HTC U24 Pro Launched in Nepal: Brand Not Dead

HTC introduced the world’s first ever Android phone that was commercially available, and used to be one of the top smartphone brands. But all of a sudden, they disappeared. And now, out of nowhere, HTC drops the U24 Pro smartphone in the Nepali market.

Alongside the U24 Pro, HTC also brought its budget-friendly Wildfire lineup to Nepal, including the E7 E-Lite, and E7 Life. But here, we’ll mainly focus on HTC’s most expensive offering as of now, i.e., the U24 Pro.

Back then, when people thought of Android, HTC was the first brand that came to mind, much like Samsung today. After all, they were the makers of the HTC Dream, which was the world’s first commercially available Android smartphone back in 2008.

Despite that legacy, HTC has largely disappeared from the smartphone market. The company struggled to keep up with Samsung and Apple on marketing budgets, R&D spending, and carrier partnerships, and its global market share steadily eroded through the 2010s.

And around 2017, HTC sold a major chunk of its smartphone division, talent and IP to Google — a deal that helped strengthen the Pixel lineup but left HTC even weaker as an independent phone maker. After that, the company shifted its focus toward VR hardware (the Vive) and niche devices, pushing smartphones to the sidelines.

But HTC never completely walked away from the smartphone business. And now, as the brand works toward a global comeback, it is also making its return to Nepal with the HTC U24 Pro, which looks pretty good on paper.  But does it offer enough to stand out in today’s competitive mid-range smartphone market?

Let’s take a closer look at what the HTC U24 Pro brings to the table:

HTC U24 Pro Overview

The HTC U24 Pro comes in a curved design, which is not the norm in today’s day and age. Well, that was kind of expected considering this phone actually launched in 2024. Regardless, the curved design gives it a sleek and elegant look.

Flip it over, and you’ll find a three-camera setup — two of which sit together inside an island on top, while the third lens sits separately below. If HTC had placed all three inside the same island, it would’ve looked almost identical to the Samsung M36 from the back.

The back itself is plastic, though, which gives the phone a somewhat inexpensive feel, but the aluminum frame balances that out pretty well. It comes in two colors: Space Blue and Twilight White.

And here’s the spicy part: the U24 Pro looks a lot like the infamous Trump Mobile T1. The design, internals, all of it. This caused quite a stir in the US once people clocked it. But we here in Nepal do not have to deal with Trump Mobile shenanigans, so let’s just focus on the HTC U24 Pro instead.

On the front, the phone has a 6.8-inch display with FHD+ resolution and around 392 PPI. It also supports a 120Hz refresh rate, but at this price range, which phone doesn’t? It is an OLED display, and for its protection, you get Corning Gorilla Glass. Unfortunately, HTC has not mentioned exactly which one.

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The U24 Pro is powered by the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chipset, built on a 4nm architecture. The device features 12GB of RAM along with storage options of 256GB or 512GB. If this is still not enough, you can simply pop in a MicroSD card, and you can boost it by up to 1TB.

Now here’s probably the best part of this phone — the cameras. On the back, you’re getting a 50MP telephoto lens with 2x optical zoom, and honestly, that’s kind of a big deal. Before this, only Nothing Phone had this telephoto lens at this price point. But now that the Nothing Phone (4a)‘s price went up to Rs. 65,000, HTC’s pretty much the only one left offering telephoto in this segment.

Furthermore, you get a 50MP main camera with OIS for more stable shots, an 8MP ultrawide camera, and on the front, there’s a 50MP selfie camera.

It packs a 4,600mAh battery, which is already less than what you generally get these days, the baseline being 5,000mAh. And you’d think a smaller battery means a slimmer phone, right? Nope — it’s 9mm thick. Which was fine back when it was launched, but these days everyone’s chasing thinner, sleeker builds.

But hey! At least it’s got good charging specs. You get 60W fast charging along with 15W wireless charging. There’s also reverse wired charging; however, the exact number is not mentioned. But what caught my eye is that the phone even supports 5W reverse wireless charging, which is a nice little bonus, as you can charge your accessories like a watch and earphones that support wireless charging.

However, Android 14, which it boots on, can be the dealbreaker, as the OS was already out in 2023. Furthermore, HTC only promises two years of software updates with the U24 Pro. Given that the phone actually launched in 2024, it is already at the end of its update cycle. Meaning, if you purchase the U24 Pro now, you are basically stuck with Android 16 forever.

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See, in terms of hardware, the HTC U24 Pro ticks most of the right boxes. You get an aluminium frame, a rare 50MP telephoto camera with 2x optical zoom, and standout features like 15W wireless charging and reverse wireless charging. Heck, you even get a headphone jack!

Now here’s the thing: the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 in this phone is already last-gen. What’s actually running these days is the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4, found in popular phones like the Nothing Phone (4a),vivo V70, and Honor 600, all of which are priced above Rs. 80,000. But in terms of performance, the gap between the two chips is only about 15-20%. So, performance-wise, the HTC U24 Pro is pretty solid.

But the problem is, HTC’s promise for future Android and security updates has just run out. That means you’ll miss out on any new Android features that will roll out, and apps may stop working on your phone sooner than you would like.

That said, if long-term software support matters more to you, then the Samsung A37 is worth a look — it comes with Android 16 out of the box and up to 6 years of security updates. Meanwhile, if raw performance is what you care about the most, then the Infinix GT 30 Pro makes a stronger case with the MediaTek Dimensity 8350 chip, a massive 5,500mAh battery, and even double the wireless charging speed at 30W.

All in all, HTC U24 Pro’s got some solid competition out there, no doubt. But it is a solid all-rounder phone that is in our top five picks under Rs. 60,000!

What are your thoughts on the HTC U24 Pro? Let us know in the comments below!