In a year of modest cell phone innovation, HTC stays the course with the U12+.
Starting at $799 (for a 64GB model; 128GB is $849), the U12+ looks similar to last year's U11 and incorporates the same features, while updating it with modern specs, the popular 18:9 screen aspect ratio, and a host of camera improvements.
Unfortunately, there are also a number of small annoyances, like unresponsive side-mounted capacitive buttons, a heavy UI layer, and a lack of wireless charging, that make it less compelling than competitors like the Samsung Galaxy S9+, which remains our Editors' Choice.
Design, Features, and Display
Don't let the name fool you, there is no HTC U12.
The "plus" is meant to represent that the phone is on par with other devices that use the nomenclature (like the Samsung Galaxy S9+), both in size and capabilities.
But from a design perspective, the phone isn't all that different from the U11.
The U12+ has a shimmery glass-clad body with a polished, highly reflective appearance that can practically double as a mirror.
HTC offers several bright color options including Ceramic Black, Flame Red, and a very cool Translucent Blue (pictured) that you can look through to see the hardware inside.
No matter the color, the U12+ is IP68 waterproof, meaning it can withstand full immersion in up to five feet of water for 30 minutes.
The phone features a 6-inch display in the increasingly common 18:9 aspect ratio.
In terms of size, it's a tall and narrow phone that measures 6.2 by 2.9 by 0.3 inches (HWD) and weighs a hefty 6.6 ounces.
That's taller and wider than the Samsung Galaxy S9 (5.8 by 2.7 by 0.3 inches, 5.8 ounces), closer in size and weight to the OnePlus 6 (6.1 by 3.0 by 0.3 inches, 6.2 ounces).
Compared with the LG G7 ThinQ (6.0 by 2.8 by 0.3 inches, 5.7 ounces), the U12+ feels a little hefty, and a good bit thicker and wider.
Even so, it's still not too difficult to hold in one hand and reach across with your thumb; HTC's decision to minimize the bezel on the top and bottom certainly helps usability.
The buttons here are interesting.
Both of the volume buttons and the power button are on the right side…except they're not actually buttons at all.
The'yre actually rigid wedges of metal that use haptic feedback to make it seem like you're pressing them, similar to what Apple does with the home button on recent iPhone models.
Unfortunately, haptic feedback on the U12+ isn't anywhere near as good, and pressing the buttons simply feels stiff and unresponsive, leaving you to wonder if you've actually triggered them.
The fingerprint reader is on the back, under a pair of camera sensors.
Along the sides, you'll find the Edge sensor, which is a programmable, pressure-sensitive control you trigger by squeezing the phone in the right spot.
Options include opening the camera, turning on the flashlight, or launching a particular app.
On the left side, you'll find a SIM/microSD card slot that worked fine with a 256GB card.
Like the U11, the U12+ doesn't have a 3.5mm headphone jack or converter dongle, but ships with HTC's USonic noise-canceling USB-C earphones.
They work with HTC's built-in software to create a customized sound profile based on the shape of your ear.
We observed noticeable improvements in audio clarity, and you can tweak the profile yourself to better suit your preferences.
There's also Bluetooth 5.0 for wireless playback, along with a number of audio codecs for improved quality.
A bottom-ported speaker provides decent audio, but it's tinny at higher volumes.
The screen is a 2,880-by-1,440-pixel Super LCD 6 with support for HDR 10 content.
Its resolution works out to a crisp 537 pixels per inch (ppi), which is similar in density to the Galaxy S9+ (529ppi).
Viewing angles are good and colors are accurate, particularly whites and blues, though you don't get the inky blacks Samsung's AMOLED panels are known for.
Screen brightness is on the low side, however.
The U12+ looks downright dim next to the S9+ and the LG G7, both of which are much easier to see outside and under direct sunlight.
Network Performance and Connectivity
As for network connectivity, the U12+ supports all major US carriers with LTE bands 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/13/17/20/28/32/38/39/40/41/66.
That's pretty comprehensive, with the only omission being T-Mobile's band 71 for improved rural coverage (which you get on the LG G7).
We tested it in (highly congested) midtown Manhattan on T-Mobile and recorded average uplink/downlink speeds on par with other devices we've used on the carrier.
See How We Test Cell Phones
The U12+ also has 4x4 MIMO, VoLTE, and Wi-Fi calling.
Dual-band Wi-Fi and NFC are supported.
Call quality is mixed.
We encounter some distortion of transmissions when making a call from a busy street corner.
Even though earpiece volume was loud and noise cancellation was fine at blotting out background noise, voices came across garbled, sometimes make them hard to understand.
