Hate to be that person, but HTC 10 is dead. People have forgotten about that phone and moved on. Sales have tanked and nobody really gives a damn about this phone at this point.
So what you mean is you don't care about this review. Cool. I think everyone got it from this first comment.
Now it makes me wonder why you feel the need to defend your opinion about your personal preferences with so many comments... I'm starting to think it's because you're very insecure saying this and need to convince yourself you're right. Just be honest for a second: you actually think HTC is alive an well, that people still think about it and care about it but you are fighting this feeling and you're hoping that by repeating your "skeptic comment" you'll convince yourself.
This is the only explanation for a guy trying to convince others that he know better what they want.
I think it's more a complaint against this site. This review would have been relevant six months ago. Still, more relevant than this site is turning into, though. :D I really liked coming here before. I don't see much point with it any more. I mean, what the eff? The next gen HTC flagship is right around the corner, few stores have this model left in the booths and NOW Anandtech posts a review of it?
i think it's not that late (compared to Apple lifecycle of 3 years); some places(countries) may have just received the phone or waited for it to become cheaper or... (assuming 5 months is a long time) : he could've analyzed the sharp panel as well as the its polarization or other issues that appear after a while (some in Xda-Forums) ; or testing or introducing a custom rom that of course is manageable through Xda. nevertheless it was a great and in depth review, as always.
HTC 10 was available in Malaysia since end July 2016. My unit was delivered in the 1st week of August. It's the official local unit and not a grey-market import.
I 100% agree. I am not sure if having the review out months ago would of made the HTC 10 sell more but having it come out this late in the game doesn't help at all.
There are also many of us that wait 6-8 moths after a phone releases before buying it, both to maximize the use of a previous phone and to let all the bugs get worked out before buying.
Dead or not, there seems to be a lot of demand for a review of one even at this point in the lifecycle. It hasn't taken a lot of time away from any other reviews in the pipeline as much of this was written shortly after GS7 part 2.
Thank you for finishing this and getting it out there Josh, I know you have had a lot of demands placed on you and this will at least silence a portion of the complaints.
"... and this will at least silence a portion of the complaints"
Not sure about this. I've got the impression some people nowadays just go to a random review, state their desinterest in it and demand a review of something else. I won't mind being proven wrong, though.
thanks for getting this out Josh. Theres alot of things we could still talk about. The charge test always seem off to me. I know about varying conditions ,but the G5 can definitely top up in 1 hour and 19 minutes with included wall adapter in a 70° room on a plastic surface made partially of composite wood. Htc wont reveal the particular source of alluminum that theyre using,but its much softer than 7000 series when judging the various skuffs and corner drop my unit sustained. If you ever have the time ,it be great to speak more in depth. email :[email protected]
Aye, I too am grateful - a wait but I appreciate that once something is significantly delayed it makes sense to keep everything else on track and finish it when you can. The nagging will now end.
I think it's to your credit that you pushed it out, even if it's not going to help any early adopters make their decisions. It's good to have full reviews of all the major phone releases as a historical reference if nothing else
Not true at all. It's still the only worthwhile Android device, and if people aren't taken with the Pixel devices, will be the only one to get. It's only not more worthwhile due to price. But if your only measure of a quality of device is how many units its marketing is capable of selling, then you're reading reviews on the wrong site.
Smartphones have shelf life of 1 year. Majority of purchases are made in 1st quarter of any newly launched device in the android world.
Nobody in their right mind is going to wait 7 months for a review no matter how good it is to make purchase decision. The fate of HTC 10 is sealed.
And it does matter what masses buy. Look at HTC, they broke their own promise of quick updates? Why is that? Not enough resources because not many are buying their devices?
Probably.
They promised 15 day update for A9. It was still a failure. And now even that is not happening.
Sales directly affect the future of the device and company. Specially someone as bloated as HTC which is used to being a huge corporation and finding it tough now.
I still come to Anandtech for PC component reviews. But waiting for phone review to pop up here on AT is pointless exercise.
That's actually not true. Quite a few people wait for their contract to be up (STILL). I was able to snag an HTC One M8 several months after it's release for FREE. Note that I pay $62.99/mo on Verizon for 2 gb of data (unlimited T&T). It would cost me more to NOT do contract pricing, so I keep doing the 2 year contract thing.
Maybe, but then again I got a One M9 for free basically, and while I knew the M9 wasn't really an update it's still a great phone other than the camera, and honestly HTC has been really good about supporting software updates. Even now the One M9 is supposed to get Android N, and they were pretty quick with marshmallow even with the carrier in the middle.
At this point if you can keep me in software updates for more than a few months it means more than most of this hardware gimmickry. Lost of fast, quality phones out there now as this shows, question is who will still be supporting it a year from now. It's why I didn't want another LG phone.
I've just had an M9 update. Whilst there are camera issues and it takes a lot of time and effort to get the shot you want sometimes, the results can be damned good and the updates for a good two years make a HTC phone a worthwhile investment. With some manufacturers the initial review is what you'll get even if you get the phone a few months down the line. HTC addresses problems throughout the lifecycle of the product which is one reason I prefer them. As stated in this review, the camera section is more representative of what you'll get compared to initial reviews based on early software.
"if your only measure of a quality of device is how many units its marketing is capable of selling, then you're reading reviews on the wrong site." That might have been true many years ago, but this site "sold it's soul" in recent years. It's kind of an "Apple rah rah" site now. Not that the volume of articles are all about Apple, but Apple products don't get the same critical analysis that competing products get. That was true a few years before Anand went to work for Apple, and still true today.
The only worthwhile android device is a $100 android device like the Moto G Play or something. Why waste money on something that is going to lose all its value in a year to get virtually the same experience.
I don't get the concept behind premium android devices. Just makes no sense. The most expensive one I've ever considered is perhaps the $300 OnePlus.
I can absolutely see your point. But conversely my girlfriend bought a cheap Android phone and regretted it massively. Granted it was a crap one but she ended up using my 3 year old flagship device which still works brilliantly. The difference is that now she will use her phone for a lot more, including navigation (which destroyed the battery on the old device and couldn't keep up), youtube (useful for reference when doing something on the car or cooking and you don't have a laptop handy) as well as the much better camera. When previously she wouldn't have bothered using the smartphone camera she now does because a) it's not shite and b) the high quality screen means it's actually worth looking at and sharing photos on the phone. The other thing to remember is that the cameras on many a high end smartphone are approaching what you'd get in many compact cameras (albeit without optical zoom) according to Which? magazine here in the UK. Whilst this is debateable by photography nuts it does mean for the average Joe we get a decent enough camera in our pockets all the time. Not only does this mean you always have a decent camera but it means you don't have to buy one - the savings of which you can add to your device budget. You also have the added advantage of your photos being backed up to the cloud and so if your phone does get nicked then you still have the data. This is not something most stand alone cameras can do as they don't have a mobile data connection.
