Reviewers Liked
- Smart glossy design
- Smart camera tech
- Decent bundled earbuds
Reviewers Didn't Like
- Limited performance
- Overshadowed by rivals
- No Companion in sight
HTC U Play
74
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Competitors and Related Products
Our editors hand-pick these products using a variety of criteria: they might be direct competitors targeting the same market segment, or they could be devices that are similar in size, performance, or feature sets.
Expert reviews and ratings
By goodhousekeeping.co.uk
on
78
The HTC U11 is a good smartphone, but considering it's priced at over £350 it doesn't wow us. We were a little disappointed that it wasn't faster when surfing the web or opening apps and the battery life isn't as good as we hoped for, but it is still...
By Good Gear Guide
on
90
The HTC U Play is less divisive than its big brother. It's easier to use, does everything well and represents great value. It's also one of the prettiest phones ever...
By PCWorld New Zealand
on
90
The HTC U Play is less divisive than its big brother. It's easier to use, does everything well and represents great value. It's also one of the prettiest phones ever...
By The Inquirer
on
60
We can't work out who HTC was thinking of when it made this phone. It looks nice, yes. Its features mostly work well, agreed But who would pick this over any of the other options?At £399, its main competition is the OnePlus 3T, which offers much better...
By V3.co.uk
on
60
It's hard to figure out who HTC was aiming this phone at – it's a decent mid-ranger, but there's better out there for the same price or less. It's not bad by any means, but like HTC's terrible puns, it's probably not going to delight...
By NotebookCheck
on
83
HTC's U Play looks good, comes with a personal assistant, has two high-resolution cameras, and is bestowed with generous extras in its box. So, why is it so difficult for us to give it an unconditional purchase recommendation in the highly competitive...
By ePHOTOzine
on
70
The HTC U Play is a stylish, slim and attractive smartphone, with a good camera that offers optical image stabilisation, a 16mp BSI CMOS sensor, and a fairly bright f/2.0 aperture. Whilst the f/2.0 aperture is quite good, others smartphones are...
By Gadgets360
on
80
The HTC U Play is a neat little device with striking looks and smooth all-round performance. It has a good display, the cameras are very capable, and battery life is not too shabby for such a small body. The phone will be going on sale in the second...
By Phone Arena
on
70
The HTC U Play offers a very pleasant design to look and hold, a simple but functional interface, and decent picture and video capture abilities. It has a steep hill to climb against its direct competitors like the Galaxy A5 (2017), Moto G5 Plus, or the...
By pcquest.com
on
80
With the beautiful glossy body design, combining powerful hardware, decent camera, and interesting 'U' features, the phone is a good choice but considering the price, I was expecting even better phone from HTC.Another smartphone from the house of HTC...
By TrustedReviews
on
60
It looks and feels great, but mid-range insides and a few stand-out problems make the HTC U Play a tough sell at the price.
By Recombu
on
60
The HTC U Play is a mixed bag unfortunately, and very much lurks in the shadows of rivals such as the OnePlus 3T and Samsung's Galaxy A5 2017. The design is lovely (if easily scuffed) and there's plenty to like, from the solid 16-megapixel camera tech...
By Stuff
on
60
Fair play to HTC for trying something new - the U Play looks gorgeous in person, and really stands out from the growing crowd of all-metal slabs currently doing the rounds. I'm not convinced the AI-controlled Sense Companion assistant will be a killer...
By Channel News Australia
on
At the end of the day, this is a smartphone that's difficult to evaluate without referencing or comparing it to its partner-in-crime. For better or worse, it feels easiest to define the U Play through contrast – and the biggest omission here comes in...
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