First Look: HTC 10

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

HTC's latest flagship, simply called HTC 10, revamps the company's vision and is the biggest departure from the platform the company kicked off years ago with the HTC One. Aimed at making up for the deficiencies of the HTC One M9, HTC 10 is a clean slate product which streamlines many aspects of the software while evolving various design cues and functionality.

With a look that borrows heavily from the HTC A9 while literally shaving off the unibody aluminum look of the previous HTC One M-family, the result is a more chiseled yet less slippery texture and a smartphone that is easier to hold.

"We're all treading this line about trying to keep some kind of lineage and history with something that's instantly recognizable as BMW or as HTC but we want to move things forward as well," says Nigel Newbyhouse, AVP HTC Americas, Product Planning. "With the M9 we maybe did not move that enough from a visual point of view. With HTC 10 we've absolutely moved things forward."

Coming to Canada exclusively to Bell, the HTC 10 will be available in silver but will will actually be sold unlocked on HTC's website in black and silver. HTC will be offering an Unlocked edition on HTC.com/ca, which will be available for pre-orders beginning today, April 12, with shipping in early May. The Unlocked edition from HTC.com/ca comes in Glacier Silver and Carbon Gray, and costs $999 CAD.

What's New

The M10 now has 45 degree chamfered beveled edge, it is ergonomically crafted, simpler and cleaner. There's a full glass display, the same fingerprint sensor from the A9, 3mm thinness in its corners. It also features USB Type-C for charging and connectivity plus a 5.2-inch display but with the dimensions of a 5-inch phone. The display is a top tier Quad HD (2560 x 1440 pixels, 564 pixels per inch) Super LCD 5 with curved-edge Gorilla Glass

On tap is a new 12 megapixel real camera that uses the larger Ultrapixel format to let in more light. The lens has an f/1.8 aperture for faster shots. HTC is saying this has been rated as the best smartphone camera by DxOMark. HTC really wants to be in the conversation for best optics and photo quality in a camera. They are including optical image stabilisation for the front and rear cameras as well as laser autofocus in the rear that can even be used in burst mode.

The HTC BoomSound dual speakers are back although no longer featuring Beats Audio. The speakers have a dedicated amp for each speaker and there's a bevy of new audio features. The HTC 10 can play back 24bit audio at 96hz.

Other features include a 64-bit Snapdragon 820 processor,  4GB of RAM, QuickCharge 3.0 which can give users a day of use with 30 minutes of charging (which HTC says is supplied in the box). The HTC 10 has a 3000mAh battery.

 

First Impressions

There's a lot about the HTC M10 that seems familiar yet different from the earlier models. I found that the look and feel is definitely updated and a bit more user-focused. The M10 feels great in the hand and not oversized despite having a 5.2-inch display. 

Running Marshmallow with very little in terms of overlay or bespoke apps, the device feels quick and responsive as any smartphone with top specs should be expected to feel.

HTC has smartly cut down on various bespoke apps such as Zoe and others while deferring to what Google already offers in terms of apps.

Personally, I am very curious to see if HTC's new 12 megapixel camera (boasting a 1.55µm pixel size) will be as awesome and amazing as the company says it will be. I'm also very excited to see how the battery life pans out as well.

Between the silver and dark grey models, the silver looks more like previous HTC One devices, but the grey model seems to pick up more smudges. During the short hands on last week, I was impressed mostly by the build quality and great feel in the hand of the HTC 10, I could not really test many of the features but hope to do so once I receive my review unit this week.

HTC looks like it poured everything it had into the HTC 10 and has addressed many issues that made the HTC One M9 a lacklustre release by comparison. I'm looking forward to seeing if the HTC 10 has all the right features to demand its premium price.