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HTC U11 versus the Galaxy S8


Ebuka/Tycoontech
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Honestly,it's been a long time since HTC and Samsung faced off in an epic battle that left consumers indifferent as to which phone was best. HTC has mostly been the underdog ,and if there is any better time to look at the underdog,I think now is the time.
Okay,since I've only ever reviewed the S8,let's take a brief tour of the U11.
The HTC U11 is a great alternative to the S8 in terms of design. It has a body identical to the S8,in that the rear curves seamlessly to meet the front. The only design difference between it and the S8 is the obvious fact that this lacks an infinity display. Otherwise,it's a great looking phone. The back is glass and reflects light in a beautiful way. If you're getting the phone,go for the blue version.
Because this is a rounded, glass phone, it’s also quite slippery. HTC thankfully includes a clear plastic case in the box though, so perhaps this isn’t the biggest issue for folks who like to protect their devices. One other thing that case is good for: protecting against fingerprints. The U11 is an absolute fingerprint magnet, so keep that in mind if you’re worried about your phone looking smudgy.
Okay,since we're over that,let's proceed to the comparison.


Comparison:Display
The HTC U11 has a 5.5" QHD display with Super LCD 5 tech while the S8 has a 5.8" QHD display with AMOLED tech. Naturally,the U11 has more pixels in an inch,but AMOLED saves the S8,and the screen looks more amazing for that.
Ebuka/Tycoontech
The S8 thus renders pictures better than the U11,and this is great. The blacks on each phone are hard to tell apart,because of the Super LCD 5 on the U11,which renders blacks perfectly. The winner here is the S8,but only because of the better reds,as the U11 failed reds woefully.

Comparison:Cameras

When HTC announced the U11, one of the biggest topics of discussion was the device’s camera. The company was eager to tell us that the U11 has the
highest DxOMark score of all time , outranking the
Pixel and Galaxy S8 by one and two points, respectively.
The U11’s main camera comes with a 12 MP “UltraPixel 3” sensor, with an f/1.7 aperture and optical image stabilization. Overall, the U11’s camera lives up to the hype and is capable of taking some impressive photos. There’s plenty of detail in each shot, and color reproduction is natural and not overly vibrant.
Photos taken in low-light conditions are incredibly sharp and well detailed, too. Noise levels are kept under control, and the noise you do see is very fine and compact. Low light photos aren’t splotchy at all, which is something we don’t see too often in smartphone cameras.
This is not to beef the S8,as that takes high quality photos,and videos,though the HTC is better at videos,with a 5 axis OIS. The front camera of the S8 also has a speedy AF,but I'm not a selfie person. The two cameras really put up a fight in low light.
The winner here is.....hard to decide. The S8 nails it in color reproduction, but the U11 gives a better infinity ratio. For the laymen,they're both good,but picking a winner is difficult.


Comparison: Performance
In terms of specifications and hardware, the U11 ticks all the right boxes,and so does the S8. Under the hood is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor backed by 4 GB of RAM, and overall performance is just as fast and fluid as you would expect.
Touch response and scrolling is excellent on bkth phones and they runs apps and high-end games with no issues at all. Multi-tasking is also nice and quick, but I did notice that the RAM management is quite aggressive with the U11 sometimes closing apps after opening only five or six of them. While that isn’t a big deal for me, it’s still something worth noting.


Comparison:Speaker Quality
I only put this here to shame the S8,as the U11 comes with killer sound. This can even be used for house parties. Sure,the S8 comes with a headphone jack,but the U11 has a high quality DAC,and even comes with USB C to headphone dongle. The dongle also has a DAC in it,so great music anyhow.


Comparison: Price
They both cost almost the same in Nigeria. The U11 is going for about 285000 naira,while the S8 is 300000 naira flat on Jumia. I'd go for the S8 for design and that infinity screen,but the U11 does offer more value for money. Your thoughts?

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