HTC U11 Life

Decent battery life ; Screen is mostly good

Terrible software ; Irritating notification light

The U11 Life is a decent mid-range handset let down by software issues

Affordable ; Good design ; Bluetooth 5, NFC ; Solid performance ; IP67 water-resistance

No headphone jack ; Camera has slight shutter lag ; Battery could be better

HTC’s U11 Life will catch your eyes with its sapphire gleam, and your wallet will thank you. It offers great performance and water resistance, though the battery is average and the camera is hindered by shutter lag.

Great camera HDR ; Good screen ; Clean Android software

Mediocre battery life ; Plastic shell ; No headphone jack

The HTC U11 Life is a smart trimming down of the HTC U11 that gets you most of the highlights at a lower price, but other phones offer more for a similar amount of money.

Solid performance. Unique squeeze sensor. Multiple built-in voice assistants. Waterproof. Solid bundled earphones.

Average battery life. No headphone jack.

For $349 unlocked, the U11 Life is a solid midrange phone that offers many of the same features as the flagship U11 for a much more affordable price. It's a good choice for audiophiles and HTC aficionados. But for $50 more, the Motorola Moto X4 has a...

Good price point for the features. ; Excellent audio through the bundled USB-C headphones. ; Edge Sense way more fun than Active Edge on the Pixel 2.

Battery is a bit on the small side. ; No headphone jack. ; Camera can be slow to focus, especially in low-light situations.

Right off the bat, if you’re a Verizon or Sprint customer, you can forget about the U11 Life unless you want to switch carriers. The phone is launching as a T-Mobile exclusive, though HTC told me that unlocked handsets bought through HTC.com will play...

Attractive design (especially in blue) ; Dust and water-resistant design adds a point of difference to other mid-rangers ; Android One means pure Android operation ; Reasonably good gimmick-free camera

Battery life is quite poor ; Rear panel is a fingerprint magnet ; The Edge Sense "squeeze" control feels unnecessary ; Quite expensive given the strong competition ; Not compatible with USB-C-to-3.5mm converter

Overall, the HTC U11 Life is a logical mid-level reflection of its already very capable flagship bigger brother. It's more attractive than some of its nearest competition, such as the Moto X4, while offering dust and water-resistance that few others...

Stock android ; Lightweight feel-factor ; Solid durability

Mediocre camera ; Weak display

The U11 Life is a solid stock Android experience that’s easy to recommend if you can’t stand all the other options or are particularly drawn in by the design and waterproofing.

ensured software updates ; great earphones included ; good battery life ; limited power consumption ; hardly warms up ; certified for Hi-Res audio ; IP67 protection ; clean operating system ; NFC and Bluetooth 5.0 ; many LTE bands ; fast mobile Internet

Edge Sense accidentally activated ; susceptible to dust and fingerprints ; quite slow GPS ; very limited speaker ; audio output only via USB-C ; display has a blue tint

There are still a few things about the HTC U11 Life which make the smartphone stand out among the comparison devices. Again and again, we need to point out HTC's inventive spirit and absolute will of innovation, whose actual result are now also...