Now HTC U 11 joins ‘drop the headphone jack’ trend; New Edge Sense feature widely anticipated

Latest reports suggest that the upcoming flagship HTC U 11 won’t feature a 3.5mm headphone jack. However, HTC will include a USB-C to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter. This will allow fans to use their favourite wired earphones.

To keep or not to keep the headphone jack has long been debated, with Motorola being the first to remove it for making a super-slim smartphone, the Moto Z. However, the removal of the feature actually gained importance when Apple dropped it in iPhone 7 and called the move “courage.” Now, the upcoming HTC handset is going to join the trend, says well-known leakster LlabTooFeR, who shared the news on Twitter. The flagship is all set to be announced in Taipei on May 16 and will reportedly feature a squeezable frame.

Such a frame will be adept in interpreting gestures based on applied pressure, swipes and taps. The HTC Bolt (HTC Evo in some markets) did not come with an adapter but was offered for free. This was also the case with HTC U Ultra. Instead, both came with a pair of HTC USonic earbuds and USB Type-C connector. The HTC U 11 is expected to come with all the bells and whistles that the company can release commercially at this time. As this smartphone will be HTC’s flagship for the next year or so, the company won’t cut corners.

In a recent video teaser shared by HTC, the company revealed that the flagship will come loaded with a new Edge Sense feature. This feature will reportedly be incorporated at the side edges of the screen. Users can interact by squeezing the edge of the phone frame. The handset will be available in two variants, a 4GB RAM and 64GB storage option and a 6GB RAM and 128GB storage option. The HTC U 11 appeared on the benchmarking site AnTuTu site exactly a month ago.

The squeeze technology in the handset will allow it to understand user’s touch and pressure on the side. This has been made possible by touch sensors embedded into the phone’s side frames. HTC sent out a flyer with the tagline, “Squeeze for the brilliant U.” In fact, leaked footage of the device with customisable features, accessed via sensors in the metal frame, first surfaced in September 2016. Then, it was thought to be the HTC Ocean. A number of reports confirmed that the leaks were a real deal, not just a concept art.