I can see your point but when you have a high end phone and use it for a while it's unlikely you'll want to go back. Myself I go through two whole battery charges a day on my M9 (multiple factors but screen on time is the biggest) and that's simply because I use it for reference during work, emails, reading and editing presentations (try watching a powerpoint presentation with attached videos on a low end device), youtube and web browsing at lunch time and a massive mix of things in between including reading in the pub which isn't exactly pleasant after a while on a low end screen. The other advantage to a high end phone is it's more likely to be supported with security and OS updates throughout the product's lifespan. Partly because it has the power to run the newer features (like split screen multitasking - something I'm looking forward to) and partly because that's what the extra profit margin paid towards. You'll also find that, as software is developed based on the average specs out in the wild, as the average phone spec rises you'll be left behind - this means that applications are updated (mandatorily), you'll often find them slowing down over time as they are aiming for higher and higher specifications over the couple of years you own the device.
Whilst there are some damned good low-mid range Android phones out there, I feel that they are ultimately let down by screen, camera, R&D and long term support. I use my phone to such an extent that it's worth every penny to get something that works properly.
Sorry for the long post but I thought you made such a good point about lower end devices that you deserved someone who does invest in a high end model justifying their reasons why.
^ great post, with which I agree completely, aside from the part about understanding the point to which you replied to.
I really doubt Samus has used a true high end Android device enough to warrant an credible opinion.
And he's obviously missing the whole world-changing paradigm of computing that's happening before his eyes. I suggest him to go read the first and last paragraphs of the Note 7 review on the Verge..that guy simply nailed it.
And that's exactly why myself, after using a Note 3 for three years as my main computer, camera, media and gaming device (still serves me amazingly well but the physical wear and tear started to show, the camera and GPU have become outdated, as well as the battery endurance), am now left waiting for the Note 7 re-release. There's just no alternative for me.
Oh, is that why every second comment on any article is "where's the HTC 10 review, Anandtech has sold its soul and become Apple shills, even Anand has gone to work for Apple"?
All this in-depth review of the display but not once did you care to look at it though a set of polarized glasses...
If you did you'll note that they polarized the display so that the screen appears black when holding the phone in the normal up-right position while wearing polarized sunnies... UNFORGIVABLE!!! design decision and that's why I don't one.
Still rocking the HTC ONE M7 with it's unpolarised screen, MHC and dual front speakers. The original and still the best ;)
I suffer from this issue with my HTC Butterfly 3 (exclusive japanese model that is pretty much what the M9 should've been), which seems to have this very same 5.2" 1440p screen.
I have to say it really bothers me having to hold the phone in landscape if I'm wearing my polarized Oakleys.
I don't use screen protectors, as I find them irritating. I just can't imagine how such an obvious issue would pass the design room. Speaks of careless/rushed design to me.
I understand some screen technologies produce polarized light, nothing wrong with that. Just cut the panel in such a way that orientates so that it doesn't appear black in the upright position. I know not everyone wears polarized sunglasses, but come on...
I actually wouldn't mind this much... Being able to see the display outdoors without raising my sunglasses or turning the screen isn't nearly as annoying as having to do it while driving and having it mounted in landscape orientation (for nav)... So I would in fact prefer this, largely for driving/navi.
It's a preference thing to an extent IMO, same scenario happens with cameras and rear displays and/or EVFs... You either deal with it, or you go get something with an OLED panel instead.
It was too pricey. It still is. You can get an LG G4 for 280$. While this device costs 750$ still.
It's crazy. HTC somehow also forgot about carriers here. Back then I was able to buy the One X and the M7. Now they sold (only a few carriers) the M9, but no M10 whatsoever.
It's like HTC is trying to kill itself. If they fixed the carrier and price situation (lower it as device gets older), I would have bought a few for the company already. BUT, currently, this thing is 750$, meanwhile an S7 Edge is 160$ with plans. Now, which one would you pick? Even if you are not a Sammy fan... ?
Among explosions and all the debate over the headphone jack debate, this all rounder really seems to have fallen off the collective consciousness, hasn't it? Just HTCs lack of marketing power, or does the very fact that it's so just "good" in every area make it forgettable in the Androidscape?
Partly is a marketing issue and the other part is that it looks so similar to S7 that why would people choose this over that? I would rather pick the S7 (which I am using a S7 Edge) bc I know it is a good phone for what it is worth.
Unless HTC or other phone company does something that really stands out, their phones will be lost in the crowd.
Multi window! It's by far the best multitasking you can find in any mobile platform, especially on the Galaxy Note devices, where it can basically intuitively, simply and easily do a pc-grade windowing without any issues. Only thing it can't do is minimizing a game within a window (pointless anyway). The other feature is screen minimizer which allows easy one handed usage for even the biggest phones.
If I HAD to buy a device over the last six months I would've gone right for the 10, I think it was largely viewed as a totally viable alternative to the S7 by most objective eyes... I'm holding off for the smaller Pixel tho, hoping it doesn't disappoint.
Never owned a phone anywhere near as long as I've owned this Nexus 5, and I'm still reluctant to go to a larger device (Sony Z3c is the only other phone to remotely tempt me besides the 10).
Nokia tried doing that and their phone business is currently dead.
WP10 even broke the lockscreen background-changing feature because it was made dependent on silverlight and then they killed silverlight. Funnily enough, Edge and windows phone internet explorer don't even support silverlight.
The lack of mass market adoption killed app availability, most new apps don't support it, the big ones that do receive updates much later. Google made sure that no decent youtube app is available too.
Agreed. The One M8 was a smartphone masterpiece. I owned both the M8 and a Galaxy S5 (and numerous iphones) and in terms of design, performance and user interface you still can't beat the M8. And HTC's Sense UI absolutely blows iOS and "Touchwiz" out of the water (just an aside, but how idiotic is "touchwiz" as a name for a UI? Or for anything else for that matter? I feel embarrassed just typing it). If you think the UI doesn't make a huge difference in your phone experience, try using Sense and Touchwiz side-by-side for a week. Even just small things like the small amount of lag time it takes for the display to re-orient from portrait to landscape when rotating the phone in your hand become infuriating when you have to live with Touchwiz daily. And besides the superior UI, the One M8 just looked and felt like a premium piece of hardware. Many, many times I had people ask me what type of phone it was or inspect it front to back when I let them hold it in their hands, impressed by the solid/premium feel of it. At this point, the One M8 is still (rather unfortunately) HTC's high-water mark. Although having said that I did just order the HTC 10 to take advantage of their sale ($150 off if you buy an unlocked phone directly from HTC from 10/1/16 to 10/8/16).
