There was little chatter about the HTC U11 Plus until it exploded onto the scene recently, along with news that HTC was planning a launch event. Now we have real images revealing all.
These images come from TENAA, the certification authority in China, the equivalent of the FCC. Once a device appears here, we pretty much know it's official. There's a 2 November event scheduled for HTC, so what we're looking at here is probably the so-called HTC U11 Plus.
For those familiar with the HTC U11, there's a lot that you'll recognise. The sides of the phone look familiar but the back reveals a lot more. Firstly, there's that rear fingerprint sensor, sitting below the camera. It's here because there's no space on the front for it.
Secondly, tweaking the levels in these photos sees the phone covered in fingerprints, suggesting that it's glass, likely to have HTC's Liquid Surface design.
This was rumoured, appearing in some renders too, but that's something to be excited about: Liquid Surface and the colours it offers is really unique.
The front of the phone is much more obscure, but it's clear that it's moving to an 18:9 aspect display.
The display itself has been obscured in these photos - something that's again revealed when you shift the levels around as it’s a additional grey box that's been added to the photo - and it's currently not clear what the bottom of this display will look like.
We've overlaid a couple of possibilities. The left photo shows the bumped shadows to reveal the greyed area that's effectively being hidden from view. You'll note it runs right down to the bottom of the phone.
The centre photo shows an 18:9 overlay. This fits in neatly and looks a lot like the renders we've seen from @OnLeaks, with a narrow bottom bezel. The right photo - just for fun - reveals what happens if you lay an 18.5:9 display over the top. This fills the entire area, but would need this bottom corners rounding off - rather like the iPhone X.
We suspect, given the details that have already leaked, that the centre image is the most likely, suggesting that it will have an LG-sourced 18:9 panel, rather like the LG V30 and Pixel 2 XL.
You can find more musings on the forthcoming HTC U11 Plus in our full feature round-up, but it's only a couple of weeks until we'll know all at the official reveal.