HTC might unveil HTC U flagship with 'touch-sensitive frame' in April

One day before Samsung announces its next flagship, the rumour mill has spit out a report on that phone's upcoming, fierce rival: HTC U.

HTC may be struggling when compared to Samsung, but that's not stopping it from releasing more standout handsets this year. According to Evan Blass of Venture Beat, HTC will soon expand its lineup with the HTC U flagship. The company plans to give the phone an innovative input method called Edge Sense. Located on the device's frame, it will allow you to use touch gestures to control different actions.

Apart from the "touch-sensitive frame", HTC U, which also goes by the codename HTC Ocean, is expected to feature a 5.5-inch WQHD (2560x1440) display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chip, 12-megapixel rear camera, 16-megapixel front camera, 64GB or 128GB of storage, and a microSD card port. And it will run Android Nougat 7.1 with HTC's Sense 9. See what else it's expected to feature in our round-up:

• HTC Ocean: What's the story on HTC's next flagship?

HTC U is the phone's rumoured retail name. It will actually be the third handset in the U lineup, following the HTC U Play and HTC U Ultra, which debuted in January. We'll know more about how this phone will compare to the new Samsung Galaxy S8 soon, as Samsung is set to announce its device on 28 March, while HTC will show off its HTC U sometime in mid to late April, according to Blass.

HTC U should have a global retail release in early May.