 Every phone that's come out in the past year or so has had its own thing or gimmick. Some have elongated screens, some have dual cameras, some have modular accessories you can snap on the back of the phone. Not all of these things are bad, some are actually quite good, but they're all ways for smartphone makers to take their otherwise very similar devices and make them a little bit different. And HTC's new U11 isn't unique here, it definitely has its own gimmick. But before I get into that, let's talk about the parts of the phone you actually care about, because for the most part, the U11 is a really good premium smartphone. The U11 is $649 unlocked from HTC, or just under $700 if you get it from Sprint, which is the only carrier selling the phone here in the US. That's premium pricing, right up against the best phones you can get from Apple or Samsung. Fortunately, the U11 can hang in this premium space. It's got a great 5.5-inch display that's vibrant and colorful, premium build, and a really eye-catching design. It's got a solid and reliable camera, and really fast performance. The U11's glass back is something. It's just really vibrant and reflective, especially in my Blue Review unit. It's super nice to look at. It's, as typical for HTC, really well-made too. And it's finally water-resistant. The U11 is IP67 rated, just like the iPhone 7. But with glass, there are compromises, and this one is both a fingerprint magnet, and it's pretty slippery to hold. Now, HTC throws in a basic plastic case in the box with the U11, but that gets scratched up really quickly and covers up the nice beautiful color. So I think it's a poor compromise. I've been most impressed with the U11's fast performance. It's got a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor and 4GB of RAM, and it's perhaps the fastest Android phone I've used outside of Google's own Pixel. Apps open really quickly, the interface is really fluid, and scrolling is just as smooth as you'd want it to be. The U11's 12-megapixel camera is also really impressive. It can take good photos in most any lighting conditions, and it captures steady 4K video with something called 3D audio. Now, it may not win every head-to-head competition with a Pixel, S8, or iPhone, but the U11's camera didn't leave me wanting whenever I used it either. Speaking of audio, the U11's speakers are really loud and really clear, so if you've been a fan of HTC's boom sound speakers in the past, you won't be disappointed here. But you might be disappointed by the lack of a headphone jack, which is as annoying here as it is on any other phone that doesn't have one. HTC does include an adapter and a set of surprisingly good USB-C headphones in the box, but those headphones only work with the U11, can't be used with your laptop or tablet or whatever other device you might carry around. You probably already know whether this is going to be a problem for you or not, but it didn't take me long to miss the headphone jack when I got into my car and couldn't plug into the AUX port. Now, battery life could be better. That's not to say it's bad, but it's just not as impressive as the snappy performance in the rest of the phone. Most days I'm able to get through to evening before charging up, but this really isn't a small phone, and it'd be great if it could handle even more than a day of heavy use. Now, out of the box, the U11 is running the latest software from Google, Android 7.1.1, and it has some light customization from HTC. Now, I think the software is great. It's fast, easy to use, and it's not too far away from what Google offers on the Pixel. The U11 even supports app icon shortcuts in its standard launcher. Now, there's not one, but two intelligent assistants on the U11, and soon there's going to be a third. Now, you already know how Google Assistant works, and you can use OK Google to launch it even when the screen is off. HTC has also included its own assistant that tries to give you helpful tips on when to charge your phone, where to go for lunch, and what the weather will be like tomorrow. But most of these are pretty obvious things or already handled better by Google's own assistant. I'm more excited about the forthcoming Alexa integration, which will allow me to yell Alexa at my phone to do a bunch of things I normally ask an Echo to do. That's not going to be available until later this summer, so I haven't been able to test it yet. OK, so at the beginning of this, I told you there was going to be a gimmick. So here it is. HTC expects you to squeeze the sides of this phone to do things. You can launch an app, turn on a flashlight, launch Google Assistant, or do other tasks with either a short or a long squeeze. Now, the feature works as advertised, and I had no problem activating it, but I'm just not sure why I'd ever want to do this. There are already quicker and more comfortable ways to do many of these tasks, and squeezing the sides of a phone never feels normal or intuitive. It seems like this feature is a little half-baked, and maybe it'll get more interesting in the future, but right now, it's a totally forgettable gimmick. So no, the U11 doesn't have an edge-to-edge screen, it doesn't have a dual camera setup, and it doesn't have modular accessories that you can snap onto the back of it. It's very much a traditional smartphone, just like we've expected smartphones to be for the past ten years. But at the same time, it's a really good smartphone, so if that's all you're looking for, the U11 is it. You can even use OK Google to wake the phone up. Like that. Please come back for research.