HTC U13 Plus 2019: price, release date and specs rumors

HTC unveiled the current flagship U12 + on 23 May 2018, which will be shipped by the end of June. As you will read in our review of this phone, we were not very impressed and feared that HTC no longer had what it took to keep up with its rivals in the flagship market. It was followed later in the year by the Exodus 1, a blockchain phone that was essentially just the U12+ again, but with some redesigned software, and the mid-range HTC U12 Life.

In mid-November, Phandroid published an article with a headline saying that HTC would not launch an HTC U13 in 2019, and that we should expect "something more" instead. In a closer inspection, the article simply suggested that HTC would probably not launch U13 in the spring, instead, it could first reveal some mid-range phones. No big surprise, given that this is exactly what happened in 2018.

Since then, HTC has clarified the situation and issued a statement insisting that this news was inaccurate and stating that its future efforts in the smartphone market will focus on 5G applications, artificial intelligence, blockchain and virtual reality.

President Darren Chen also told DigiTimes that the company would spend the first half of 2019 focusing on the HTC U12+ and U12 Life follow-ups, while Focus Taiwan cites it as an extension of the last U12+. But whether they have the U12 or U13 brand, one thing is clear: HTC has not yet finished with its flagships.

When is the release date of HTC U13?

HTC is most likely to launch its next star phone in the second quarter of 2019, with a likely launch date in late May or early June.

How much will HTC U13 cost?

The HTC U12+ had a selling price of £699 at launch, but some of the technologies the company talks about, in particular 5G, could easily be added to this price.

Characteristic HTC U13 specification rumors

With most of the technology media scene still unresolved about whether HTC will launch a U13 or not, there are very few rumors about what it could bring to the table. However, this has not stopped concept images and renderings, such as those shown in the HTC U13 + Bleeding Edge video below:

All these early concept videos seem to suggest that the HTC U13 will feature the Snapdragon 660 midrange, while 2019 will fit the Snapdragon 855, which would be necessary if it were in fact compatible with 5G.

This particular video also states that there will be a 5.9 in. curved AMOLED screen. (2160 x 1440), a fingerprint sensor on the screen, a 21Mp + 16Mp double lens camera on the back plus a 16Mp auto-photo camera, 6 or 8GB of RAM, 128 - or 256GB of storage, a 5,100mAh battery and HTC U-Sonic headphones - but take it all with a pinch of salt.

In fact, it would make sense for HTC to follow the example of its rivals and integrate a fingerprint sensor on the screen, reduce screen bezels and move to AMOLED panel technology, but the inclusion of a Snapdragon 660 seems unlikely. We expect to see the Snapdragon 855 with a minimum of 6GB of RAM.

Meanwhile, the cameras on the HTC U12+ were among the best we tested in 2018, so we would expect more good things here.