HTC may not be done with smartphone releases for 2017, or we may already have a glimpse at what to expect come the turn of the New Year. The Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer is expected to go back to its 2014 roots and resurrect the Eye branding for its next smartphone, the U11 EYEs.
The phone has currently been known as the Ocean Harmony, but notable and usually-reliable Twitter tipster Evan Blass has recently tweeted to say it will be known as "the HTC U11 EYEs". The Eye branding on the HTC Desire Eye referred to the fact it had a 13-megapixel camera on the front, making it a serious selfie shooter.
Blass has referred to the new device as 'EYEs', indicating it may in fact have two front-facing cameras. HTC has adopted dual-lens cameras before, but only on the rear.
Blass hasn't revealed any specs or features of the phone, however GizmoChina has reported that the phone has 3C certification in China (China's equivalent of the American FCC filings) where it has appeared with some specs.
They include a 5.99-inch, 18:9 display with 2160 x 1080 resolution, Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 and Snapdragon 660 processors with 4GB and 6GB of RAM, and 64GB and 128GB of storage respectively. It also says the phone will have two 5-megapixel front-facing cameras, giving some weight to the EYEs branding.
On the back there's expected to be a 12-megapixel single-lens camera with OIS. Pricing for the U11 EYEs is predicted to be between $400 and $550 depending on configuration, but it's difficult to say at such this early stage. However, since the device has received certification in China, it may not be long until we hear official details.