Also, I read some of these comments saying that it's a waste of time to review or buy a phone 7 months after it's launch - that's not true and is a really misguided/misinformed opinion. A lot of people buy a phone that long after it's come out simply because they are waiting for their current phone contract to expire. Other reasons are because some of the teething bugs have been worked out or simply because the price drops after that amount of time (read above re: HTC's current sale on the HTC 10). The average person doesn't need to buy the newest/highest-end/highest-spec phone every year, and most people probably get 2-2.5 years out of a smartphone like this.
certainly not dead, the HTC 10 is a far much better choice than the G5, S7 & Note 7 "Fiasco" and other flagships. the only real threat to HTC is the OnePlus 3 but overall the build quality and camera is in favor of HTC 10... i would hate to see them die or break software updates promises as recent news, nevertheless they have a great product that is more special than any other current android flagship (IMHO). i do not own any HTC product currently or stock or anything i use an iphone and an LG nexus 5x but wanted to give my opinion
"far much better choice" for you perhaps. Why all the generalizing? I for one went with the LG G5, for one reason: the camera. The super wide angle camera on this thing is FANTASTIC, everyone who's seen it marvels at the kind of shots you get with it. It's REALLY fun. For ME, the "far much better choice" is the G5, but that won't apply to most others. The S7 for me was a no go due to the glass back (can't stand glass backs because they are so prone to breakage, my Nexus 4 went through 3, and NONE of those were broken due to drops). The HTC 10 just didn't have anything 'special' going for it. Again, that's MY opinion, it's best to sit down and write down what are go/no go's, for YOU, and make a choice that way. IMHO of course.
I really wanted to like LG's latest, I use an ultra wide lens on my mirrorless M4/3 cameras so that was right up my alley... The overall package (and uber gimmicky modules on their latest) never convinced me.
If I HAD picked up a new phone last year it would've been a 10, for the better audio and lack of TouchWiz... My N5 is still trucking along tho, at least until the Pixels come out.
This breadth of choices, even in a market that's contacting, is still something I really like about the Android ecosystem.
Its for all those people who want to make a decision on buying a new smartphone, but might have been helpful to those making a choice months ago don't you think?
HTC 10 is a nice looking phone. But it lacks a high brightness screen. It is a tad bigger as well. Thats my personal opinion. If it was a bit smaller like 4.9", I would have bought it. I've decided to buy Sony X compact or iPhone SE. Recent Sony phones like xlX performance and XZ sports very good displays I think. Looks as stunning as of iphones IPS displays. I was wondering why Anandtech never reviews Sony flagships even though they does release good phones with less gimmicks. Will anyone consider my suggestion?
They have addressed this in the past, typically Sony does not give out samples to the press. In today's "give me everything for free" world, websites like this simply don't have the excess cash to go buying every cool new toy that comes out. Would it be sweet? Absolutely, but for the most part if Anandtech doesn't review something it's because they couldn't obtain one from the company.
TOTALLY UNFAIR! The GNote 7 was reviewed on the day of its release, meanwhile it's been THREE WHOLE DAYS since the iPhone 7 was released and there is STILL NO IPHONE 7 REVIEW! This is blatant favoritism of Android! Everyone knows a review is worthless unless it is posted on the same day the product is released, WHY DOES ANANDTECH HATE APPLE SO MUCH?!?
It sums up a lot of the comments here, though. I mean there are posts with relevant criticism, but they're drowned out by the seemingly obligatory "AT loves Apple more than Android" comments. The iPhone reviews are given the exact same time and priority as Samsung phones, and other devices that have that type of impact on the mobile market.
Hi Josh, I wouldn't care too much about the absolute RSRP reported by a device. Even in the cellular world the requirement on the absolute accuracy for RSRP are only +/- 6 dB at best (see 3GPP TS 36.133 section 9.1.2.1 for LTE intra frequency measurements for example). And cellular modem have typically stricter calibration and better accuracy than WiFi.
So as a general rule, it's best not to rely on devices too much for RF channel absolute quality metrics. The reporting is still interesting, and relative changes are more accurate. But to compare different devices it's pretty much useless IMHO.
Yet another months late Anandtech review. Phones, especially flagships, have a yearly refresh schedule. When you post a review 5 months past a product's launch, that's nearly half of the lifecycle.
I've been coming to this site for years, but the review cycle these days is getting seriously wonky to the point where the in-depthness of the review is NEARLY not worth it anymore. Have to call it as I see it.
oneplus 3 owner checking in. price on the HTC 10 is a non-starter. if I'm paying $200 more for a phone and camera is important to me I'm looking towards s7 edge or iphone 7 just for pure cpu/camera performance.
HTC is stuck with low brand power, no gimmicks, broken promises, and squeezed by value and performance on both sides.
Yeah, I mean it's only 6 months late. Right before the Pixel phones are due out by the same manufacturer. Had no problem getting the Samsung reviews out. But yeah, it was totally unreasonable for people to wonder where the Hell this review went...
I wonder what'll be worse, AT's Pixel review timelines or the degree of botching to Google's launch... Let's face it, neither's track record is great as of late. :P
I bought a N5 and N7 2013 both on launch day btw, and still enjoy reading AT, guess I'm just a sucker...
Bought a N9 as a gift but way after launch, and cheaper on Amazon... I think that device's launch shennanigans (and initial price) actually hurt it worse than the ones I own.
Josh, you ask what makes a good display -- I'd say brightness of at least 400 nits (500 to be great), at least sRGB coverage, accurate white and low delta E -- I.e., accuracy. The one thing you don't test which makes a big difference is reflectance. That's the critical factor when using a screen in sunlight.
This seems like an excellent phone, for $400. The days of $700 flagships are nearly over. When the difference between the high-end and mid-range are a few percent, I do not see why consumers should pay nearly double.
Those days seem to be coming to an end as well. T-Mobile has been incredibly disruptive in the mobile carrier space. I hope the trend continues which theoretically should bring phone prices down to earth. I know they house a ton of technology in a tiny package, but it's a little bit crazy that a phone costs more than a semi-decent laptop which has dramatically more functionality. Of course there is the portability aspect I'm not delusional, smaller everything costs more to package but there is little sense of value in today's flagships.
People in the U.S. still rely on payment plans a lot, which goes a long way towards hiding the total cost and keeping them buying phones from carriers.
Really liked the measurement of WiFi performance. Nice Job!
It probably doesn't matter much, as most consumers would be gated by their broadband bit rates which are typically much less than 100 mbit/s, but it was lovely to see. Those high bit rates are really nice for video transfers from the computer though.
I would recommend using fixed x and y axis ranges for the plots. If the point of the plots are for comparison, and basically that's the purpose of a plots, you should either co-plot the data from the devices are minimally have fixed axis ranges.
I wonder if the differences are really about design decisions. So, Apple optimized for high bandwidth, and it resulted in a quicker fall off at lower signal levels? And vice versa for the HTC 10 and Samsung device?
I used to be an HTC fan long ago, but the quality of their phones had been in decline for a long time. Add to that my experience with their non-existent customer support on the Vive, and they've become a company that I avoid wherever possible.
tnx for the review . great Job. impressed with the Camera. how about audio quality? although we know it's great. so there is no DAC? i've heard (read) there is. in android phones , i guess HTC 10 is the best as long as you don't like One+3 or a Nexus (Pixel). specially Nexus devices that somehow are at the beginning of their era , compared to HTC's that i think are at the end.
What should I make of the that HTC wifi performance figure? Your graph shows that it still has some throughput at well under -80dBm signals when other phones stop much earlier?
Then in the test you mention signal strengths are about 5dB worse than with S7. Should I read this that in the end, all phones lose connectivity at roughly same location?
