HTC's U11 Eyes really cares about selfies, and that's it

HTC just announced a new phone, but it’s not the 2018 flagship some of you have been waiting for. The U11 Eyes is nothing more than a tweaked U11 to serve a very specific crowd. It’s a phone with two front-facing cameras to pull off beautiful selfies. There are other qualities like an all-screen front and a massive battery; however, HTC is really pushing this phone’s selfie-taking ability in Asian markets. The specifications, for the most part, are on the mid-range side to keep the price down.

Around the back is only one camera, so you’ll have to look to the front for some cool new technology. Both of the front-facing cameras are 5MP with F2.2 aperture and an 80-degree view. HTC managed to pack in HDR Boost, live bokeh, and AR stickers (not Google’s, though).

The rear’s 12MP camera, by the way, is identical to what’s on the U11. It’s no slouch.

Other specs include a 6-inch Full HD+ (2160×1080) Super LCD 3 display, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 652 processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, a microSD card slot, a 3930mAh battery, a USB-C port, a fingerprint scanner, and Android 8.0 Oreo with HTC Sense UI. It’s not a bad setup, but HTC shouldn’t really be focusing on niche products like this. The goal should be to focus on a much smaller lineup with global distribution.

HTC also included Edge Sense, the pressure-sensing featuring allowing users to carry out commands just by squeezing their phone. There’s even facial recognition that works whether you’re wearing glasses or a breathing mask.

From a design standpoint, HTC’s latest phone isn’t all that different from the rest of the U11 family. It looks a lot like the U11+ that was introduced back in November. And that phone was simply a U11 with on-screen navigation buttons, an all-screen front, and a rear-based fingerprint scanner. So HTC hasn’t changed its playbook just yet.

The U11 Eyes won’t be available everywhere. It’ll actually be very limited in terms of where you can buy one. HTC has the price set at about $500, and it’ll be released in Hong Kong this week before reaching all of China.