First look: HTC 10 is a sleek smartphone with a killer camera
Smartphone maker HTC is hurting for a win. The company — which at one time had the best-looking handset this side of the iPhone, the HTC One M7 — hasn’t had a true critical success in a while. But that might soon change with the new HTC 10.
Available for preorder today for $700 unlocked, the HTC 10 is designed to go toe-to-toe with the best smartphones on the planet, including Samsung’s Galaxy S7, LG’s G5, and, of course, Apple’s iPhone 6s.
And after spending some hands-on time with the 10, I think HTC might finally be back in the winner’s circle.
Finally, a new look
Despite the fact that it lacks the “One M” moniker, the HTC 10 is in fact a member of the company’s One-series family of smartphones. As such, it takes a lot of its design cues from the One M7, One M8, and One M9.
But while One M9 was essentially a carbon copy of the One M8 (and derided for it), the HTC 10 actually looks new.
Sure, the 10 features an all-aluminum body like its predecessors. But this time HTC has added new flourishes like larger chamfered edges and a circular camera lens that makes the whole back of the handset look cleaner than those of previous generations.
The biggest change to the 10’s design is its new edge-to-edge glass panel. Gone are HTC’s telltale front-facing speakers (which occupied the space above and below the screen). Instead, HTC has placed one speaker above the display and another on the bottom edge of the handset. It makes for a far more streamlined device. The only thing you’ll see below the screen is the 10’s Home button/fingerprint reader. HTC has also added Android Back and Recent App buttons on either side of that reader.
All of these changes make for a genuinely stunning handset that puts HTC back in the front ranks of smartphone designers.
Bigger, more beautiful screen
HTC has outfitted the 10 with a new, larger 5.2-inch display with a resolution of 2560 x 1440. That’s a hair larger than the Samsung Galaxy S7’s 5.1-inch panel and slightly smaller than the LG G5’s 5.3-inch screen. (Apple’s iPhone 6s sports a far more petite 4.7-inch panel, while the pricier 6s Plus comes with a giant 5.5-inch screen.)
Impressively, HTC managed to fit the 10’s 5.2-inch display into a body built for a 5-inch handset. The iPhone, by comparison, has a far larger frame than its screen.
On first glance, the 10’s display certainly looks attractive, but I’ll hold off on making any final judgments about it until my full review.
Upping its camera game
When it comes to smartphones, I consider camera quality a make-or-break proposition. A phone could be fantastic in every other regard, but if its camera is terrible, it’s not worth getting.
The HTC One M9 — while attractive and sporting a quality display and fantastic speakers — had an awful camera. In a mea culpa (rare from a tech company), HTC admitted that the M9’s camera wasn’t up to snuff. That, the company says now, pushed it to work hard on the 10’s new 12-megapixel Ultra Pixel 2 shooter.
“Ultra Pixel” is the branding HTC uses to point out that its camera’s 1.55-micron megapixel sensors are larger than competing handsets. Apple’s iPhone 6s, by comparison, has 1.22-micron megapixel sensors.
The camera’s larger image sensors, combined with its 1.8-aperture lens, means the HTC 10 can capture more light, which should prove helpful when taking pictures in low-light settings. We’ll have to wait to see for sure, though.
Cleaner interface, speedy performance
One of the biggest criticisms about Android smartphones is that they come loaded with unwanted software installed by phone manufacturers and carriers.
It seems as though HTC, however, has finally listened to consumers and critics, as the 10 comes with almost no factory-installed software beyond the standard Google and Android apps.
The 10 packs a powerful quad-core processor and 4 GB of RAM, which should be plenty of power for your daily needs. Importantly, it also comes with a microSD card slot, which allows you to expand the handset’s storage when you fill up its onboard space. Your iPhone can’t do that.
From my short time with the handset, the 10 certainly felt fast, but to be honest, at this point it would be bigger news if a flagship smartphone like the 10 weren’t blazing fast.
Outlook
Based on my first, quick hands-on perusal, the HTC 10 appears to be an attractive smartphone with a quality display and powerful components. And if its camera turns out to be anywhere near as good as HTC says it is, we could be looking at one of the best handsets of the year.
Still, I’ll save my final conclusions on the 10 for my full review. Stay tuned.
Email Daniel at dhowley@yahoo-inc.com; follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.
