HTC Desire 12 vs HTC U12 life

Compare recorded specifications, size and practical differences.

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Key differences

Calculated from recorded specifications using minimum difference thresholds. These are differences, not an overall ranking. For three phones, numeric highlights compare the two extremes.

  • Weight

    Desire 12: 38 g lighter

    Desire 12:
    137 g
    U12 life:
    175 g
  • Width

    Desire 12: 4.6 mm narrower

    Desire 12:
    70.8 mm
    U12 life:
    75.4 mm
  • Screen diagonal

    Desire 12: 0.5 in smaller diagonal

    Desire 12:
    5.5 in
    U12 life:
    6 in
  • Chipset

    Desire 12:
    Mediatek MT6739 (28 nm)
    U12 life:
    Qualcomm SDM636 Snapdragon 636 (14 nm)
  • Rear camera layout

    Desire 12:
    Single
    U12 life:
    Dual
  • Height

    Desire 12: 10 mm shorter

    Desire 12:
    148.5 mm
    U12 life:
    158.5 mm

Physical size

Relative size, not calibrated actual size. Front and side outlines share one scale and a bottom baseline. Generic outlines use recorded body dimensions, excluding camera bumps.

  1. 1. Desire 12

    Height:
    148.5 mm
    Width:
    70.8 mm
    Depth:
    8.2 mm
  2. 2. U12 life

    Height:
    158.5 mm +10 mm versus Desire 12
    Width:
    75.4 mm +4.6 mm versus Desire 12
    Depth:
    8.3 mm

Weight

Bars start at zero and share a scale within this chart.

  1. 1. Desire 12

    137 g

  2. 2. U12 life

    175 g

    +38 g versus Desire 12

Screen size

Approximate rectangular screens calculated from recorded diagonal and aspect ratio at one relative scale. Rounded corners and cutouts are not subtracted. These are not phone outlines or calibrated actual sizes.

  1. 1. Desire 12

    Screen diagonal:
    5.5 in
    Aspect ratio (height:width):
    18:9
    Approximate rectangular screen area:
    78.1 cm²
  2. 2. U12 life

    Screen diagonal:
    6 in
    Aspect ratio (height:width):
    18:9
    Approximate rectangular screen area:
    92.9 cm²

U12 life has approximately 19% more rectangular screen area than Desire 12.

Memory variants

Each row compares the same storage capacity. Cells show recorded RAM alternatives, not combined maxima. Not recorded does not mean unavailable in every market.

No unambiguous storage/RAM pairings are recorded. See the original specifications below.

Desire 12: Original memory entry

32 GB · 3 RAM 16 GB · 2 GB RAM

U12 life: Original memory entry

128 GB · 6 GB RAM 64 GB · 512GB 4GB

Practical features

Explicit Yes and No values are shown directly. Qualified or regional records retain their details. Unknown means the record is missing.

1. Desire 12

NFC:
Unknown
Headphone jack:
Yes
Memory card support:
See details microSD · up to 512 GB (dedicated slot)

2. U12 life

NFC:
Yes
Headphone jack:
Yes
Memory card support:
See details microSD · up to 512 GB (uses SIM 2 slot)

Battery capacity

Capacity is not battery life. No endurance test is implied.

Recorded battery capacity

Bars start at zero and share a scale within this chart.

  1. 1. Desire 12

    2730 mAh

  2. 2. U12 life

    3600 mAh

    +870 mAh versus Desire 12

Specifications

Open a section for more detail. On narrow screens, swipe sideways or use Left/Right arrow keys while the table is focused. Unknown means missing data, not No. Recorded zero values are shown as recorded.

