HTC 10
The new top model from HTC was presented on 12 April, 2016, and is now available for preorder. But the roughly $750 phone will not see delivery until mid-May 2016. Fabian Nappenbach, HTC's product director for Central Europe, told us in an interview at the launch event that there would be no exclusivity when it came to presales. The HTC 10 will thus be widely available from then on, in unlocked and carrier-branded variants. Also, there will be no exclusivity when it comes to the three color variants. The gray, silver and golden versions will be available to all on the open market and through carriers.
The design of the HTC 10 will no doubt be a topic of heated debate once more, because HTC has largely stuck to the design of last year's models, as that of the One M7, M8 and M9. HTC has adjusted the phone so that it differs from its predecessors, but it has not abolished the HTC One design aesthetic. The most striking design feature of the HTC 10 is the very wide, diamond-cut edges on the back of the device. These wide edges have received additional polishing, while the rest of the slightly curved back is brushed and has a shimmering matte appearance. The wide diamond cut and the curved back of the HTC 10 makes it appear as though floating when laid flat, and offers it the impression of a very thin side profile. At its narrowest point, the HTC 10 is only 3 mm thick, while it is 9 mm thick at its center.
On the front of the device, HTC fans have become accustomed to a rather faceless smartphone, and the HTC 10 takes this further. The HTC logo between the fingerprint sensor and the display has disappeared, leaving a brandless smartphone behind. HTC has also modified the classic BoomSound stereo speaker, so that at the front, only one speaker can be seen, at the top of the device. The second speaker is placed out of sight on the lower part of the frame. New to the HTC 10, two capacitive buttons are now located to the left and right of the fingerprint sensor, which also functions as the home button. thus HTC utilizes the entire 5.2-inch WQHD display for displaying content. No ugly black bar with software keys reduces the display size on the HTC 10.
The volume rocker and the power button on the side of the device remain unchanged, except for the addition of a textured surface to power button similar to what we saw on the HTC One A9.
In all, the changes in design from the One M9 to the HTC 10 seem small, but I, personally, have always welcomed a clear design philosophy from manufacturers. HTC brings a defined vision to its top smartphones, as Sony does to its product line, with the OmniBalance design principles. And, from a distance, smartphones like these from HTC and Sony are easily recognizable.
On the front of the device, HTC fans have become accustomed to a rather faceless smartphone, and the HTC 10 takes this further. The HTC logo between the fingerprint sensor and the display has disappeared, leaving a brandless smartphone behind. HTC has also modified the classic BoomSound stereo speaker, so that at the front, only one speaker can be seen, at the top of the device. The second speaker is placed out of sight on the lower part of the frame. New to the HTC 10, two capacitive buttons are now located to the left and right of the fingerprint sensor, which also functions as the home button. thus HTC utilizes the entire 5.2-inch WQHD display for displaying content. No ugly black bar with software keys reduces the display size on the HTC 10.
The volume rocker and the power button on the side of the device remain unchanged, except for the addition of a textured surface to power button similar to what we saw on the HTC One A9.
In all, the changes in design from the One M9 to the HTC 10 seem small, but I, personally, have always welcomed a clear design philosophy from manufacturers. HTC brings a defined vision to its top smartphones, as Sony does to its product line, with the OmniBalance design principles. And, from a distance, smartphones like these from HTC and Sony are easily recognizable.
display
The display of the HTC 10 is not, as had been erroneously suggested prior to the official presentation, an AMOLED display. Instead we find a Super LCD display 5. With Super LCD, which HTC employed on the 10’s predecessors, there is virtually no space between the display and Gorilla Glass cover. The display has been placed directly against the glass.
In practice, the colors are very rich and almost AMOLED quality. In our short time during the hands-on, the 5.2-inch display, with its 1,440 x 2,560 pixel resolution shone brightly and was easily legible even under direct light. A color shift was not noticeable even at shallow viewing angles.
The display of the HTC 10 is not, as had been erroneously suggested prior to the official presentation, an AMOLED display. Instead we find a Super LCD display 5. With Super LCD, which HTC employed on the 10’s predecessors, there is virtually no space between the display and Gorilla Glass cover. The display has been placed directly against the glass.
In practice, the colors are very rich and almost AMOLED quality. In our short time during the hands-on, the 5.2-inch display, with its 1,440 x 2,560 pixel resolution shone brightly and was easily legible even under direct light. A color shift was not noticeable even at shallow viewing angles.
software
Regarding software, there is good news: HTC has purified the software of its flagship smartphone. The HTC 10 is delivered from the factory with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow and equipped with the HTC Sense 8.0 interface. But HTC has also dropped a lot of pre-installed apps as well. Rather than having a pile of duplicate apps, those from HTC and those from Google, only Google apps are loaded from factory when an HTC equivalent isn’t needed. An example is the gallery app. The HTC Gallery app has been dumped in favor of Google Photos. Two isn’t better than one when one does what two can.
