice backlighting. The Windows Precision touchpad is good enough, but its feel is nothing to write home about. We did, however, notice that it did a better job with palm rejection than the trackpad did on the UX330UA.

Asus’ Zenbook 13 is a laptop that a lot of people will like, and some people will love. It starts at $999 for the Core i5 version with 8GB of RAM, and can be configured upward from there. For reference, you’ll pay exactly that for a similar configuration on the new Dell XPS 13. Asus couldn’t give us a firm date, but you should expect to be able to pick this one up within the next few months.

Mofrel is a giant printer that can spit out actual textures with 2.5D printing

Photoshop is getting better 3D tools and soon there could be a printer that turns Photoshop textures into actual textured pages. During the Consumer Electronics Show, Casio unveiled the Mofrel, a 2.5D printer that uses heat from near-infrared light to spit out pages that both look and feel like leather, wood, stitched fabric — or whatever other texture you can dream up.

Mofrel uses light sculpting and special paper to re-create textures on paper. The paper is covered in a special micro-powder that is designed to expand when heated. The printer applies the “ink” and then applies near-infrared light, which generates the heat to activate the “ink” and generate the right bumps in the right places.

The texture is applied in the first run through the printer — then a microfilm is peeled off and a second run applies actual ink to give the textured surface color. The Mofrel can also create double-sided prints for texture on each side.

Textures are designed in Photoshop using a Mofrel Utility plug-in. The plug-in helps designers translate those textured designs into bump data for the printer and shows a preview of the resulting print.

So why print textures? Casio is designing the 2.5D printer largely to use in prototyping and development. The printed textures are both more affordable and faster to use in prototyping a product. While you would probably still want real leather seats in that luxury car, for example, manufacturers could design their prototype with 2.5D printed leather. Casio also says the Mofrel could be used for packaging, apparel, and even construction materials. The company also expects potential uses in education, allowing for tactile learning material as well as potential for designing aids for visually impaired students.

Using heat and specialized paper isn’t a new idea — Zink or ink-free paper uses a similar concept in order to make printers small enough to fit in digital cameras — but Mofrel uses the idea to create textures rather than eliminating the ink cartridges. Mofrel also isn’t the first printer that sits in between a traditional printer and 3D printing. Canon previewed another type of 2.5D printer in 2015, but one that used layers of resin to create the final texture, rather than heat and specialized paper.

Mofrel is a giant printer that can spit out actual textures with 2.5D printing

Photoshop is getting better 3D tools and soon there could be a printer that turns Photoshop textures into actual textured pages. During the Consumer Electronics Show, Casio unveiled the Mofrel, a 2.5D printer that uses heat from near-infrared light to spit out pages that both look and feel like leather, wood, stitched fabric — or whatever other texture you can dream up.

Mofrel uses light sculpting and special paper to re-create textures on paper. The paper is covered in a special micro-powder that is designed to expand when heated. The printer applies the “ink” and then applies near-infrared light, which generates the heat to activate the “ink” and generate the right bumps in the right places.

The texture is applied in the first run through the printer — then a microfilm is peeled off and a second run applies actual ink to give the textured surface color. The Mofrel can also create double-sided prints for texture on each side.

Textures are designed in Photoshop using a Mofrel Utility plug-in. The plug-in helps designers translate those textured designs into bump data for the printer and shows a preview of the resulting print.

So why print textures? Casio is designing the 2.5D printer largely to use in prototyping and development. The printed textures are both more affordable and faster to use in prototyping a product. While you would probably still want real leather seats in that luxury car, for example, manufacturers could design their prototype with 2.5D printed leather. Casio also says the Mofrel could be used for packaging, apparel, and even construction materials. The company also expects potential uses in education, allowing for tactile learning material as well as potential for designing aids for visually impaired students.

Using heat and specialized paper isn’t a new idea — Zink or ink-free paper uses a similar concept in order to make printers small enough to fit in digital cameras — but Mofrel uses the idea to create textures rather than eliminating the ink cartridges. Mofrel also isn’t the first printer that sits in between a traditional printer and 3D printing. Canon previewed another type of 2.5D printer in 2015, but one that used layers of resin to create the final texture, rather than heat and specialized paper.

