HTC 10 Introduction – HTC YouTube
A phone by an other name would be just as sweet….not so fast! As you all are well aware, flagship season, as I refer to this lovely time of year, is upon us. We first were introduced to the gorgeous Samsung Galaxy S7 and its radiant glass design, and the the highly innovative and modular motif-based LG G5, both of which I will be discussing in my upcoming reviews. Apart from the upcoming iPhone, the one device on many reviewers radar was the newest from HTC . For many, this was more highly anticipated not because of the possible fanfare, but more-or-less, critics and fans alike were wondering what direction the struggling manufacturer would take needing a resuscitation of a brand grasping for continued relevance. If you recall my article, Best Smartphones of 2015, I ranked the HTC M9, as one of the better devices from last year, but stated a major overhaul would be necessary for the company drowning in staganation. Well, what we got is the HTC 10, a phone lacking clear direction and merely copying what others are doing, so much so it even dropped the “M” moniker.
First, I would like to clarify this is not a bashing of HTC or the HTC 10, merely the humble opinion of one reviewer who is not impressed by what I see. I have been an avid user of HTC for many years now. From time-to-time, I dust off my ancient HTC Amaze, and merrily go about my day with a phone I still love using. And, I STILL feel like a boss when I pull out the fantastic M8, with those boom-sound speakers, in all its aluminum body glory. Those phones were the embodiment and staples of the company. A company resting its hat on a clean, user-friendly Sense UI and one of the greatest audio experience on a mobile device. The camera was always a weak spot but what is beauty without a blemish. Last year produced more of the same with the HTC M9, with the only deviations from previous versions being a shift of the power and volume buttons, which was largely unnecessary, and a continuation of the design of past M-series devices. All-in-all, this was not bad, but in the fickle consumer world, buyers want continuous improvements as justification for spending money upgrading each year. What we got was a case of, “If it ain’t broke, we probably aren’t going to put the time and effort to fix it”, as I was hard pressed in identifying an significant changes from M8 to M9. As evidence by many other manufacturers, 2015 was the year of the fingerprint reader and Quad HD displays, none of which were present on the M9. I read articles from fellow reviewers stating a shift to a higher resolution display, and minor augmentations of the body design and user language would make all the difference for what we believed would be dubbed the HTC M10. Nope! What we got was a Frankenstein clone in a hollow attempt to stay relevant. Well, don’t color me impressed!
Because this is merely an initial thought and not full review, I won’t go through my standard review format. However, I will tell the basics and specifications of the phone. We now have the bump to a 5.2″ Quad HD resolution on a Super LCD display, with a Snapdragon 820 chip, 4GB of RAM, and expandable memory in addition to the 32/64GB on board storage. Included is also a fingerprint sensor, a seamless metal body with chamfered edges, and Hi-Resolution (Hi-Res) audio outputs. They cleaned up Sense UI, as its more vanilla Android Marshmallow with a few HTC tricks, but still very nice clean interface. For those of you whom are audiophiles, be prepared to be underwhelmed. As previously mentioned, I think of this as a Frankenstein clone phone, as only the body design is reminiscent of what I thought was the HTC calling card. The dual front facing speakers from previous are replaced with one front speaker and a bottom facing “woofer”. In all honesty, the sound was not as punchy for me, as highs were just okay, but bass sorely lacked, in my limited usage thus far. Again, this was from someone expecting the same sounds from the M8 and M9, but I am feeling letdown so far. The sound is good, but not HTC-esque sound. And although they kept the same design language, I couldn’t help but think this phone looks like if the OnePlus 2 and LG G5 had a baby. Seriously, that’s what it looks like to me! Couple that with it went with near Nexus-like vanilla android, a la Motorola, and through in some Apple-compatible features; this seems like an attempt from a company whose back is against the wall, so they borrowed from everyone attempting to lure you in. In my opinion, this is not a company re-inventing itself from its core characteristics, just throwing out something done before by others. Also, did I tell you this phone will debut with a $699.00 price tag?!?! No way, HTC! Go sell crazy somewhere else because we are all stocked up here.
In being a reviewer, it’s my job to try and be as impartial as possible and help equip you with information as consumers. Therefore, I reserve the right to change my thoughts and opinions as I give the the full review treatment. But, I must attest to being a HTC fan, and thus keep asking myself the question, “Where did we go wrong”, but will keep vigilant during the review. As is customary, my closing thoughts are for the price and what is available out there right now, I would not recommend this, but that opinion may change. Please check back for the full review and have a great day!
JA3Tech 