HTC is reportedly working on a mini version of its flagship U11 smartphone. The handset is said to be codenamed Ocean Life and is seen as a follow-up to the U Play announced in January this year. The rumour comes after reports of LG working on the G6 mini and Samsung working on the S8 mini.
The handset is said to feature a 5.2-inch full HD display, and is expected to be powered by Qualcomm's octa-core Snapdragon 660 platform. The HTC U Play, for instance, was powered by MediaTek's Helio P10 chipset. The leak by a Twitter user also reveals that the handset will feature HTC U11's Edge Sense feature.
The Edge Sense is a new feature that uses frame embedded sensors to trigger common actions by pressing the edges of the smartphone. The smartphone is said to run Android 7.1.1 Nougat operating system, with the company's Sense 9 UI layered on top of it. The Ocean Life won't feature a 3.5mm audio jack but is said to pack USonic USB-C headphones in the box. The HTC Ocean Life is also said to feature the same camera setup found on the HTC U Play. 16MP front and rear cameras with support for beautification mode and slow-motion video recording are also expected to feature on the device. The handset is said to be backed by a 2600mAh battery.
HTC announced the U Ultra and U Play to a mixed response in January, and then followed up with its flagship U11 smartphone in May. With the launch of the U11, HTC is trying to revive its fortunes in the smartphone segment dominated by Apple and Samsung. With the rumoured Ocean Life, the Taiwanese giant seems to be also focusing on mid-range smartphone segment. We will have to wait to see whether HTC delivers a compelling product.