Those who wish to have more flexibility in the design of home screens can go for Freestyle mode. In this mode, apps and widgets can be freely arranged on the home screen. But bear in mind that to do this, you’ll have to download this theme from the Theme Store.
Regarding software, there is good news: HTC has purified the software of its flagship smartphone. The HTC 10 is delivered from the factory with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow and equipped with the HTC Sense 8.0 interface. But HTC has also dropped a lot of pre-installed apps as well. Rather than having a pile of duplicate apps, those from HTC and those from Google, only Google apps are loaded from factory when an HTC equivalent isn’t needed. An example is the gallery app. The HTC Gallery app has been dumped in favor of Google Photos. Two isn’t better than one when one does what two can.
Those who wish to have more flexibility in the design of home screens can go for Freestyle mode. In this mode, apps and widgets can be freely arranged on the home screen. But bear in mind that to do this, you’ll have to download this theme from the Theme Store.
performance
The HTC 10 is the best phone the Taiwanese company builds right now. Accordingly, it should only come with the best hardware. For the CPU, HTC used the tetranuclear Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 with a maximum clock speed of 2.2 GHz. It also packs an Adreno 530 graphics chip, 4GB of RAM and internal memory of 32 GB. The latter can be expanded with a microSD card of up to 2 TB capacity.
In benchmark tests, we see that the HTC 10 has similar performance to that of the LG G5 and Xiaomi Mi 5. However, neither these two other devices, nor the HTC 10, can displace the Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge from first place in the benchmarks.
The HTC 10 is the best phone the Taiwanese company builds right now. Accordingly, it should only come with the best hardware. For the CPU, HTC used the tetranuclear Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 with a maximum clock speed of 2.2 GHz. It also packs an Adreno 530 graphics chip, 4GB of RAM and internal memory of 32 GB. The latter can be expanded with a microSD card of up to 2 TB capacity.
In benchmark tests, we see that the HTC 10 has similar performance to that of the LG G5 and Xiaomi Mi 5. However, neither these two other devices, nor the HTC 10, can displace the Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge from first place in the benchmarks.
audio
HTC smartphones are known for their Boom Sound directional stereo speakers. With the HTC 10, stereo speakers are still installed, only with a slight difference this time. One speaker is now no longer on the front, but on the underside. The speaker above the display now acts as a tweeter and the speaker in the bottom of the frame is used for reproducing low frequencies.
Stereo sound is only reproduced while you play video or watch games. This new boom sound system, which HTC calls Hi-Fi Edition, sounds good both during music playback, as well as with videos and games. It’s quite powerful for a smartphone.
In order to achieve an optimal sound experience on the HTC 10, the user needs to modulate the sound only once on their own hearing. To do this, you can conduct a hearing test, which is reminiscent of a test at the ear, nose and throat doctor. It plays sounds at different frequencies and you have to adjust the volume for as long as you can hear the tone. After the test, sound is then optimized to your own hearing. According to my ear, I perceived enhanced sound after this.
Stereo sound is only reproduced while you play video or watch games. This new boom sound system, which HTC calls Hi-Fi Edition, sounds good both during music playback, as well as with videos and games. It’s quite powerful for a smartphone.
In order to achieve an optimal sound experience on the HTC 10, the user needs to modulate the sound only once on their own hearing. To do this, you can conduct a hearing test, which is reminiscent of a test at the ear, nose and throat doctor. It plays sounds at different frequencies and you have to adjust the volume for as long as you can hear the tone. After the test, sound is then optimized to your own hearing. According to my ear, I perceived enhanced sound after this.
camera
The cameras in HTC’s top smartphones have been innovative, but unfortunately were always one or two steps below the competition for picture quality. HTC had touted the benefits of larger pixel size for better low-light performance, producing an ‘Ultrapixel’ camera in the HTC One M7 with a resolution of only 4 MP. That was not enough for the year 2013. Since the end of 2015, manufacturers like Huawei for the Nexus 6P, Samsung for the Galaxy S7 and Apple for the iPhone 6S used image sensors with low megapixel counts to provide larger and more light-sensitive pixels.
In 2014, HTC introduced the One M8 with a camera that had low resolution but large pixels. HTC was once again innovative, but unfortunately the camera’s image quality wasn’t convincing enough. In 2015, manufacturers like Huawei and Honor developed smartphones that were equipped with two image sensors that created photos with simulated depth of field effects like that of DSLR cameras with large aperture.
With last year’s One M9, HTC went for a more innovative camera that kept up with the ever-growing megapixel trend. The 20 MP camera looked great on paper and, although it appeared to be able to compete with the LG G4 and Galaxy S6, its image quality was once again a disappointment.
