HTC U23 Pro – Review

There was a time early on in the smartphone revolution when HTC was considered the only one capable of taking on Apple. These days, the Taiwanese manufacturer has shifted its focus to other areas, but still maintains an interest in the smartphone business. It has come up with the U23 Pro, which is an interesting and surprising addition to the mid-range.

Design and build

With the U23 Pro, HTC appears to focus on cost-effective dependability. The device comes with a plastic back, plastic rim and a flat display. While it does have some flourishes, they are highly understated. For instance, they have slightly angled the flat rim, which makes the back of the phone seem a bit smaller than the front.

The rear may be plastic, but it has a soft-touch finish that makes it feel plush and luxurious. Gorilla Glass Victus has been used for the display, which is tough and nice for a mid-range device. But, the phone remains heavy and large, as the U23 Pro weighs 205g and is 8.9mm thick. The stereo speakers are quite loud, if a bit tinny, and the additional thickness means that you also get a 3.5mm headphone jack on top. The power button on the right houses a fingerprint sensor and it is quite reliable.

Screen

There is a 6.7-inch OLED display on the U23 Pro that comes with a 120Hz refresh rate and Full HD+ resolution. But, the overly vibrant colors of the screen make the display unpleasant. It has three color mode options, which are Adaptive, Boosted and Natural, and all are oversaturated and punchy. This is a reminder of the early days of smartphones when all Samsung OLED panels had been a little crazy in terms of colors. In addition, there is no Dolby Vision support, or HDR 10 and this makes the display lacking.

Specs and performance

The Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 from Qualcomm powers the HTC U23 Pro, which is not very common, but is designed for the mid-range. It is combined with 12GB of RAM and this allows the phone to run quite decently. As a matter of fact, it also delivers solid gaming performance. It is able to keep up with its competitors quite well in terms of performance. Storage of 256GB is available and there is also a microSD card slot if you want more.

Cameras

The camera system of the U23 Pro is solid, as the 108Mp main sensor leads with EIS (electronic) stabilization and OIS (optical image stabilization). This gives you pleasing-looking and sharp shots, especially if the lighting is good.

As for the secondary cameras, they include an 8Mp ultra-wide and there are also a 5Mp macro sensor as well as a 2Mp depth sensor. The front has a 32Mp selfie camera, but this one does not really perform too well.