Article Image

HTC's Green is Good sale slashes prices on the HTC U11, HTC U Ultra, and more

HTC's second annual Green is Good sale has steep discounts in store beginning October 2 until October 8, starting with the HTC U11, HTC U Ultra, HTC Bolt, UA Healthbox, and related accessories.

HTC, newly flush with cash from a talent swap with Google, wants to pass on the love. Starting Monday, October 2, the Taiwan-based smartphone maker is kicking off “Green is Good,” a week-long promotion of discounts on handsets, accessories, cases, and more.

“Throughout the week, HTC will be offering fan appreciation deals on award-winning smartphones, prizes & sweepstakes, and all kinds of celebrations on social media,” HTC said in a press release. “It’s our way of giving back to the fans […] as they proclaim loud and proud, ‘Green is good!'”

HTC’s keeping some of the limited-time deals a surprise but published a partial list on Friday, September 29. Here’s what you can expect to see from October 2 until October 8:

Those aren’t half bad. In our reviews of the HTC U Ultra and HTC U11, we gave them high marks for a great camera, speedy performance, and good battery life. The LCD screens might not measure up to the vibrant Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus’s OLED panels, and the lack of 3.5mm headphone jacks are a bit of an annoyance. But at the promotional pricing, neither is a bad buy.

A quick refresher on the specs: The U Ultra has a 5.7-inch Quad HD (2,560 x 1,440 pixels) camera, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 system-on-chip, 4GB of RAM, and up to 128GB of internal storage. The HTC U11 trades down slightly to a 5.5-inch Quad HD screen, but boasts a faster Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, up to 6GB of RAM, and between 16GB and 256GB of storage. Both phones have HTC’s audio-boosting BoomSound technology and HTC’s UltraPixel sensor, which captures a wider range of colors than typical smartphone cameras.

That is not all HTC has in store. In addition to the week-long discounts, the company will give away prizes including the HTC U11, the HTC U Ultra, the HTC Vive virtual reality headset, and assorted HTC gift packs to customers sign up via the official “Green is Good” web page.

“There’s no better week to pick up a new phone at an incredible price — or win one for absolutely nothing,” HTC said.

That is likely true. During last year’s Green is Good sale, HTC knocked $150 off the price of the HTC 10, discounted the activity-tracking UA band to $120 ($60 off), and sold the UA Healthbox — a pack of health-tracking fitness bands, smart weight scales, and heart rate trackers — for $100 off the original asking price ($300).

Motorola has built some of my favorite foldables and flagship phones. I had a great time with both the Razr Fold and last year's Signature. So when the company began teasing the Signature 27, I couldn't help be excited. The new model comes with Qualcomm's blazing-fast Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, and better still, it is finally getting a proper global release.

One of the reasons I was obsessed with the last-gen Signature was its amazing price tag. But it seems like that budget flagship dream might be officially dead. Portuguese retailer MegaPC has prematurely listed a 12GB RAM and 512GB storage Signature 27 in Pantone Coal Smoke for €1,594.90 (approx. $1,775).

Two new highly requested iCloud plugins just got added to ChatGPT, giving people who rely on Apple’s Mail and Calendar services a way to search emails, check appointments, and manage their schedules directly through the chatbot.

The integration is rolling out to all ChatGPT plans, including the free tier. You can access it on the web, desktop, and iOS.

Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.

Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.