Just got my U11+ translucent black over the weekend
Hubs bought it back from Taiwan as a surprise gift. It was a bit on the pricey side but he went to 3 different shops before he found a translucent black model, so at this point, price is not a concern anymore.
The phone looks great, the grip is better than U11 and somehow the phone feels faster than my U11. It's not as eye catching as the solar red, but the nfc coil looks so good.
A few gripes about the phone, first the screen has uneven lighting during certain times, normally it looks fine but when the Always on Display comes on in a dark room, the bottom right part of the screen is brighter than the left side. And during certain game startup, the bottom of the screen is brighter than the top. But it's not something I'm bothered with, just something which I noticed.
The other thing I am more concerned about is the way the phone heats up. Even since I've switched from Sony to HTC, I never really have any heating issue, but this phone heats up slightly when I'm playing Tsum Tsum and Pokemon Go. I can understand Pokemon Go, but Tsum Tsum too? It's not hot, just warm, but still it's a bit unsettling. *cross fingers* that a firmware update will resolve this issue.
Loving the phone right now though I'm missing my solar red
Well, there are people who are following the developments knew from the outset once the release date (right here) is more or less confirmed is where the price drop will likely start (S9 and S9+ could be released as early as early March in South Korea, with global release following soon after), for LG the "price stubborness" could likely hold for a little while longer for both its flagships given the lack of certainty about their G7 as well as the V40 handsets, both expected to be given the SD845 treatment.
With ONE difference (and an extremely crucial one to boot): Financial Position. LG's Mobile Communications Division can actually withstand losses, thanks to its profit-making Premium Home Appliances and TV Divisions patching it up for the losses, HTC sadly only has the Vive Series VR Headset to complement it upon.
I must admit, HTC Singapore needs a lot of work on its FB Page, if it can hire competent staff to manage it, which seems quite a huge ask for now given that the technical support location has to be shared with Xiaomi which is a pale shadow if its former glory right here, and goes some way in the adjustment of direction towards higher-end and higher-priced designs to turn around the financial bleeding that has blighted it by perceived mis-management, not helping was the refusal to (rightly) make its devices in Mainland China (HTC's sole manufacturing facility for the entirety of Greater Asia is in Taoyuan City, Taiwan, which joins the likes of LG and Sony to have close to ZERO Mada-in-China parts). Even business sense will tell you that bottom-line stability is still required for all parts to function properly, hence the Google Cash Infusion, and also as "gratitude" for giving hardware backing to Google Android Projects (like the Nexus Series).
Hmm... didn't I forget to tell you that the U11 Launch Price in Singapore (SGD998), was actually cheaper than the launch price of the same U11 across the Causeway (RM3,099), taking into account Currency Exchange between the Malaysian Ringgit and Singapore Dollar, which was higher at that time which meant that Malaysian U11 will sell at nearly SGD1.1k actually...
With a HUGE difference, Huawei and ZTE both have the backing of both political as well as geographical backyards, with the Achilles Heel of not being members of Google's PAX Agreement (that protects makers' IP from aggressive troll lawsuits), except when the IP Protection Regime isn't that "enforce-ably towards international standards" like ours which distinguishes between an "open market" and an "open-leg market" sadly. Another difference is that Huawei already had market share right here of a different kind way before their smartphones: Networking Equipment like USB LTE Modems and portable routers.
