Welcome to Android war! The battle is between Google Pixel and HTC U Ultra. Let’s see who wins this competition and who lamentably fails.
Round 1: Fighting for Display
Google Pixel is protected by Gorilla Glass 4, but HTC Ultra enjoys a newer version, Gorilla Glass 5.
Google Pixel’s display of 5’ 1080p AMOLED has a pixel density of 441 ppi, while HTC U Ultra’s screen is a 5.7’ 2K Super LCD 5 with a sidekick on its side: a secondary display of 2.5’ with a 160×1040 resolution that can display app shortcuts, top contacts, event notifications and so on. The legend says that HTC’s technology evolves according to its usage in time.
So, round one seems to be won by the one and only HTC Ultra. Congrats! It’s off to a good start.
Round 2: Design Wrestling
Google Pixel’s design features a pane of glass framed from the camera to the fingerprint scanner on the bottom. With a polarizing premium design made of glass plus metal, and an unusual “Really Blue” finished aluminum, the Pixel not only looks cool, but it also feels great. Its minus might be the fact that the humongous bezels are quite nasty.
HTC U Ultra shows off a new design language of the company, but this shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering that it’s manufactured for Google. U Ultra aka “liquid design” is made from glass and metal with asymmetrical bending all around. Try and view it from different angles and you’ll notice that it reflects light accordingly. The device comes in 3 colors: Cosmetic Pink, Brilliant Black and Sapphire Blue.
This round also seems to be won by the unique striking design of U Ultra.
Round 3: Camera Testing
Google Pixel’s rear camera has 12 MP and it features phase detection auto-focus, a sensor of 1/3.2” size, electronic image stabilization and an aperture of f/2.0. The front offers a f/2.0 aperture and an 8 MP sensor.
HTC Ultra’s rear camera comes in 12 MP with optical image stabilization, an aperture of f/1.8, phase detection auto-focus and a dual-tone flash. The front camera is 16 MP.
Yes, you guessed it right! The HTC wins again with a hit from its dual-tone flash and the optical image stabilization.
Round 4: Hardware Tournament
Here comes the hard part.
Google Pixel comes equipped with an all-inclusive set of elements: 4 GB RAM, Snapdragon 821 SoC, a battery of 2,770 mAh and internal storage of 32/128 GB.
Google’s U Ultra presents similar specs: its Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor comes with 4 GB of RAM, a battery of 3,000 mAh and internal storage of 64 GB.
Both of them work on Android 7.0 Nougat, but they have their very own special set of skills. We’ll get to that in a sec.
U Ultra also wins this round, due to its feature of supporting micro SD cards of up to 2 TB, while the poor Pixel doesn’t even have the ability to expand its storage, although it tries to fight back using its unlimited media backup via Google Drive.
Bonus Rounds for the User’s Sadistic Pleasure
Google Pixel’s other unique skills:
- Google Assistant
Created as Google’s response to all those Cortanas and Siris out there, the Assistant uses Google Now’s structure to take things further. It can open apps, call and text your friends, play and pause music, post tweets, and even deal with your movie reservation.
Android’s open nature allows developers to make the best use of Google Assistant’s features, enjoying the fact that the more you use it, the smartest it becomes.
- Unlimited storage of photos/videos
As we’ve mentioned before, Google Pixel offers its users unlimited backup of all their media files to Google Photos in high resolution without the need for compression. Smart Storage is a feature which automatically backs up files to the cloud every time your device storage decreases too much.
- Pixel Launcher
The novelties are a new app launcher, some brand new rounded app icons, and also the fact that it replaces Google Now with the Assistant.
- 24/7 customer support
As a Google Pixel’s user, you’ll get non-stop text and voice customer support and the cherry on top is a screen sharing service used by tech-support for identifying, diagnosing and solving all potential issues you may stumble upon.
Now let’s watch HTC U Ultra striking back with its unique set of special skills:
- Sense companion
It seems that HTC has its own version of an AI assistant elegantly called “Sense Companion” described by HTC as not only a mere machine but also an extension of the user himself. This buddy of yours is able to suggest different options for clothes, according to the current weather, it can remind you your schedule, recommend a restaurant and even book you a table. The company claims it will evolve over time, as it gets to know you better.
U Ultra also has 4 microphones incorporated inside which are always on, work on low power and this makes it more AI-friendly, as they respond to all of your commands. It also comes with a unique biometric voice unlock that can be controlled without you physically touching it.
On the other hand, this feature doesn’t come pre-installed, and it’s only available via software updates.
According to the president of HTC South Asia, the Sense Companion wins the battle against Google Assistant because it transcends AI, and it’s practically learning from the user’s behavior. This offers a higher level of personalization, unlike the Google Assistant which is practically evolving due to cloud aggregate behavior. Well, what more can we say…hats off to this explanation!
- Audio enhancements
HTC U Ultra comes with U-Sonic – a sonar-based audio system placed over the headphones which deliver a sound that can adapt to the users. It doesn’t have a regular audio jack of 3.5mm and it features a single USB Type-C out for charging, high-resolution audio, and data syncing. You can only use headphones that are compatible with USB-C. The audio system supports Boom Sound Hi-Fi sound tech.
Final Round: Pricing!
You can get the only variant of HTC U Ultra (64GB expendable storage and 4GB RAM) for $350. Regarding Google Pixel, you have two options: one for $220 (32GB internal storage) and the other for $280 (128GB internal storage).
Fatality? Flawless victory? Well, maybe not as drastic and dramatic as that, but we sure think that the HTC U Ultra represents an evolution of Google Pixel, although the latter might also be very attractive for many users.
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