HTC U11 A Review and a toast!

The HTC U11 is a great phone! Fast, sexy, and easy to use are some of the first thoughts. The look of this thing is so nice. The Solar Red glistens and changes to lighter and darker shades of red in the different lights. It is a great size and not too heavy when you add a good case and a screen protector. INVEST in a good screen protector! More on that in a bit. The size of the phone is a good size and very easy to use with one hand. The layout and swipe directions are designed for a one handed user. It is very fast and the battery lasts all day unless you live on the phone. And the audio.... Holy.....crap! The audio is so awesome. Lets get into it
Even the packaging is cool. Its a fully recyclable package and laid out well. You get the charger and the usb C cable as well as a clear bumper to protect the back of the phone and the paperwork. The thing is a work of art. I am told all the colors are beautiful to behold and all shimmer in the light to make a great looking phone. The screen is very bright and the auto brightness works very well. You can see the screen in the direct sunlight and still read everything well with the default fonts. A note here: the screen is EXTREMELY FRAGILE. Get a screen protector with the phone. Get one that is shatter proof even if its just for the front of the screen. You can buy a full clear case from Spigen that covers the sides and protects the rest of the phone. You want a clear case so that the colors of the phone shine through and catch everyone's eyes. Even with this case and the screen protector the phone is much lighter than my Samsung s7 edge with the Commuter Case and no screen protector. When you hold the phone in one hand, its very easy to see why they thought of the "Squeeze Sides" idea. The way you hold the phone naturally puts your fingers in the perfect spot to squeeze and its able to be done without feeling like you will drop the phone. It makes taking pictures very easy. I am thinking about how program this feature how to do something else for me other than just take pictures. It can be annoying though some times when you take your phone out of the car the way you hold it can activate the squeeze. I've had to delete 3 different pictures of my front yard that snapped as I got out of the car!
Here is a photo I took with the phone using the squeeze sides. It came out nice and clear and was very fast to snap the picture. The phone has a lot of filters and adjustments you can make to the photos when you take them and after the picture is taken. I am not going to snap a lot of photos and compare them to other phones. There are other sites to view that sort of comparison this is not one of them.

Switching to the USB C plug has been enjoyable its much easier to plug your phone in while in the dark, not having to worry about which way the plug is facing to plug it in. (I have come from the land of the micro usb and I do have to replace some accessories but its not a huge deal.

Another thing to get used to coming from the Samsung world is that they are reversed with their onscreen buttons. The Back button on the Samsung is on the right and the app switch button is on the left. Every other manufactuer like the HTC has them reversed, and that is how it should be as it makes it so much easier to use with one hand. The back button is used more than the app switch button and after inital adjustments, it works great for me.
The new Nougat OS is quick smooth and has great battery power management. The phone has seen none of the weird software glitches I used to see on the Samsung. Multitasking is very easy with the app button and it ran multiple apps without breaking a sweat. ON any given day I have a google maps open along with Soundcloud as well as company email and other time wasting, battery draining apps! But I get through a full day with at least 30 to 40 percent left on the battery. I pushed the Samsung that hard and I was at 10 to 20 percent at the end of a day. The battery is good and I am glad, I would hate to invest on a premium device and not be able to get a good battery life out of it. I have had many tablets and phones do that. You only found out they were empty or dying at the most inopportune time like Right when you need them the most!
This new HTC U11 is lightweight, easy to use, and has a long lasting battery. I really hope that it will continue to be a great phone for a long time and that I will continue to enjoy it as they update to Oreo and beyond. This phone has been wonderful for the first 2 weeks I have used it and I look forward to writing a bigger review after some real time used on this phone. Im sure there are many different options I have yet to try out and as I learn the phone more I will find ways for it to help make life easier for me when it comes to my digital life.