HTC U11 Life Price $350; Specs Lack Headphone Jack

HTC announced its latest smartphone with a $350 price tag and no 3.5 mm headphone jack. The HTC U11 Life will be available at T-Mobile starting Nov. 3.

Piggy-backing from the HTC U11 flagship, the mid-range U11 Life includes several HTC specific features, including Edge Sense. The mechanism allows users to squeeze the sides of the handset to perform certain actions, such as launching the camera application. The HTC U11 is also rated IP67 for water and dust resistance and includes a pair of HTC USonic USB-C earbuds.

Some publications have criticized HTC’s decision to remove the headphone jack from the HTC U11 Life and not include a USB-C to 3.5mm headphone jack, noting that while the audio feature may be quickly disappearing from premium smartphones, consumers are still accustomed to having such accessibility on cheaper devices.

The HTC U11 Life features a 5.2-inch Full HD display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 chip, 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage with microSD expansion up to 2TB, a 16-megapixel camera f/2.0 aperture front and rear camera, a 2,600mAh battery and Android 7.1 Nougat. The device will be available in a Sapphire Blue color option and will also sell in Canada for $449 CAD. Internationally, the HTC U11 Life will be available through Google’s Android One Program.