1. Desire 122. U12 life

Everyday essentials
Everyday essentials — specifications for Desire 12, U12 life.
SpecificationDesire 12U12 life
Dimensions (HxWxD)
  • 148.5 Х 70.8 Х 8.2 mm
  • 158.5 Х 75.4 Х 8.3 mm
Weight
  • 137 g
  • 175 g
Technology
  • IPS LCD
Unknown
Screen size
  • 5.5" inch
  • 6" inch
Screen resolution
  • 720 x 1440 px
  • 1080 x 2160 px
Internal memory Recorded storage / RAM variants. Entries are alternatives, not a combined maximum. Ambiguous formats stay as recorded.
  • 32 GB
  • 3 RAM 16 GB
  • 2 GB RAM
  • 128 GB
  • 6 GB RAM 64 GB
  • 512GB 4GB
Memory card support
  • microSD
  • up to 512 GB (dedicated slot)
  • microSD
  • up to 512 GB (uses SIM 2 slot)
Battery Capacity is not battery life. No endurance test is implied.
  • 2730 mAh
  • Non-removable Li-Ion
  • 3600 mAh
  • Non-removable Li-Ion
Operating system OS
  • Android 7.x (Nougat)
  • Android 8.1 (Oreo)
Chipset
  • Mediatek MT6739 (28 nm)
  • Qualcomm SDM636 Snapdragon 636 (14 nm)
NFC Unknown
  • Yes
Headphone jack
  • Yes
  • Yes
Display
Display — specifications for Desire 12, U12 life.
SpecificationDesire 12U12 life
Touchscreen
  • capacitive touchscreen
  • capacitive touchscreen
Display colors
  • 16M
  • 16M
Screen area
  • 78.1 cm2
  • 92.9 cm2
Screen format
  • 18:9 (height:width)
  • 18:9 (height:width)
Screen to body ratio
  • 74.2%
  • 77.7%
PPI /points per inch/
  • 293 PPI
  • 402 PPI
Camera and Video
Camera and Video — specifications for Desire 12, U12 life.
SpecificationDesire 12U12 life
Rear camera, main
  • 13 MP
  • Single
  • 16 MP
  • Dual
Camera specs
  • 13 MP
  • f/2.2
  • PDAF
  • 16 MP
  • f/2.0
  • PDAF -5 MP
  • depth sensor
Functions
  • LED flash
  • HDR
  • panorama
  • LED flash
  • HDR
  • panorama
Video
  • 720p
  • 1080p@30fps
Front camera, selfie
  • 5 MP
  • Single
  • 13 MP
  • Single
Specifications
  • 5 MP
  • f/2.4
  • 1/5'' 1.12µm
  • 13 MP
  • f/2.0
Performance

Scores marked * are historical catalogue entries. Test conditions are unspecified; no new testing is implied.

Performance — specifications for Desire 12, U12 life.
SpecificationDesire 12U12 life
Processor CPU
  • Quad-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A53
  • Octa-core 1.8 GHz Kryo 260
Graphics processor GPU
  • PowerVR GE8100
  • Adreno 509
Antutu 7 score *
  • 35456
  • 115437
GeekBench 4 Single Core * Unknown
  • 1350
GeekBench 4 Multi-Core * Unknown
  • 4989
General specs
General specs — specifications for Desire 12, U12 life.
SpecificationDesire 12U12 life
Release date
  • 2018
  • March
  • 2018
  • August
Colors
  • Cool Black
  • Warm Silver
  • Moonlight Blue
  • Twilight Purple
Historical recorded price Legacy catalogue value; date unknown. Not a current offer.
  • 130 EUR
  • 300 EUR
Body build Unknown
  • plastic body
Communication and Connectivity
Communication and Connectivity — specifications for Desire 12, U12 life.
SpecificationDesire 12U12 life
SIM card
  • Single SIM (Nano-SIM)Dual SIM (Nano-SIM
  • dual stand-by)
  • Single SIM (Nano-SIM)Hybrid Dual SIM (Nano-SIM
  • dual stand-by)
Network
  • Show all network frequencies: -2G - GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2 (dual-SIM model only) -3G - HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 -4G - LTE band 1(2100)
  • 3(1800)
  • 5(850)
  • 7(2600)
  • 8(900)
  • 20(800)
  • 28(700)
  • 38(2600)
  • 40(2300)
  • 41(2500) - Global LTE band 2(1900)
  • 4(1700/2100)
  • 12(700)
  • 17(700)
  • 28(700) - USA
  • Show all network frequencies: -2G - GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2 (dual-SIM only) -3G - HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 -4G - LTE band 1(2100)
  • 2(1900)
  • 3(1800)
  • 4(1700/2100)
  • 5(850)
  • 7(2600)
  • 8(900)
  • 12(700)
  • 17(700)
  • 20(800)
  • 28(700)
  • 32(1500)
  • 38(2600)
  • 40(2300)
  • 66(1700/2100)
Speed
  • HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps
  • LTE Cat4 150/50 Mbps
  • HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps
  • LTE-A (3CA) Cat11 600/75 Mbps
GPRS
  • Yes
  • Yes
Edge
  • Yes
  • Yes
Wi-Fi
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
  • WiFi Direct
  • hotspot
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
  • dual-band
  • WiFi Direct
  • hotspot
GPS
  • Yes
  • with A-GPS
  • GLONASS
  • Yes
  • with A-GPS
  • GLONASS
USB
  • microUSB 2.0
  • 2.0
  • Type-C 1.0 reversible connector
Bluetooth
  • 4.2
  • A2DP
  • LE
  • 5.0
  • A2DP
  • LE
Music and Audio
Music and Audio — specifications for Desire 12, U12 life.
SpecificationDesire 12U12 life
Radio
  • To be confirmed
  • No
Others
  • Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
  • Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
Other features
Other features — specifications for Desire 12, U12 life.
SpecificationDesire 12U12 life
Dop
  • Sensors Accelerometer
  • proximity
  • compass
  • Sensors Fingerprint (rear-mounted)
  • accelerometer
  • gyro
  • proximity
  • compass - Charging 5V/2A 10W