HTC U11, the Taiwanese company’s come-back model, is all set to get an unspecified price cut under Flipkart’s Big Billion Days mobile sale that starts tomorrow at midnight.
The online portal is teasing a price cut without revealing the extent of the cut.
The current price for the phone is Rs 51,900, which pits it against the Samsung Galaxy S8 (Rs 57,900) and the Galaxy S7 Edge (Rs 49,750).
While Flipkart has not revealed how much of a discount it is offering on the U11, it can be safely assumed that the phone will be available at a discount of around 3,000 under the Big Billion Days sale. On the upside, the discount could go up to Rs 5,000, though we consider that slightly unlikely.
At Rs 49k, the HTC U11 does become a contender, especially for those who are looking for a ‘non-Samsung’ brand of Android phone, and of course, for the HTC fans in the country waiting for an upgrade.
That said, for those who are neutral towards brands, the same Big Billion Days sale offers the Galaxy S7 for a jaw-dropping price of Rs 29,999.
Of course, last year’s S7 is not really a competitor to the U11, or to any of this year’s flagships, as it is significantly smaller at 5.1 inch. Being older, it has slightly lower-speed LTE compared to what’s on offer from the new Snapdragon 835 chipset contained in the U11.
A fairer competition would be with the S7 Edge, which is available at around Rs 49,750. Specifications for the phone, especially on the display and size aspects, are close to what’s on offer from the U11.
One key difference, though, is that the HTC model has an LCD screen, while Samsung offers the more energy-efficient Amoled displays on its models.
Resolution and size are comparable at Quad HD 5.5 inch.
Of course, the correct competition would be with this year’s Galaxy S8, though it also costs Rs 57,900 in India, with no chance of a discount under the Big Billion Days sale either.
The latest S8 phone clearly scores over the U11 in terms of display technology.
It offers 16% higher resolution, or pixels, despite being slimmer due to the fact that it’s based on the extra-long form factor. Under this formfactor, the length of the screen is more than twice the width. The HTC model sticks to the 16:9 or cinematic ratio.
Besides this, the S8 has a curved display while the HTC phone comes with traditional flat display.
One key factor in favor of the HTC model — besides the Snapdragon 835 contained in it — is its (single) camera at the back, which is supposed to be the best on a smartphone right now.
Another key advantage that the HTC model has is that it has 6 GB of RAM compared to 4 GB on the Galaxy S8.
In short, if you like Amoled displays, the U11 is unlikely to appeal to you, but if you are neutral towards display technologies, then the HTC flagship is worth a serious consideration this festival season.