Processor and Battery
There are no real surprises here when it comes to hardware.
There's a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor under the hood, clocked at 2.8GHz, with 6GB of RAM.
In the PCMark benchmark, which measures several tasks like web browsing and video and photo editing, the U12+ scored 8,518, which is higher than the S9+ (7,273) and the OnePlus 6 (8,484).
Graphics performance is good, with the phone scoring 19fps on the GFXBench Car Chase on-screen test, though the OnePlus 6 (33fps) pulls ahead thanks to its less demanding 1080p display.
From a more realistic use case, the phone handled PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds at high graphics settings without any dropped frames or sluggishness.
The U12+ has a 3,500mAh battery that clocked a solid 6 hours, 30 minutes when streaming full-screen video over LTE at maximum brightness.
That's better than the OnePlus 6 (5 hours, 49 minutes), though it falls short of the S9+, which outran our 10-hour test video.
It should still get you through an average day's use, and the phone supports fast charging via Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 (it's also certified for use with 4.0 chargers).
There's no wireless charging, however, which is a disappointing omission since just about every other high-end phone supports this feature.
Camera
The U12+ adheres to the current dual-sensor camera trend.
On the back it has a 12MP Ultrapixel camera with optical image stabilization, paired with a secondary 16MP lens, giving the phone an effective 2x optical zoom.
This also allows it to shoot in bokeh mode, blurring the background of a foreground object.
In good lighting, the U12+ takes sharp shots with rich, saturated colors and little to no noise.
Outdoor shooting is simply excellent all around.
As you can see in the image below, it's practically indistinguishable from the Galaxy S9+ in well-lit settings.
The truly impressive aspect of the U12+'s camera is how well it performs in lower light.
Compared with the S9+, both phones focus fast and take clear shots with minimal blur.
As you can see below, the U12+ saturates dark colors a bit more, while the S9+ lets in a bit more light.
When you zoom in for closer inspection, the calligraphy in the image with the Android robots is a little bit more defined on the S9+ than the U12+, but it's pretty close.
The rear cameras can record smooth and stable 4K video at 60fps with impressive audio capture.
The phone has four microphones (one on each side) for 360-degree audio, and is able to recognize the sound source when recording video, correlating the sound to the proper mic.
It also records slow-motion video at 1080p, but only at 240fps, which is less than the 960fps of the S9+ at 720p, but you might find the trade-off for higher resolution worthwhile.
Both phones also support manual controls, letting you tweak things like focus, white balance, and ISO.
For the front sensors, you have a pair of 8-megapixel front-facing cameras, giving you the ability to take selfies with bokeh, which is something we've only seen on the iPhone X.
You can also take crisp 84-degree wide-angle shots, which is nice for cramming big groups into an image.
Software
The U12+ ships running Android 8.0 Oreo with a heavy UI layer that makes visual changes to app icons and integrates Blinkfeed, a news and notification feed that appears when you swipe left from the home screen.
Annoyingly, it includes baked-in advertising and does things like suggest sponsored apps.
Fortunately, you can disable Blinkfeed entirely, or just the ads.
Aside from the aforementioned USonic audio profiles, the main standout software feature here is HTC Sense Companion.
This is the AI assistant that originally launched on the HTC U Ultra.
It learns your habits and offers suggestions, like features to optimize your phone's performance.
Over a week's worth of use, it was able to do things like give me restaurant suggestions in the area, keep track of my steps, suggest when to charge the phone, and provide traffic updates.
Once it learns your habits it can be handy, though it doesn't seem to offer much more than Google Assistant.
Bloatware isn't too significant.
Amazon Alexa is preinstalled, giving you yet another choice of voice assistant if you want it.
There are some other apps like Record, News Republic, TouchPal (HTC's default keyboard), Viveport, and the Zoe Video Editor.
They can't be uninstalled, but out of 128GB, we had 112GB available for use, along with the aforementioned microSD slot.
Conclusions
The HTC U12+ is solid addition to the current crop of flagship handsets, but it doesn't stand out.
Starting at $800, it's priced to compete with the very best, and it succeeds in its gorgeous design, sharp display, and excellent camera performance.
But there are a number of small issues that fall short of the competition, including the lack of a headphone jack and wireless charging, a heavy UI layer, and frustrating haptic buttons.
For the very best Android experience, the Galaxy S9+ gets just about everything right, and remains our Editors' Choice.
If you're looking to save some money, we also like the OnePlus 6.
And for the best multimedia experience, the LG G7 ThinQ is worth your attention.
The Bottom Line
The HTC U12+ is an attractive phone that hits all the modern trends, but there isn't much to distinguish it from other flagship models.
