HTC is back with a new flagship phone, the HTC U23 Pro 5G. This device aims to offer a premium experience with a 120Hz OLED display, a Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 SoC, a 108MP main camera, and wireless charging. But is it worth the price tag of around $620? Let’s find out in this review.
Design and Display
The HTC U23 Pro has a sleek and elegant design, with a glass back and a metal frame. The phone comes in two color options: Snow White and Coffee Black. The back of the phone features a quad-camera setup and an HTC logo. The phone has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a USB-C port. The phone also has an IP67 rating for water and dust resistance.
The display of the HTC U23 Pro is one of its main attractions. It is a 6.7-inch OLED panel with a resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels and a 20:9 aspect ratio. The display supports a variable refresh rate up to 120Hz, which makes the animations and scrolling smooth and fluid. The display also has Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection, which is resistant to scratches and drops.
- Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Performance Review
- Asus Zenfone 9 review: Compact, powerful and versatile phone
- Quick review Xiaomi 13 Pro 5G
The display of the HTC U23 Pro is bright, colorful, and sharp. It has good viewing angles and contrast. The display also supports HDR10+ for enhanced dynamic range and color accuracy. The display has a punch-hole cutout for the selfie camera on the top left corner.
Performance and Battery
The HTC U23 Pro is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 chipset, which is a mid-range processor based on a 4nm process. The chipset has an octa-core CPU with one Cortex-A710 core clocked at 2.4GHz, three Cortex-A710 cores clocked at 2.36GHz, and four Cortex-A510 cores clocked at 1.8GHz. The chipset also has an Adreno 644 GPU for graphics.
The HTC U23 Pro comes with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage, which can be expanded with a microSD card. The phone runs on Android 13 with HTC’s custom UI on top. The UI is clean and simple, with some useful features like Edge Sense, which lets you squeeze the phone to launch apps or perform actions.
The HTC U23 Pro delivers smooth and fast performance for most tasks and apps. The phone can handle multitasking, web browsing, social media, and gaming without any lag or stutter. The phone also supports 5G connectivity, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, and GPS.
The battery of the HTC U23 Pro is a 4600mAh unit that supports 30W wired charging and 15W wireless charging. The phone also supports reverse wireless charging and reverse wired charging, which lets you share power with other devices. The battery life of the HTC U23 Pro is decent, but not exceptional. The phone can last for a day of moderate use with the 120Hz refresh rate enabled. However, heavy users may need to charge the phone more often.
Camera and Audio
The HTC U23 Pro has a quad-camera setup on the back, consisting of a 108MP main camera with f/1.7 aperture, OIS, EIS, PDAF; an 8MP ultra-wide camera with f/2.4 aperture and 120-degree field of view; a 5MP macro camera with f/2.2 aperture; and a 2MP depth camera with f/2.4 aperture. The main camera can record 4K videos at 30fps with HDR and stabilization.
The camera app of the HTC U23 Pro has various modes and features like AI scene detection, Pro mode, Timelapse, Beauty mode, Portrait mode, Night mode, Motion photo, Panorama mode, etc. The camera performance of the HTC U23 Pro is good in daylight conditions, with detailed and sharp photos that have accurate colors and exposure. The ultra-wide camera also captures decent shots with minimal distortion. The macro camera can take close-up shots with fine details.
However, the camera performance of the HTC U23 Pro suffers in low-light conditions, with noisy and blurry photos that lack detail and dynamic range. The Night mode helps to improve the brightness and colors of the photos but does not eliminate the noise or blur completely.
The selfie camera of the HTC U23 Pro is a 32MP sensor with f/2.45 aperture. It can record 1080p videos at 30fps with EIS and HDR. The selfie camera also supports Face unlock, Auto HDR, Beauty mode, and Real-time portrait mode. The selfie camera of the HTC U23 Pro takes good selfies in daylight, with clear and natural-looking skin tones and backgrounds. However, the selfies can look soft and overexposed in low-light or backlit situations.
The audio of the HTC U23 Pro is decent, but not impressive. The phone has a single bottom-firing speaker that produces loud and clear sound, but lacks bass and depth. The phone also has a 3.5mm headphone jack that supports Hi-Res Audio and Dolby Atmos. The phone also has a pair of earphones in the box that offer good sound quality and noise isolation.
Verdict
The HTC U23 Pro is a solid mid-range phone that offers a premium design, a smooth display, a decent performance, and a good main camera. However, the phone also has some drawbacks, like the mediocre battery life, the poor low-light camera performance, and the high price tag.
The HTC U23 Pro is not a bad phone, but it is not a great one either. It faces tough competition from other mid-range phones that offer similar or better features at lower prices. The HTC U23 Pro may appeal to HTC fans or those who value the brand name, but for others, there may be better options available in the market.