Hi Josh, thank you. I enjoyed this review greatly and learnt much from it. I bought the HTC 10 in May and through my own informal testing I can confirm the majority of your findings regarding the build quality, camera, WIFI performance, U.I and even display contrast (however, my screen does not have the "pink" off angle issue though, possibly because it is a Sharp-manufactured panel).
One area which the HTC 10 is a stand-out (and possibly still worth due consideration even at this juncture) is in its internal audio performance. I understand that Anandtech lacks the equipment to test this objectively but I can confirm that the HTC 10 is within a select group of smartphones that audiophiles can consider. (the others being the LG V10,V20, Iphone 6s,7 and possibly the ZTE axion 7.)
From your review I infer that this has become your new daily driver. Coming from a One Plus One, I do agree the rock-solid reliability of the Sense U.I is a big differentiator. The HTC 10 really is a phone that ages well, and the software updates do quite alot to address the obvious issues that crop up. in version 1.90 the option for 16second shutter delay was also added, I wonder what are your thoughts on this? For me it seems largely unusable without a tripod.
Once again, thanks for getting this out, and for taking the 'badgering' in your stride. Having read and watched every review of the HTC 10 on the web I can say without qualification that this one is by far the best. Well done!
Anand actually started to measure sound quality of phones before he left, but it ended up dead in the water after 2-3 models. I think GSM Arena has audio measurements. This is important for me, and the reason for buying M7, M8 and M9. Not sure about the pre/dac in HTC10 thought. But I just ordered the HTC10, so I'll find out soon!
There is definitely a separate DAC in the HTC10, it's called Aqstic. From the official Qualcomm website.... https://www.qualcomm.com/news/snapdragon/2016/06/0... If you take a look at some tests HTC10 vs G5 or S7 you can see a huge difference.
Oh yeah, and Talking about PowerBiotics.... HTC's TaskScheduler which reduces the Load on Big cores when the phone gets too hot sucks. Really. 4th core is going almost offline if the phone gets too hot. Welcome to Triplecore world!
And charging from 1% to 100% Takes roughly 90 Minutes. Charging from 1% untill it stops/constant current is 150 Minutes. Anandtech's "using the time it takes for the device to drop to a certain level of power draw from the wall" is somewhat inbetween this.
P.S if you think the EIS in video recording works fine, go into a pineforest and take a video of the Peaks. Slowly paning from left to right. 1080p only.
Just a thought but as you quite rightly said the OEMs don't pay attention to anything you don't test.... My HTC M9 seems to be very dodgy when placed in an area known for consistent 4G signal and will sometimes take ages to switch from "G" or "E" to "4G" - sometimes it will do it briskly and sometimes it will take an age and some prodding. Is there anyway you can test how the modems cope and adapt to various data signals being available?
Bought it 2/3 weeks ago! At first it looked good with the quality of pictures, great sound, organiser (pictures, music etc...) and of course on paper make you want to give a try!!
After taking some time to get my hand around it (i had an iphone) i noticed that a lot of the functionnalities are not even close or inexistant than on a samsung. For ei you can have skype BUT can't even use the video! Can only take the voice. Then i am told to have another app that no one who use skype will have... I mean really?? And their is other stuff suche as the keyboard sensitivity, battery life which advertise lasting 27 hours on phone call supposedly but after about 45mins on the gps google map it drained it from 100% to circa 55% (you better not be traveling far...)
Conclusion: i have past the 14 days exchange at the store so if i can't exchange it i will be stuck with this crap!! (have it for 20days)
Considering you created a profile just to make that comment, I'd say you seem like the typical Apple customer, and that's where you would likely be happiest. Everything you wrote screams of "user error". Go back to your shiny gadget and be happy.
Sounds like my experience a few years ago. I switched to a "high end" LG phone because I got tired of Apple not having larger screens. I loved it at first, but had a lot of the same issues - keyboard didn't work well, battery life sucked, and other annoying issues. Tried a few different ROMs (everyone seemed to have their favorites that was the "best" one), but that just made things worse - would fix a particular issue, but create several others. Stuck it out for 18 months, and then finally just sold it, took a $50 hit (hey, I'm cheap!), and bought a used iPhone 5 to tide me over for 6 months until next upgrade cycle. I guess it was all "user error" on my part.
Long time htc fan. Ordered one this weekend + a 200GB SD card. Good review, even thought it's a bit late. But finding bugs like wifi and such that MIGHT give it enought focus to make HTC look into it, is worth it. Even tought it has a few sore spots, I suppose it will be a nice upgrade from my M9 either way. A friend of mine has one, and one thing I really don't like about it, is that is a bit unergonomic when you have small hands, like I do. And the edge on the back makes it uncomfortable to hold compared to the M9 because of this (edge).
Another weird thing ... It doesn't seem possible to find original norwegian / european charger for the HTC 10. I'm speaking of the Rapid charge / Quick Charge 3.0 with USB Type C. You actually have to buy another phone (!) at this point to get a charger. For now, I'm stuck with the M9's rapid charger / Quick charge 2.0 adapter and a belkin USB C cable. Very frustrating.
It took almost a year before a Quick Charge 2.0 charger hit the market for the for the M9, and it hit england about 3 months before norway. According to Scandinavian (swedish) support, It's supposed to hit market "within 2016". Not good.
Yes, but not with norwegian/european plugs? However. Found another qualcom certified qc3 chargers with europlug and usbc. Compared with some high quality belkin cables with 3A suport and correct resistance, I think I'm gettig there. I think it wad Aukey/Auky chargers
This review is interesting insofar as it gives insight into what we might see coming from HTC in the new Pixel (Nexus) phones on Oct 4...so in some ways the timing isn't so bad. I gave up on 3rd party phones after the nexus 5...
Fantastic review, the HTC 10 is really as good as I hoped it to be, which is basically the top of the hill, I'm sure a lot of readers would appreciate a new Audio quality section on these reviews, of course, keeping some subjective comments on the speaker quality and listening experience, it's an important piece of what makes a device great.
Good phone 8 months ago. HTC failed to deliver a bigger size 10, fewer people in Asia buys phones smaller than 5.5" these days. Every Android OEM in China starts at 5.5" and work their way up to 6"
Wow... Anandtech beat HTC South Africa. I had a bet with a friend on which would come first, the review on Anandtech or the release of the HTC 10 in South Africa. Sadly, we are still waiting for the 10 in South Africa and it got to the point where I said stuff it and upgraded my contract to the Huawei P9 Plus. I was really looking forward to the 10 but I just could not hold onto the M8 for any longer and needed something better. Hopefully next year HTC can launch on time...
That distillation starts at the name it seems as rather than the One M10 as you might expect given that the naming scheme for the past few generations has meant that its predecessors are called the One M8 and One M9.
I would just like to echo comments praising the review and disagreeing with the 'too late' sentiment. The 10 launched here in Australia at ~US$830 and is still around US$750 at major retailers. I wasn't at all sure it was worth so much, so I ended up going with a NOS Note 4 instead for half the price.
