HTC's Ocean device will drop codename and launch as the HTC U

Button-less wonder—it's as fitting a name as any to refer to HTC's upcoming Ocean smartphone. Actually, you may want to refer to it as the HTC U because, according to well-known leaker Evan Blass, that is the official name for the Ocean phone. If true, it's an interesting naming decision by HTC, given that the U will no longer be the first entry in that device line (the U Play and U Ultra having released earlier this year).

Still, why button-less? you may ask. Well, it seems that the HTC U is completely devoid of any physical or virtual buttons. No home button, no volume rocker—no buttons period. Instead, actions are performed via gestures sensed by the phone's metal edges. Ingeniously christened "Edge Sense", this concept is not completely new; previous leaks had already shown it off. But back then it was still just that, a concept—now it's a prominent and fully-functioning feature of HTC's upcoming phone.

Blass' latest leak not only reveals Edge Sense but also some of the HTC U's specs. Expect a 5.5-inch 1440p display, a Snapdragon 835 (just like the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Sony Xperia XZ Premium), and up to 128 GB of storage. The device reportedly includes 12-megapixel rear and 16-megapixel front cameras. Android Nougat 7.1 powers the U experience; however, it's skinned with HTC's own Sense 9 user interface.

The HTC U is rumored to launch next month. However, the launch date as well as the recently leaked information have not been confirmed by HTC. We'll have to wait for an official announcement by the Taiwanese manufacturer to verify everything we've learned about the phone so far.

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