This amazing 3D-printed radio works, despite having no battery or outlet plug

Did you know you can build your very own working 3D-printed radio — without any soldering, electronics experience, electric cord, or even batteries? That’s exactly what talented Houston, Texas-based 3D-printing and electronics enthusiast Sage Hansen has created. And he’s willing to show you how to do it, too.

Called a crystal radio receiver, or sometimes a “cat’s whisker receiver,” this is an incredibly simple type of radio receiver that was popular in the earliest days of radio. The only power it requires to work is the received radio signal, which is used to produce sound. It is named after its most important component, the crystal detector or diode.

“AM radio was one of the first ways of transmitting audio to a very broad audience in the early 1900s, but it is still very popular today,” Hansen told Digital Trends. “It starts with the radio station converting their audio sound waves into electromagnetic waves, which can travel great distances. Each radio station uses a specific frequency that is constant, but the sound waves are mixed so they amplify and modulate the base radio wave. What makes the crystal radio so exciting is how simple the circuit is, and how it can be made out of normal household items. What I wanted to do was use my 3D modeling software to design a simple form that presents the components in such a straightforward way that it’s easy for the viewer to follow the circuit and understand how this is working. The radio waves received by the antenna pass through the coil of wire, which is acting as an inductor that determines the frequency. Then the diode will convert the receiving alternating current into direct current, which will vibrate the piezo speaker creating sound waves.”

Like a true gent, Hansen isn’t keeping the design to himself. “I always had the idea that this project was for the public,” he said. “I have uploaded the 3D files for people to download, as well as step-by-step instructions. I also recorded and edited an instructional video on YouTube with 3D animations to help people assemble, step by step. I hope that people will find this entertaining, educational — and have fun using this radio.”

Well, that weekend busywork is taken of, then!

Editors’ Recommendations

• Why did this author’s book suddenly shoot up the Amazon charts after 10 years?
• The best headphones you can buy under $100
• HDMI ARC and eARC: What they are, how they work, and why you should care
• Here’s how to convert an MP4 to an MP3 file with online and offline tools
• New 3D-printing technique uses UV light to print working electronic circuits

Here is everything we know about the HTC U11 Eyes

Last year, HTC brought us three smartphones — the HTC U11 and U11 Plus, along with the HTC U11 Life. While the company has yet to confirm details, rumors hint at a new addition to the lineup known as the HTC U11 Eyes. A recent tweet by Venture Beat’s Evan Blass includes a fair amount of details concerning what to expect from the midrange smartphone.

Here’s everything we know about the HTC U11 Eyes.

Design

Evan Blass

Evan Blass

Evan Blass

The HTC U11 Eyes reportedly features a 6-inch screen with 1,080 x 2,160 Super LCD3 display. With photos by way of Blass, it comes in three different color variants — black, silver, and red. To the far right of the device are two front-facing cameras that resemble a pair of “eyes” — which is most likely why the device has its name. On the back, you’ll find a single camera with dual-LED and dual-tone flash. Right below it is a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner and on the bottom is a USB-type C port for fast charging.

HTC released a device back in 2014 under the “Eye” brand as well, known as the Desire Eye. While it’s clearly far more dated, it’s easy to see a resemblance between the two. This time around, the U11 Eyes looks to be made out of metal and glass with rounded corners and thin bezels. It will also include Edge Sense — featured on its predecessors as well — which allows you to squeeze the bottom edges of the device to perform different shortcuts.

Specs

Under the hood, the HTC U11 could include a Snapdragon 652 octa-core processor along with a 3,930mAh battery. In terms of storage, there will be 4GB of RAM and expandable storage of up to 64GB via a MicroSD card. It also has an IP67 certification when it comes to water and dust resistance. Some users may be disappointed to know that it will run Android Nougat instead of Oreo.

Price and availability

The U11 Eyes is expected to launch on January 15 and will reportedly be priced at $510. That date is also the same one listed on the official invitation for HTC’s upcoming press event in China — which included the keyword “Eye” — first spotted by PlayfulDroid.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Everything you need to know about the HTC U11 Life and HTC U11 Plus
• HTC U11 Life vs. HTC U11: How different is HTC’s slimmed-down budget U11?
• HTC U11 Life review
• Squeeze the most out of your phone with these handy HTC U11 Life tips and tricks
• HTC U11 Plus vs. HTC U11: Is bigger always better?