Now I am armed with the confirmation I need that it's the phone for me (and knowledge that I want a Sharp rather than Tianma display version), I am happy to wait until it drops closer to $400 and my Samsung wears out. I like reading on 5.7" but I'll be happy to go back to 5.2 for my next phone for easier one-handed use.
PS if LG made a V20 mini I'd be all over it (no, the G5 is not that phone).
Only a small paragraph about the audio quality of the HTC 10? It always amazes me that a lot of sites when reviewing mobile PHONES do not talk about the audio quality. Sure, it might not be used for conversing with others so much anymore but it's still important.
Also, I don't know what version you are using, but when I change the volume, the audio slider disappears after a few seconds. It has NEVER remained on the screen like you claim it does. Tapping on the screen after you moved the slider only makes the slider disappear faster.
These results are probably not a surprise if you’ve been following our recent coverage but it’s still worth noting how the use of eMMC 5.1 is not guaranteed to be a huge impediment, although I would say this is probably the last generation where it’s acceptable to ship eMMC in a flagship device as the eMMC spec doesn’t seem to be progressing much further and UFS/NVMe solutions really seem to be the way forward as far as the industry is concerned.
Agreed. Also re the content - is it surprising to anyone else that UFS solutions don't have a clearer advantage over eMMC? I mean my 2014 Note 4 gets about 19/7 on Random Read/Write with the same Androbench settings. According to these charts, that's better than the current Note 7. Also the HTC 10 here on test beats all of the UFS phones handily for Sequential Write speed.
This review (and every other review I have ever read) doesn't cover the most important issue, which is the longevity of the phone. Here are the issues which I suggest that a review should cover:
1. We all know that the battery will die after 2 years. Every phone which has a replaceable battery should automatically get a higher rating, just because it will probably last longer than one which doesn't. If a phone has a sealed case, the reviewer should try to open the case and give readers an idea how hard it will be to replace the battery. If the case is glued together, if the battery is glued to the case or if it is impossible to buy replacement batteries on the internet, then the review should let us know.
2. Reviews should emphasize the amount of storage space a phone has and how expandable the phone is, because this has a big impact on how long the phone will last. If a phone is limited to 32 gigabytes of storage, then the phone will probably not last more than 2 years, because people tend to buy new phones once they run out of space. Trying to decide what apps to uninstall, what music to remove, what photos to delete, etc. is such a painful process, that many people simply buy a new phone. Reviews should really knock phones which don't have a MicroSD slot to expand storage and I would love to see some benchmarking on the difference in speed between the internal NAND and a normal MicroSD.
Frankly, I wish that smartphone manufacturers would offer us phones with two MicroSD slots, where one is used to expand the storage for apps on the phone and the second is the memory that we can remove to transfer files to our PC.
Another thing that reviews should cover is how hard is it insert and extract a MicroSD card. On my HTC Sensation from 2011, it was very easy to pop the MicroSD card in and out of the computer, but it can't be done without a special tool on my Moto X Pure Edition. Not a single review ever covers how hard it is to insert and extract the MicroSD card, but this is essential information for people like me who intend to keep their phones for many years.
3. Every review should mention how good the manufacturer is about offering security updates and OS upgrades to its phones, which are essential for extending the life of the phone. HTC has an excellent track record of offering fast updates when a new version of Android is released, whereas Samsung does not. Every review comparing an HTC phone to a Samsung phone should mention this difference, because it will influence the buying decisions of people who care about the longevity of their phones.
4. Another way to extend the life of a phone is to install an OS that doesn't come from the manufacturer. If the manufacturer stops offering upgrades, then we have the freedom to install CyanogenMod or another mod to get the new features in the latest version of Android. No review ever covers how hard it is to unlock the bootloader and install a mod in the phone, but this is essential information for a phone buyer who wants to be able to keep upgrading the phone. Does the manufacturer offer for free the code to unlock the bootloader and does it have a policy of voiding the warranty if a mod is installed? Five years ago when I bought my Sensation, HTC had the best mod policies in the industry, but I have no idea who is best today and this review didn't mention it.
Another piece of essential information is how standard the hardware is and how likely mods will be developed for the phone. For example, the SoC on the HTC 10 is a standard Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, so it is highly likely that mods will be made for this phone, whereas it is highly unlikely that mods will ever be created for a custom SoC made by Huawei, Samsung or Apple. Yes, that custom SoC probably processes a couple milliseconds faster, but frankly most people will never notice the difference.
5. Another way to extend the life of a phone is to turn it into a PC. I frankly don't see the point of buying a flagship phone like the HTC 10 which costs $600, but I might consider it if I know that it can be used as a low cost PC. Kudos to this review for at least mentioning that the HTC 10 supports Slimline and Android 7, but it doesn't explain why that is important. The phone has the necessary hardware and software to be hooked up to a monitor and bluetooth keyboard and mouse, so it can be used as a PC with multiple windows and a mouse pointer. I would have loved to read a review about how well this works with the HTC 10.
Reviewers spend an inordinate amount of time covering differences in processing speed and other minutiae which most people will never notice when using a phone, but they don't provide the most essential information to help people choose phones with long lifespans. Part of the reason is that reviewers are the type of people who get a new phone every year, so they don't worry about the battery wearing out. However, I think a more important factor is that fact that sites like AnandTech rely on advertising from the same manufacturers who they are reviewing. Manufacturers of smartphones and other electronic devices promote planned obsolescence as a way to increase their sales. A reviewer who dwells too much on the fact that a phone is designed to be thrown away after two years probably won't get much advertising and is unlikely to get free samples to review.
Apple has always had some of the worst policies in the industry in terms of planned obsolescence, but within the last 5 years the entire phone industry has started to copy Apple in designing sealed black boxes which are difficult to open and even harder to fix. Yet, I have not seen a single review of the iPhone 7 or any of the other recent smartphones which even mentions how hard it is to fix the phone or even replace the battery. If the reviewers don't mention it, then consumers won't think to check and the phone industry will conclude that consumers don't want fixable and modifiable phones, so they will offer more and more Apple-like devices.
Extending the life of smartphones is not just a way to save consumers money. One of the biggest ecological problems on the planet is the fact that 1.5 billion smartphones will be manufactured this year and most of them will be junked within 2 years. More smartphones are manufactured today than all the other ICT devices combined (servers, routers, desktop and notebook PCs, tablets, gaming consoles, cameras, televisions and advanced wearables). The amount of energy, metals and other vital resources which are wasted every year in making throwaway devices is astounding. If we estimate that the average smartphone and its charger weighs 150 grams, that means we are generating 225,000 metric tons of eventual e-waste every year, which is toxic and needs special treatment.
Even more alarming is the amount of greenhouse gas emissions being generated to manufacture all these smartphones. Apple estimates that 83.6 kg of CO2-equivalent were emitted to manufacture and transport its iPhone 6 to point of sale, whereas using an iPhone for a year emits 3.5 kg CO2-e and recycling it at the end of its life emits 1.0 kg CO2-e. Of course, Apple didn't include all the energy to operate the cell towers, internet servers and routers, etc. that are used by an iPhone, but manufacturing a smartphone clearly has far more environmental impact than using it, so the best way to lower the environmental impact is to make the phone last as long as possible in order to avoid manufacturing a new phone.
