HTC U23 Pro Review

Verdict

The HTC U23 Pro is as smooth an experience as it is orotund , offering a agiotage smartphone experience at a respectable Leontyne Price . It ’s still beaten by powerfulness - focalize phones like the Poco F5 , but it ’s a far more convincing full package .

Pros

Cons

Key Features

Introduction

Releasing at £ 499/$499 , the HTC U23 Pro does n’t permit a whole lot on with its name . What any of that way is genuinely a secret . But what is n’t a mystery is how and why I ’ve hail to adore it after drop a solid week lugging it around on a bike , to the park , and around a shopping center of attention .

The coffee calamitous design , which you ’ll only really notice when shining the rear under a smart lighter , is n’t the ground . I much prefer my handsets to sport a flake of color . But its all-encompassing television camera cluster , gorgeous and largeOLED display , and snappy carrying out total as a pleasant surprise .

It ’s not the fastest you’re able to get for the money with thePoco F5kicking around , and the barrage fire is n’t the better even without an always - on display , but it manages to strike a convincing compromise in themid - compass smartphone market place .

Design

Sporting an all - plastic design , the HTC U23 Pro is n’t really much of a looker when it ’s flip over on its face . The branding is minimal , and the rearward casing is n’t trying to rend off any glittery gradients or crazy optical style .

Instead , it ’s a muted and matt dark brown finish that looks impudent if nothing else . If that ’s not your cup of tea ( or should that be coffee bean ? ) , there ’s also a silver - and - white Snow White finish available .

With a little bit of give when pushed down , you might be mistaken to reckon it ’s a Hellenic obliterable cover with a swappable stamp battery . Giving it a tap with your digit will elicit memories of older HTC twist or something like Samsung Galaxy S2 if you ’ve been nose around with these thing for long . A pliant finishing will do that .

What might catch your center , however , is the television camera cluster position justly where you ’d expect it . A cavalcade of sensing element is n’t entirely surprising in today ’s smartphone market , but paired with its glowering environs , the whole look is a little more wanderer - like than most .

Moving on from the hind end for a second , the taboo boundary of the gadget house not only a fingerprint reader under the power push button , but the still dearly lack phone diddley . It ’s awake and well on top of the machine , with a 2d microphone beside it not too far from the one wisely positioned right by the tv camera .

The whole package , despite being plastic to the good of my noesis , is surprisingly impenetrable at 205 g. Not unwieldy by any stint , but its large footprint lends itself to a heft that ’s not too far off Apple ’s biggest ( and vastly more expensive ) smartphones despite their glass and metal twist . At least there’sdecent IP67 pee resistanceto balance that out .

Screen

The principal allure of the HTC U23 Pro has to be its big , bold , and beautiful 6.7 - in OLED display .

Thanks to Google ’s already simple abstract and punchy app icons , I still sometimes unlock the projection screen just to see the pop of color emitted by the bright panel . Is it a little rough next to my typicaliPhone 13 Pro Max ? Sure . But for whatever reason , I just ca n’t get enough of it .

Even better than the blinding brights of the display is its120Hz refresh rate . in all probability the cause for some of the shelling woes we ’ll get into soon , it ’s a close - essential component of amodern smartphonein my view , help the powerful ones stretch their legs , and the less capable feel faster than they actually are .

Elsewhere , at 2400×1080 ( 393 pixels per inch ) , it ’s a great screen that ’s utterly suitable to games , video , and general browsing . Though it closes the break on the longer border with slender bezel , you will note a slim chin and forehead , with the latter keeping a wide earpiece in full prospect .

They ’re not large enough to regard as well-heeled off - screen grips , but I ’m not talking edgeless presentation tech here .

Cameras

Do n’t slip the HTC U23 Pro as have four monolithic detector on the back . You have a standard 108MP cracker , an 8MP ultrawide pick for wholesale vistas or chemical group shots , and a 5MP macro lens for detailed merchandise , flora , and grain picture . That fourth ring , however , is nothing but a 2MP depth sensor .

Whichever lens you pick out to take reward of , you ’re certain to get shots with solid colour replication and hatful of detail . Inside shot lack a little warmth , with colored corners suffer detail , but it ’s nothing some light on - equipment editing ca n’t posit .

Out in the garden on a bright and sunny summer ’s twenty-four hours , the sensors had no issue highlighting the divergence in colour between a row of vivid plant heap , the macro genus Lens managed to make sense of the fruits and blooms , and picture manage to keep up with wide-ranging lighting conditions , but even with OIS , stabilization was poor as I tip - toe around my garden .

For fleshy use and fill up up your storehouse quickly , the bottom skidder of the Camera app can be used to introduce Pro mood with lots of manual ascendancy , and the 108MP modality . Yes , the full range of the sensor is n’t set at a base degree .

You ’ll have to manually select it each time . It ’s a good pick for letting in a great deal of item for reframing , reusing , and cropping down the line , but given it ’s shut up to 1x zoom and ca n’t be used in conjunction with portraiture , night mode or practically any other tweaks , its uses are limited . Appreciated , but limited .

For the selfie and video call fiends out there , you ’ll retrieve lots to bed with the 32MP front - facing camera . There are even some build up - in beautifying lineament to encourage your eyes or slim your cheeks if you ’re into that on - the - fly artificial fiddling .

Performance

Wherever you attend , you ’ll see only the 12GB/256 GB version of the HTC U23 Pro . There are murmurs of an 8 GB interpretation online which , like the non - Pro model , might be exclusive to pick out regions for the time being .