The HTC 10 has a 1/2.3-inch image sensor with 12 MP resolution in which the pixels are 1.55 microns in size. The aperture of the camera is large at f/1.8 and also comes with laser and hybrid autofocus to ensure fast focusing.
The front camera has, at first glance, only a 5 MP image sensor (with enhanced autofocus), an f/1.8 aperture and an optical image stabilizer. The HTC 10 could be one of the best selfie smartphones that is currently available.
But unfortunately the cameras of HTC’s flagship smartphones have always looked good on paper. In the end what counts most is image quality. We’ll be sure to test it when we get the final smartphone with finished software. Despite this, focusing was fast and colors were naturally captured.
After our testing, we can say that the HTC camera finally provides adequate image quality. The main camera has a 12 MP image sensor and produces very good photos in daylight and also in low-light.
The front camera of the HTC 10 takes good selfies thanks to an optical image stabilizer. The main camera has OIS and compensates for shaky shots. Here, videos are recorded in 4K with a maximum of 30 frames per second or 120 frames per second in slow motion mode.
The cameras in HTC’s top smartphones have been innovative, but unfortunately were always one or two steps below the competition for picture quality. HTC had touted the benefits of larger pixel size for better low-light performance, producing an ‘Ultrapixel’ camera in the HTC One M7 with a resolution of only 4 MP. That was not enough for the year 2013. Since the end of 2015, manufacturers like Huawei for the Nexus 6P, Samsung for the Galaxy S7 and Apple for the iPhone 6S used image sensors with low megapixel counts to provide larger and more light-sensitive pixels.
In 2014, HTC introduced the One M8 with a camera that had low resolution but large pixels. HTC was once again innovative, but unfortunately the camera’s image quality wasn’t convincing enough. In 2015, manufacturers like Huawei and Honor developed smartphones that were equipped with two image sensors that created photos with simulated depth of field effects like that of DSLR cameras with large aperture.
With last year’s One M9, HTC went for a more innovative camera that kept up with the ever-growing megapixel trend. The 20 MP camera looked great on paper and, although it appeared to be able to compete with the LG G4 and Galaxy S6, its image quality was once again a disappointment.
The HTC 10 has a 1/2.3-inch image sensor with 12 MP resolution in which the pixels are 1.55 microns in size. The aperture of the camera is large at f/1.8 and also comes with laser and hybrid autofocus to ensure fast focusing.
The front camera has, at first glance, only a 5 MP image sensor (with enhanced autofocus), an f/1.8 aperture and an optical image stabilizer. The HTC 10 could be one of the best selfie smartphones that is currently available.
But unfortunately the cameras of HTC’s flagship smartphones have always looked good on paper. In the end what counts most is image quality. We’ll be sure to test it when we get the final smartphone with finished software. Despite this, focusing was fast and colors were naturally captured.
After our testing, we can say that the HTC camera finally provides adequate image quality. The main camera has a 12 MP image sensor and produces very good photos in daylight and also in low-light.
The front camera of the HTC 10 takes good selfies thanks to an optical image stabilizer. The main camera has OIS and compensates for shaky shots. Here, videos are recorded in 4K with a maximum of 30 frames per second or 120 frames per second in slow motion mode.
battery
Regarding battery capacity, HTC has given us a bump here. Three years ago, the HTC One M7 was stuck with a battery of only 2,300 mAh; the One M8 had 2600 mAh and last year HTC built the One M9 a battery of 2,840 mAh. The HTC 10 has a battery capacity of 3,000 mAh. Compared to the competition, HTC 10 battery capacity is about average.
The HTC 10 battery test scores in AnTuTu Tester results are unsurprising. The score is in the range of the LG G5, Xiaomi Mi 5 and the Huawei P9. In daily usage there was, in this respect, no significant outlines. The battery capacity was 37 percent after a 12-hour day. If one more frugal with this smartphone, you might actually achieve the specified HTC duration of two days on a charge.
Regarding battery capacity, HTC has given us a bump here. Three years ago, the HTC One M7 was stuck with a battery of only 2,300 mAh; the One M8 had 2600 mAh and last year HTC built the One M9 a battery of 2,840 mAh. The HTC 10 has a battery capacity of 3,000 mAh. Compared to the competition, HTC 10 battery capacity is about average.
The HTC 10 battery test scores in AnTuTu Tester results are unsurprising. The score is in the range of the LG G5, Xiaomi Mi 5 and the Huawei P9. In daily usage there was, in this respect, no significant outlines. The battery capacity was 37 percent after a 12-hour day. If one more frugal with this smartphone, you might actually achieve the specified HTC duration of two days on a charge.
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