Apple does not explain how it calculates its emissions, but it is highly likely that Apple did not include the SF6 which was emitted in manufacturing its screens or all the other types of greenhouse gases which often get overlooked. It also probably doesn't include in its emissions all the advanced processing to make the ultrapure chemicals, water and gases which are used in silicon and flat screen fabs. Today's crop of smartphones probably have an even higher environmental impact, considering that they are using larger screens, more memory and more processing cores than the iPhone 6, which had a 4.7in screen, 1 GB of RAM and 2 processing cores. Now-a-days, 5-6in screens, 2-4GB of RAM and 4-8 processing cores are the norm, so we can conservatively estimate that manufacturing today's smartphone will emit 100 kg CO2-e. For the 1.5 billion smartphones produced in 2016, that means 150,000 metric tons of CO2-e.
Preach! Removable battery is big reason why I narrowed my choices recently to Note 4 or LG G5/V10, and only the fear of bootlooping (again a longevity issue, seems to happen to many people after several months of ownershup) put me off the LGs. I will only buy sealed-battery phones in future if I absolutely have to, and I would love to know how hard it'd be to change their batteries.
1. Agreed... But I can easily imagine logistical reasons why AT isn't allowed to open (and potentially destroy) review samples or personally bought devices, so we'll probably have to find this info elsewhere. I'm glad my N5 was easy to open even tho I never thought I'd keep it for 3 years.
2. This is subjective, how hard is it to occasionally do some cleanup? Yeah, I know people actually toss phones over things as simple as full storage but c'mon, this is AT. I can see how a couple of comments about SD removal would be useful, tho I rarely took mine out when I had phones with them (specially after USB OTG and faster Wi-Fi came of age), phone has never been my primary camera either tho.
3. This is actually way too much of a moving target, and Samsung has actually been amongst the best at keeping non-carrier hobbled flagship models updated. HTC has probably been more consistent if you go farther back than the last 2-3 years tho... AT's forte has never been on the software side anyway.
4. Even more of a moving target with different carriers imposing different policies... And probably less relevant to the mass market. I don't think having a rooted Android device is nearly as attractive as it used to be, various drivers issue tend to make user/dev ROMs a dice roll when you're talking about unsupported Android versions.
If you care that much about that stuff you'll either research it at a place like Xda or you'll just get a Nexus, IMO. FWIW I think HTC still has far more user friendly policy regarding bootloader unlock than Samsung does.
AT phone reviews have always seemed to straddle an enthusiast/mass market line... They dive deep into hardware but only so much as in how it directly affects the user, and I don't think any big time site will ever cover things like how easy it is to repair, mod, etc. Just the nature of the beast, it's post because of the manufacturer relationships but also logistics. There's places like iFixit, XDA, and forums for that...
The SD tray is similar to the nanoSIM tray. Use a paperclip. It's more of a install once and forget kind of thing. Just pop in a 128 or 256 fast SD and forget about it. Far easier to transfer files by connecting a USB cable, which incidentally charges it.
Additionally, on the matter of two MicroSD ports: Most people barely use the one they have, often using a 32gb or 64gb card that is plenty for them. Enthusiasts such as myself would love two MicroSD ports, but I would also rather have a 500gb MicroSD card that would work for all my needs.
As for teardowns to see how easy it is to replace a battery: Again, most people (including many enthusiasts) would never bother doing that. They would just buy another phone when the two-year update period comes up. Besides, iFixit provides ample enough information on that.
I've had my HTC 10 for months but I learned a lot reading this review. Thanks to your review, I also disabled Chrome and Google Photos, once I found the APKs for HTC Internet and HTC Gallery.
Just got a BLU R1 HD today. $60, the end of ridiculous phone prices is nearing the end. It's not sustainable. I'm a techie and this phone is good enough. What makes a $600+ phone 10 times better?
Most buyers aren't techie....most of them are 15-30 years old that want to play HD games, watch FHD videos, listen to hq music...they want the best (based on Media or Gsmarena) and don't care that much about the money...they go to a store and all they can see is SAMSUNG and APPLE or let's say huawei... huawei used to be cheap, but now?...not much. i think the only factor that would make a phone 10 times better (for "ordinary" buyers) is that it lasts 10 times(or whatever time that compensate the money). look at HTC HD2 ,recently i saw one that could run Android 7...but NOT that good or smooth or enough ram left to run something else and it's a 7 years old phone. and we know that those who flash a custom rom or even root their phone is nothing compared to "ordinary" buyers. btw in some countries you're stuck with whatever your carriers sell you.
i meant if your LCD, Speakers,Buttons, antennas, Charging circuit ... maintain their quality in long term. AND how REPAIRABLE it is. or more importantly Battery. or the Rom lasts longer before becoming laggy. or how manufacturers support the phone or developers with their custom roms.
not the best example though , but i see your point.. because almost everybody can afford the best smartphone and when spending a lot of money , he/she would rather not to spend anytime soon. like you buy shoes ; you can spend 150$ (50+50+50, three new cheap shoes every year) or 150$ (good quality shoes) every 3 years.(fixed prices and incomes)
and of course it depends on how you use it.if you run a lot then you need good shoes. but if you just dial and text then a nokia 3310 is more than enough for you.
I have no issue with you feeling good about your $60 phone. That's great. I'm truly happy for you. That said, your claim that purchasing high end phones isn't sustainable is provably incorrect. For many people, the smartphone is the computing device that people use for the better part of the day. It shouldn't be difficult to understand that even people with lower income would choose to indulge on this particular product category.
Glad you put this review out Josh, having read it I'm a little more inclined to pick a 10 up if the Pixels disappoint me... Despite all the enthusiast belly aching, people tend to keep phones longer those days and are thus much more likely to pick up a flagship model later in it's cycle.
Shoot, I went thru three phones in three years (all HTC) before finally keeping one longer than that, still clinging to my N5... Not using my phone for gaming or as my primary camera has really made things like battery life, software, general design, and unique features the biggest differentiators.
Good old N5 got at least two of those right, really starting to want something with better battery life even after a cell swap and wireless chargers all over the house... Gotten quite used to those tho, hoping the Pixel's glass back means it's back in.
Great review. I use an HTC 10 and have become of the WiFi woes of this device but I think this may be the only review to have picked up on the WiFi problems.
Hi there. I just upgraded from the M8 and the wifi is not Wi-Fi range is very weak, used to be able to watch videos on the bedroom or kitchen and now it's impossible. Am I the only one? Is there anything we can do to fix it?
Thank you for this review, it really helped me make a decision. I was looking at so many midrange and high end flagship phones but wanted an overall good experience and low light camera as my main point to shoot. Mainly in home or social gathering use that has mid to subtle lighting and can pick up details in the shadows with less noise. Coming from a camera on a Lumia, it's hard to let go ir find something that performed similarly. With the current Black Friday 2016 - 200 dollars off, I purchased one; everything in the price range of 399-499, didn't have great reviews for these conditions and even some of the higher end phones. It may not be the fastest or have the latest processor, but it is stable, solid, and has a great community from HTC's commitments and XDA surrounded it and that is important. Really appreciate this and the in-depth reviews this site provides.
