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HTC's U12 Life has a slick half-and-half texture finish

Style, power and bokeh for the mid-range crowd.

Smartphones have become so commoditized, especially in the mid-range, that it can be hard to tell them apart. HTC is making sure that doesn't happen with U12 Life. It has an attractive dual-finish design with a matted, striped lower section and "metal-like" finish on top (it's actually acrylic glass). It should also please photographers on a budget, thanks to the dual rear cameras that let you create blur behind your subject and a front selfie camera with a flash and beautification features.

The U12 Life has decent power and should go far on a charge, thanks to the Snapdragon 636 processor and 3,600 mAh battery. It also packs a 6.0-inch 18:9 widescreen 1,080 x 2,160 display, up to 6GB of RAM, a microSD expansion slot and a headphone jack. HTC said it supports Cat 11 LTE download speeds up to 600Mbps, but you'll not likely ever see those. All told, it looks like a decent phone for photography enthusiasts looking for something a little different. It'll be coming to the UK (but not America) soon for £299 (about $390).