HTC 10 review - the perfect 10
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Processor: Quad-core 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, Screen Size: 5.2in, Screen resolution: 2,560x1,440, Rear camera: 12 megapixels, Storage (free): 32GB (23.9GB), Wireless data: 3G, 4G, Size: 146x72x9.0mm, Weight: 161g, Operating system: Android 6.0.1
See all of the best HTC 10 deals on uSwitch
See all of the best HTC 10 deals on uSwitch
The HTC One M9 played
second fiddle to all its rivals last year. Its camera was dreadful, its
battery life was severely sub-par and its nigh-on identical design to
its predecessor, the One M8,
meant it was left standing in the M8's shadow rather than stealing its
own piece of the limelight. In fact, it was only when HTC released its
second-tier One A9 last autumn that it felt like this once great smartphone giant was getting back on track.
HTC's clearly taken this to heart for its new HTC 10, as it
shares a striking resemblance to its A-series sibling. Both share the
same slim antenna lines, which run across the top and bottom of a full
metal unibody, and they each have an almost identical fingerprint sensor
incorporated into the home button on the front. However, it doesn't
take much to see where the HTC 10 breaks away from the A9's school of
design, as those huge, chamfered edges look absolutely stunning against
the A9's flat, uniform finish, and the way they catch the light
immediately draws the eye.
Design and fingerprint sensor
The Glacier Silver model shows it best, revealing at least three
different shades of silver when placed face down on a table, but the
Topaz Gold and Carbon Grey are both equally handsome in their own way.
Regardless of which one you pick, it's definitely more attractive than
LG's rather plain-looking G5, and its all-metal exterior looks a damn-sight smarter than the fingerprint-marred glass rears of Samsung's Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge
handsets. This is what a flagship smartphone should look like –
premium, stylish and not looking like it's been through a hedge
backwards.
It's slim, too, measuring just 3mm at its thinnest point. Admittedly,
this stretches to a rather chunky 9mm at its centre, but its
simultaneously rounded and angular back feels great in the hand. It
provides just the right amount of grip without feeling too sharp, and
its skightly heftier weight of 161g makes it feel secure to hold and
sturdily built.
The HTC 10 isn't just a better-looking phone than the One A9, though,
as it also addresses some of that handset's major shortcomings. For
instance, despite having a fingerprint sensor that doubled up as a home
button, the One A9 still had onscreen buttons for the Back and Recents
keys. The HTC 10, however, finally makes a return to capacitative
buttons, freeing up more space on the screen for your apps and video
files while also making a lot more sense than the One A9's mixed setup.
That said, I still don't find front-facing fingerprints sensors
hugely practical, as they can be a bit of a pain to reach when using the
phone one-handed. Indeed, the HTC 10 often didn't recognise my thumb
when I placed it on the sensor horizontally, instead demanding that I
have the full, central portion of my thumb firmly on the main contact
point.
It worked better when placing my thumb on it vertically, but it's
still nowhere near as convenient as other rear-facing sensors I've used,
such as the one on the LG G5. That said, having one on the front still
has its uses. It's much easier to use when the phone's lying flat on a
table, for example, and once Android Pay eventually launches in the UK,
rear-facing sensors may become quite awkward to authorise payments with
when you're also tapping your phone on an NFC reader.
Peripherals (or lack thereof)
Admittedly, the HTC 10 is probably the only flagship Android smartphone this year that hasn't been
designed with hundreds of peripherals in mind. The LG G5, for instance,
has several different modules you can attach to the bottom of the
phone, such as the Cam Plus (which adds a wedge-like camera grip and
physical buttons to the back of the phone) and Hi-Fi Plus (which adds
Hi-res audio playback as well as a dedicated DAC for your music), as
well as dedicated 'Friends' devices including the 360 Cam and 360 VR headset.
The Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge don't have quite as many options as the G5, but even these phones are compatible with Samsung's Gear VR headset and its upcoming Gear 360 cam.
With no such devices currently in the pipeline for the HTC 10, this
leaves it feeling decidedly less flexible than its rivals.
However, it's worth noting that HTC already has a VR headset - the rather excellent HTC Vive
- so it seems unlikely that it will make and release another one for
mobiles in the near future. The HTC 10 also already comes with Hi-res
audio support, negating the need for a separate £150 module like the G5.
I'm not that convinced about LG's Cam Plus grip either, so the only
thing the HTC 10's really lacking is a proper 360-degree camera
accessory.
That said, it's always possible HTC might release a 360-degree successor to its periscope-like Re camera at
some point in the future, but even if it doesn't release another
version of the Re, LG's 360 Cam device works across all Android devices,
so HTC 10 buyers won't be left wanting when it comes to 360-degree
video footage.
Performance
One thing the HTC 10 isn't short on is raw processing power, as it's
got one of Qualcomm's brand-new quad-core 2.3GHz Snapdragon 820 chips
inside it. It's also got 4GB of RAM, putting it neck-and-neck with the
LG G5. However, it couldn't quite match the G5 when it came to running
our Geekbench 3 benchmarks, as the HTC 10 only scored 2,022 in the
single core test and 5,091 in the multicore test, putting it 300 points
behind the G5 in each one. This makes it the slowest smartphone out of
the big three, as Samsung's Galaxy S7 was even further in front for the
multicore test, finishing with a huge score of 6,437.
Not that you'd probably notice the difference in everyday use,
however, as the HTC 10 still felt incredibly quick and nippy when
browsing the web, scoring an impressive 1,503 in Peacekeeper, and
swiping through its Android homescreens was slick and responsive.
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