HTC U12+ / U12 Plus

Takes great day and night photos ; Strong audio ; Good for those who hate the notch

Terrible ‘buttons’ that make the phone unusable at times ; Big and heavy without having exceptional battery life ; Screen not as good as competing OLEDs ; Edge Sense has issues

The HTC U12 Plus is far from the slimmest phone around, which for me isn’t an issue if the battery life were to impress. Sadly, it isn’t quite as good as expected.

Clean and premium 3D glass design ; Very strong internal hardware suite ; Useful Edge Sense 2 controls ; Dual LTE SIM card slot ; IP68 waterproof rating ; Dual-camera secured face unlock ; Full-featured, powerful camera system

Haptic buttons need another pass ; Battery life is disappointingly standard ; Screen brightness is so-so ; Lack of carriers

Great audio ; Strong design ; Good low-light camera

Battery falls short again ; Volume buttons are just... wrong ; Touch-sensitive sides fail to impress again

While we thoroughly applaud HTC for trying to be innovative with this handset, in a smartphone world that sorely needs differentiation, it doesn't mean that we have to like what's on show. In the same way that we don't need our phones to be able to...

Solid build ; Fast and smooth performance ; Vibrant screen ; Good camera ; Plenty of useful (and quirky) features

Video and audio performance could be more exciting ; Overly sensitive lock/home button

The U12+ won’t rock the smartphone world, but its ‘squeezable’ features and decent camera are worth a punt

Good display ; Lots of power on tap ; Expandable storage via microSD ; Capable main and front cameras ; Exciting audio offering and great bundled headphones

It feels big and heavy against the competition ; Zoom camera isn't great ; Buttons mess with basic Android functions ; Edge Sense squeeze/tap not needed

The HTC U12+ is a powerful phone with a good main camera and great display, but the zoom camera lets things down. Edge Sense means some inconvenient compromises and overall it just feels a little more chunky than it needs to be.

Amazing cameras ; Fantastic screen resolution ; Solid CPU performance

UI should be faster ; Pressure sensitive buttons are annoying ; Poor placement of fingerprint scanner

Though its arrival comes an awfully long time after the big hitters of 2018, the U12+’s Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor and top-of-the-line cameras mean that it’s only fashionably late, rather than missing the party entirely.

Good rear camera ; Notch haters will like the design ; Water resistant

Mediocre battery life ; Squeeze features more quirky than useful ; No headphone jack

Its unique features are more gimmick than genius, but the HTC U12+ is a solid phone for notch-haters

The HTC U12 Plus is a highly competent flagship phone. It has the specifications to rival the very best around and, in its Flare Red and translucent blue colours, a unique look, too. It’s a better phone than the Sony Xperia XZ2 and, at £699, it is...