I have a M8 and love it for the sound listening to Internet radio..... the 5" form factor is perfect for my hand.... unfortunately broke it trying to replace the battery... after reading Anand's review, I won't be buying a 10.... Maybe try a Sony XZ this time...
A terrible phone. I had more problems with this phone in 6 months than other phones in 2 years. The battery started to malfunction 6 months in to owning the phone and it would act up numerous additional times as well. I wouldn't recommend this phone to anyone.
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TheMysteryMan11 - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Hate to be that person, but HTC 10 is dead. People have forgotten about that phone and moved on. Sales have tanked and nobody really gives a damn about this phone at this point.TheMysteryMan11 - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
And yes, I know I am generalising here.close - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
So what you mean is you don't care about this review. Cool. I think everyone got it from this first comment.Now it makes me wonder why you feel the need to defend your opinion about your personal preferences with so many comments... I'm starting to think it's because you're very insecure saying this and need to convince yourself you're right. Just be honest for a second: you actually think HTC is alive an well, that people still think about it and care about it but you are fighting this feeling and you're hoping that by repeating your "skeptic comment" you'll convince yourself.
This is the only explanation for a guy trying to convince others that he know better what they want.
And yes, I know I am generalizing here.
theduckofdeath - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
I think it's more a complaint against this site. This review would have been relevant six months ago. Still, more relevant than this site is turning into, though. :DI really liked coming here before. I don't see much point with it any more. I mean, what the eff? The next gen HTC flagship is right around the corner, few stores have this model left in the booths and NOW Anandtech posts a review of it?
ACM.1899 - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
i think it's not that late (compared to Apple lifecycle of 3 years); some places(countries) may have just received the phone or waited for it to become cheaper or...(assuming 5 months is a long time) : he could've analyzed the sharp panel as well as the its polarization or other issues that appear after a while (some in Xda-Forums) ; or testing or introducing a custom rom that of course is manageable through Xda.
nevertheless it was a great and in depth review, as always.
ArmedandDangerous - Thursday, September 22, 2016 - link
Here in Malaysia, the HTC10 JUST became available, and looking forward to getting one!berantle - Saturday, September 24, 2016 - link
HTC 10 was available in Malaysia since end July 2016. My unit was delivered in the 1st week of August. It's the official local unit and not a grey-market import.Prod1702 - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
I 100% agree. I am not sure if having the review out months ago would of made the HTC 10 sell more but having it come out this late in the game doesn't help at all.RadiclDreamer - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
Yeah, Im going to agree with MysteryMan11 here, this phone is so old even my grandma wouldnt be caught dead using it.eclectech - Wednesday, September 21, 2016 - link
I read this review on my HTC 10. Today, it's still a great phone. A great phone is a great phone, even when new phones come out.SomeDude2552 - Sunday, September 25, 2016 - link
I'm starting to think that you are retarded, pull yourself togheter.TheinsanegamerN - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
There are also many of us that wait 6-8 moths after a phone releases before buying it, both to maximize the use of a previous phone and to let all the bugs get worked out before buying.bigboxes - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Yes.jospoortvliet - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
Another one here. I wait until prices have become reasonable.JoshHo - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Dead or not, there seems to be a lot of demand for a review of one even at this point in the lifecycle. It hasn't taken a lot of time away from any other reviews in the pipeline as much of this was written shortly after GS7 part 2.fanofanand - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Thank you for finishing this and getting it out there Josh, I know you have had a lot of demands placed on you and this will at least silence a portion of the complaints.MrSpadge - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
"... and this will at least silence a portion of the complaints"Not sure about this. I've got the impression some people nowadays just go to a random review, state their desinterest in it and demand a review of something else. I won't mind being proven wrong, though.
MrSpadge - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
(I mean: in this case silencing wouldn't work as they'd soon switch to demanding the next review of some other phone)ToTTenTranz - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Same here. I know I was one of the people constantly nagging AT for this, so I'm really grateful.zeeBomb - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Thanks man for everything. The demand for thisreview was too much, and now people are complaining? People logicChronoReverse - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Thanks for the very indepth review. I already own the HTC 10 and like it a lot but I still like reading about the details like the wifi testing.Vagabondjonez - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
thanks for getting this out Josh. Theres alot of things we could still talk about. The charge test always seem off to me. I know about varying conditions ,but the G5 can definitely top up in 1 hour and 19 minutes with included wall adapter in a 70° room on a plastic surface made partially of composite wood. Htc wont reveal the particular source of alluminum that theyre using,but its much softer than 7000 series when judging the various skuffs and corner drop my unit sustained. If you ever have the time ,it be great to speak more in depth. email :[email protected]philehidiot - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Aye, I too am grateful - a wait but I appreciate that once something is significantly delayed it makes sense to keep everything else on track and finish it when you can. The nagging will now end.Notmyusualid - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
I too, give you my thanks.Having owned an M7, I was looking forward to this.
Cheers.
tangibleghost - Wednesday, September 21, 2016 - link
I think it's to your credit that you pushed it out, even if it's not going to help any early adopters make their decisions. It's good to have full reviews of all the major phone releases as a historical reference if nothing elseSomeDude2552 - Sunday, September 25, 2016 - link
Umm yes but fagPhones were reviewed instantly.mortimerr - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Not true at all. It's still the only worthwhile Android device, and if people aren't taken with the Pixel devices, will be the only one to get. It's only not more worthwhile due to price.But if your only measure of a quality of device is how many units its marketing is capable of selling, then you're reading reviews on the wrong site.
TheMysteryMan11 - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Smartphones have shelf life of 1 year. Majority of purchases are made in 1st quarter of any newly launched device in the android world.Nobody in their right mind is going to wait 7 months for a review no matter how good it is to make purchase decision. The fate of HTC 10 is sealed.
And it does matter what masses buy. Look at HTC, they broke their own promise of quick updates? Why is that? Not enough resources because not many are buying their devices?
Probably.
They promised 15 day update for A9. It was still a failure. And now even that is not happening.
Sales directly affect the future of the device and company. Specially someone as bloated as HTC which is used to being a huge corporation and finding it tough now.
I still come to Anandtech for PC component reviews. But waiting for phone review to pop up here on AT is pointless exercise.
