If the HTC U12 Plus ($800 at Amazon.com) was too gutsy for its own good. But the HTC U12 Life that the company debuted at the IFA 2018 conference in Berlin is so tame, it echoes a phone from 2017: the Pixel 2 ($649 at Google Store).
In the U12 Life, HTC backs away from the U12 Plus’ squeezable side and static “buttons” that vibrate instead of pressing in. In its place, the U12 Life is all purple or blue eye-candy with a partial glass pane on the back that mimics the backing on Google’s flagship phone of 2017. (The Pixel 3 is expected as soon as Oct. 9, by the way.)
