According to many, the Taiwanese manufacturer of electronic devices peaked in 2014 with the HTC One (M8), afterwards practically fading into obscurity. However, now may be the time for its big comeback in the smartphone market.

The HTC U series used to be the brand used by the company to denote its flagship models; the last such model was the HTC U12+ from 2018. Two years later, HTC launched the U20 5G, but with a Snapdragon 765G processor, although it was more of a mid-range model. It seems that the upcoming U23 Pro 5G will also not be equipped with a flagship chipset.

The rumored specifications for the U23 Pro 5G require the device to be powered by a Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 SoC which isn’t as powerful as Qualcomm’s current top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset. The AMOLED display will have a 120Hz refresh rate, while the screen size is yet to be revealed. The device will come with at least 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. A 3.5mm headphone jack will be placed on the top of the phone.

The main camera will be supported by a 108 MP sensor, the phone is powered by 4600 mAh battery, with a pre-installed Android 13 OS. Three versions of the HTC U23 Pro 5G have been spotted under the model numbers 2QC9100, 2QC9200, and 2QCB100. Despite the 108MP primary rear camera, the alleged specs position the U23 Pro 5G as a mid-range device.

This is the second time we’ve seen HTC promote this phone using the Viveverse logo. Viveverse is HTC’s multi-platform “metaverse” offering of interactive apps, worlds, and games. Viveverse is available on smartphones, tablets, PCs and HTC’s Vive Flow VR glasses. Therefore, we can assume that the HTC U23 5G Pro will have some kind of VR support and capabilities.