HTC U12 launch date confirmed for May 23

The HTC U12 launch date has been confirmed as May 23 by the Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer on its global and UK Twitter accounts.

An image showing the components of a device with the date of 23.05.18 over them was posted along with the message "Coming Soon. A phone that is more than the sum of its specs."

HTC is set to be the last major smartphone manufacturer to launch a flagship device in the first half of the year, with the LG G7 ThinQ announced yesterday and both the Honor 10 and OnePlus 6 due to arrive in less than two weeks time.

The teasing message that HTC has used to accompany the image does raise the question of just what specs the firm will see fit to include in the handset.

It may suggest that the HTC U12 will not pack the same amount of under-the-hood grunt, or eye-catching camera specs as rivals, but it could also refer to the AI capabilities of the phone - a hot topic for many of the new phone releases so far this year.

Dual cameras front and back and expandable storage seemingly confirmed

Taking a closer look at the image, and the components on show suggest the HTC U12 will have four cameras in total, with two on the front and two on the rear.

On the left of the image, above the large battery block, the SIM tray also appears to have space for a microSD slot - pointing towards an expandable storage option on the U12.

These match up with the various leaks and rumors we've seen around the HTC U12 (which may actually be called the HTC U12 Plus), which makes use feel a little more confident in our detective work.

• Everything we know so far about the HTC U12