HTC U12+ is up with the best: zoom cameras, see-through body, tap or squeeze

Thankfully, HTC resisted the urge to splash a notch across the top bezel, yet still managed to make a narrower 6-incher than, say, the OnePlus 6. With that out of the way, the U12+ is still a rather tall phone, with thicker and heavier than the average for the category body.

Before its announcement, the U12 got listed on Verizon's Open Development website as having "frameless" design, indicating thinner bezels all around, and it delivers, especially when it comes to the all-important side framing that impacts heavily one-handed navigation.

This is aided further by the round fingerprint scanner placed on the back, and the dual rear camera is ergonomically placed in the middle of the rear, instead of thrown into a corner where it might be inadvertently covered with your finger while holding the phone sideways to take pictures.

HTC calls the new mirror glass coating of the U12+ with the term Liquid Surface, and it is seemingly a variation of what Huawei did to the P20 series in terms of "color-shifting hues" when looked on at various angles. There is a Translucent Blue version that showcases the phone's internals (yep, Jerry Rig Everything style, but straight out of the factory), and a stylish Ceramic Black, as well as a flashy Flame Red model. HTC's newest phone sports IP68 water-resistance certification, too, so expect pricey repairs with all that glass and adhesive, like on most current flagships.

Edge Sense 2

Being able to wrap your palm around the U12+ easily has been the goal of HTC, it seems, as it is introducing Edge Sense 2 with the phone. The technology again offers pressure-sensitive sides, so you can do plenty with just squeezing the handset with variable force. To that, HTC now adds double-tapping, as well as simply holding.

Edge Sense 2 can tell which hand you are grabbing the phone with, and adjusts accordingly. You can double-tap instead of stretching to use the virtual back key, for instance, and we can't praise HTC far enough for those navigation gesture decisions on what is becoming an annoying trend of huge 6-inchers that put our thumb-stretching skills to the limit. Alternatively, just holding the phone will lock its rotation and prevent the screen from dimming, so you won't have those inadvertent screen flips or light out when you are lying in the bed, for example.

HTC says you can map and adjust each and every interaction with the phone with the three pillars of Edge Sense 2 - squeezing, tapping and holding - and those will work with most apps in the Google Play store as well, not only in the stock applications, sweet!