HTC Has Plans To Announce A New Android Flagship On May 23

HTC is gearing up to launch a new Android smartphone that will sit at the top of its stack in terms of performance and features, and we don't have to wait very long to find out exactly what it is. The company teased the launch on Twitter, announcing it will unveil "a phone that is more than the sum of its specs" on March 23, 2018, which is just under three weeks from now.

One thing that's interesting about the announcement is that it signals HTC is still very much committed to releasing high-end smartphones after selling its Pixel hardware team to Google earlier this year for $1.1 billion. Our assumption at the time was that HTC would use at least a portion of that huge influx of cash on its virtual reality efforts (the company just recently announced a Vive Pro headset), but we also surmised it would not turn its back on smartphones.
Looking at the accompanying image to HTC's Twitter post, we can pluck out a few details about the unreleased handset. For one, it appears the new flagship will feature a dual rear camera arrangement, as there are three camera sensors scattered about—one that stands by itself (presumably the front-facing camera) and two others that are sitting side-by-side (presumably the rear cameras). We can also see a microSD card tray, suggesting that this phone will have expandable storage.

Both of these bits go along with recently leaked details of an unannounced HTC U12 handset. The U12 is said to have a 6-inch QHD+ display powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor and up to 6GB of RAM, along with up to 128GB of onboard storage, 12MP and 16MP rear cameras, an 8MP front camera, a 3420mAh battery, and IP68 certification to protect against dust and water.

It's an overall solid set of features of a flagship phone, though HTC will be releasing the U12 to a crowded market. In that regard, it made a lot of sense for the company to sell its Pixel team to Google for a massive sum. Whether or not it makes sense to continue pushing out smartphones remains to be seen.