Either way , it ’s a heck of a lot of memory for a smartphone at this cost : not entirely out of the ordinary , but a moderately unexpected development . geminate with theSnapdragon 7 Gen 1 processor , the HTC U23 Pro is a slick quiet gimmick in 24-hour interval - to - day operation .

commit the 120Hz panel to gravid use , scroll web Page and changing apps looks fantastic , with the naturally lighting - fast pixel reception time of OLED technology only avail it further . In practically every situation sans gaming , HTC ’s mid - ranger palpate great to diddle around with .

Because of that processor , however , gaming is where it can fall ever so forgetful . The vast legal age of title will babble , with competitive MOBAs like Pokemon Unite and League of legend : Wild Rift work just okay . The big screenland also help keep your thumbs from cover up too much of that necessary in - game information .

With some of today ’s more diagrammatically intensive adventures like Genshin Impact and Honkai : Star Rail , however , you wo n’t be able to max out the eye confect without tanking the frame rate .

There ’s a grade of personal predilection to contest with there , but with dedicatedgaming handsetslike thePoco F5stepping things up with theSnapdragon 7 Plus Gen 2for even less money , it ’s not the best price to performance handset out there if gambling is your core focal point . It ’s for certain a considerably all - rounded than either of those , but the competition is close .

Other than a sensitive touch screen during call and in your air pocket you ’ll desire to be heedful with , it ’s a great handset that ’s suited to virtually everyone . Just do n’t bequeath the loudness up : the notification sound is both egregious to your optic and to the telephone set ’s otherwise respectable speaker system . It can get a little toasty under load , but not enough to concern yourself with .

Software

There is n’t a monumental amount out of the average with the HTC U23 Pro beyond the VIVERSE apps HTC baked into a neatly hidden folder on the home filmdom .

If , like myself , you know the VIVE brand as theoriginal VR headsetValve sold through its Steam store , you might struggle to really recognize what it stands for now that HTC is out on its own with its virtual realism endeavours . Without going too in - deepness , it ’s essentially an ecosystem of apps designed around the idea of the metaverse : avatar , crypto coins — that sort of thing .

As disappointing as it might be to hear , at no compass point did the phone seek to thrust its grifting efforts down my pharynx . Once you hop out from it during the initial frame-up , you wo n’t hear from it again . Just uninstall the apps and be done with it all .

Beyond all that , it ’s a relatively stockAndroid 13 experiencepowered perfectly well by the sound ’s Snapdragon chip . There was an proceeds with a persistent notification claiming to be receiving incoming content that just would not go away , which did get a picayune annoying . But other than that and some very irritatingly meretricious telling bell , the Android experience was solid .

If there ’s one thing I ’d like to see , it would be a more belligerent touch rejection option somewhere in the preferences . In my short week with the gimmick , I was forced into using the PIN unlock method acting over either biometric option . ostensibly either grab the twist or looking it its worldwide guidance had trigger the unlock failsafe . And this was n’t a one - off .

Similarly , answer a phone call posed plenty of problems with the screen not turning off when the phone was against my ear , causing all sort of issues as my peel and hair caress the still - dynamic touchscreen during my New World chat . They ’re all issues not exclusive to the HTC U23 Pro , but male child did it irritate me to see that it ’s still an issue in 2023 .

Battery life

At just 4600mAh , the battery content of the HTC U23 Pro is far from outstanding . It feel like there ’s a small too much expectation on the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 to preserve power here .

Do n’t get me incorrect ; you ’ll easily get a whole day out of the French telephone : it ’s just always the hope to see one well take the air into a second day without absolutely involve a accusation every night .

In general day-to-day function which , to me , is around an hr of gambling , a luck of Twitter , Discord , Slack , and emails , and plenty of photos of my pets , a full charge is n’t going to demand frantically top up at dejeuner to see you home .

And if you do happen to be comfortable with your assault and battery percentage , the reversion charging feature will get you share some of the juice with another affiliated gadget : like a friend ’s earphone . That one even ferment wirelessly on compatible equipment .

In our typical tests , a highly elaborate biz like Honkai : Star Rail sap 9 % of the barrage in just 30 minutes . Again , that solution is n’t completely out of the blueness , but it ’s enough to potentially down you in hot water supply if you ’re ever without an outlet for a day .

Watching an hour of Netflix , on the other paw , sapped one whole part degree less than the aforementioned turn - based RPG . That ’s a well-off watch experience likely afforded not only by the comparatively tamed effort of play back picture as opposed to turn in live content , but by the adaptive refresh charge per unit that drop to 60Hz when watching video capacity .

Sadly , your shelling woefulness begin mightily out of the boxwood , because it does n’t admit a charger . equal to of accepting 30W via USB - C , you may juice up quickly , going from 0 - 55 % in just under half an hour . That battery - sapping gaming session suddenly does n’t vocalise all too bad an idea .

To reach 100 % outside of a exhaustive trickle charge , you ’re looking at a 78 - minute plug - in session . Wireless charging will take longer , but it ’s always a nice option to have .

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Should you buy it?

Do n’t let the plastic chassis fool you – the HTC U23 Pro feel delicately agiotage in daily utilization , with a riotous , vibrant screen and a chip that ’ll manage anything but the very best gaming experience .

If you ’re uncoerced to sacrifice a great camera at the very least , you may get a little more bang for your buck with thePoco F5if gaming is your thing . That one also comes with a ludicrously degraded 67W courser .

Final Thoughts

Unless you ’re after serious gambling power and lightning - truehearted charge prison term , the HTC U23 Pro represents seriously good note value for money from a reputable brand .

It ’s speedy , it ’s silky smooth , the camera organisation wo n’t let you down , and its OLED screen is wonderful to gaze upon for hours .

But with a chip that can technically be trump by othermid - range handsetsat the same price like thePoco F5 , it ’s a case of decide whether you want a great general - use French telephone or a phone that trades its photography potential for raw power . It ’s just not much of a fashion accessory .

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