Byte - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
You can also come here for iphone reviews, because we all know you have to wait for those before purchase.TheMysteryMan11 - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Lets not divert to Apple's picket fenced garden shall we? :Peek2121 - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
That's actually not true. Quite a few people wait for their contract to be up (STILL). I was able to snag an HTC One M8 several months after it's release for FREE. Note that I pay $62.99/mo on Verizon for 2 gb of data (unlimited T&T). It would cost me more to NOT do contract pricing, so I keep doing the 2 year contract thing.rabidkevin - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
I bought an HTC 10, I pick up a new phone every 2 to 2.5 years. I'm not part of your statistic nor is my brother.djc208 - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Maybe, but then again I got a One M9 for free basically, and while I knew the M9 wasn't really an update it's still a great phone other than the camera, and honestly HTC has been really good about supporting software updates. Even now the One M9 is supposed to get Android N, and they were pretty quick with marshmallow even with the carrier in the middle.At this point if you can keep me in software updates for more than a few months it means more than most of this hardware gimmickry. Lost of fast, quality phones out there now as this shows, question is who will still be supporting it a year from now. It's why I didn't want another LG phone.
philehidiot - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
I've just had an M9 update. Whilst there are camera issues and it takes a lot of time and effort to get the shot you want sometimes, the results can be damned good and the updates for a good two years make a HTC phone a worthwhile investment. With some manufacturers the initial review is what you'll get even if you get the phone a few months down the line. HTC addresses problems throughout the lifecycle of the product which is one reason I prefer them. As stated in this review, the camera section is more representative of what you'll get compared to initial reviews based on early software.TheMysteryMan11 - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Also there is OnePlus 3. Excellent phone even if Pixel fails to impress.goatfajitas - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
"if your only measure of a quality of device is how many units its marketing is capable of selling, then you're reading reviews on the wrong site."That might have been true many years ago, but this site "sold it's soul" in recent years. It's kind of an "Apple rah rah" site now. Not that the volume of articles are all about Apple, but Apple products don't get the same critical analysis that competing products get. That was true a few years before Anand went to work for Apple, and still true today.
Meteor2 - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Oh shut up.JKJK - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
What? Anand works for apple?goatfajitas - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
Not sure if you are baiting or not, but in case not yes, Anand went to work for Apple a few years ago.Sand6man - Wednesday, October 5, 2016 - link
Just cause you hate Apple products you want to discredit this site, get a life. They are just stating the numbers and results.Samus - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
The only worthwhile android device is a $100 android device like the Moto G Play or something. Why waste money on something that is going to lose all its value in a year to get virtually the same experience.I don't get the concept behind premium android devices. Just makes no sense. The most expensive one I've ever considered is perhaps the $300 OnePlus.
Murloc - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
I guess taking decent pictures or playing 3D games.I don't do that, so I don't buy high end phones.
Murloc - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
this isn't any different for iOS or WP devices btwphilehidiot - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
I can absolutely see your point. But conversely my girlfriend bought a cheap Android phone and regretted it massively. Granted it was a crap one but she ended up using my 3 year old flagship device which still works brilliantly. The difference is that now she will use her phone for a lot more, including navigation (which destroyed the battery on the old device and couldn't keep up), youtube (useful for reference when doing something on the car or cooking and you don't have a laptop handy) as well as the much better camera. When previously she wouldn't have bothered using the smartphone camera she now does because a) it's not shite and b) the high quality screen means it's actually worth looking at and sharing photos on the phone. The other thing to remember is that the cameras on many a high end smartphone are approaching what you'd get in many compact cameras (albeit without optical zoom) according to Which? magazine here in the UK. Whilst this is debateable by photography nuts it does mean for the average Joe we get a decent enough camera in our pockets all the time. Not only does this mean you always have a decent camera but it means you don't have to buy one - the savings of which you can add to your device budget. You also have the added advantage of your photos being backed up to the cloud and so if your phone does get nicked then you still have the data. This is not something most stand alone cameras can do as they don't have a mobile data connection.I can see your point but when you have a high end phone and use it for a while it's unlikely you'll want to go back. Myself I go through two whole battery charges a day on my M9 (multiple factors but screen on time is the biggest) and that's simply because I use it for reference during work, emails, reading and editing presentations (try watching a powerpoint presentation with attached videos on a low end device), youtube and web browsing at lunch time and a massive mix of things in between including reading in the pub which isn't exactly pleasant after a while on a low end screen. The other advantage to a high end phone is it's more likely to be supported with security and OS updates throughout the product's lifespan. Partly because it has the power to run the newer features (like split screen multitasking - something I'm looking forward to) and partly because that's what the extra profit margin paid towards. You'll also find that, as software is developed based on the average specs out in the wild, as the average phone spec rises you'll be left behind - this means that applications are updated (mandatorily), you'll often find them slowing down over time as they are aiming for higher and higher specifications over the couple of years you own the device.
Whilst there are some damned good low-mid range Android phones out there, I feel that they are ultimately let down by screen, camera, R&D and long term support. I use my phone to such an extent that it's worth every penny to get something that works properly.
Sorry for the long post but I thought you made such a good point about lower end devices that you deserved someone who does invest in a high end model justifying their reasons why.
darkich - Tuesday, September 27, 2016 - link
^ great post, with which I agree completely, aside from the part about understanding the point to which you replied to.I really doubt Samus has used a true high end Android device enough to warrant an credible opinion.
And he's obviously missing the whole world-changing paradigm of computing that's happening before his eyes.
I suggest him to go read the first and last paragraphs of the Note 7 review on the Verge..that guy simply nailed it.
And that's exactly why myself, after using a Note 3 for three years as my main computer, camera, media and gaming device (still serves me amazingly well but the physical wear and tear started to show, the camera and GPU have become outdated, as well as the battery endurance), am now left waiting for the Note 7 re-release.
There's just no alternative for me.
londedoganet - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Oh, is that why every second comment on any article is "where's the HTC 10 review, Anandtech has sold its soul and become Apple shills, even Anand has gone to work for Apple"?jfallen - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
All this in-depth review of the display but not once did you care to look at it though a set of polarized glasses...If you did you'll note that they polarized the display so that the screen appears black when holding the phone in the normal up-right position while wearing polarized sunnies... UNFORGIVABLE!!! design decision and that's why I don't one.
Still rocking the HTC ONE M7 with it's unpolarised screen, MHC and dual front speakers. The original and still the best ;)
ToTTenTranz - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
I suffer from this issue with my HTC Butterfly 3 (exclusive japanese model that is pretty much what the M9 should've been), which seems to have this very same 5.2" 1440p screen.I have to say it really bothers me having to hold the phone in landscape if I'm wearing my polarized Oakleys.
Demi9OD - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
I use a matte screen protector and don't have any problems.ChronoReverse - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
After I put on my TGSP (Orzly), the polarization issue was resolved for mine (Tianma panel)jfallen - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
I don't use screen protectors, as I find them irritating. I just can't imagine how such an obvious issue would pass the design room. Speaks of careless/rushed design to me.I understand some screen technologies produce polarized light, nothing wrong with that. Just cut the panel in such a way that orientates so that it doesn't appear black in the upright position. I know not everyone wears polarized sunglasses, but come on...
Impulses - Thursday, September 22, 2016 - link
I actually wouldn't mind this much... Being able to see the display outdoors without raising my sunglasses or turning the screen isn't nearly as annoying as having to do it while driving and having it mounted in landscape orientation (for nav)... So I would in fact prefer this, largely for driving/navi.It's a preference thing to an extent IMO, same scenario happens with cameras and rear displays and/or EVFs... You either deal with it, or you go get something with an OLED panel instead.
Panic_ - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Who's making the Pixel phones again?Impulses - Thursday, September 22, 2016 - link
HTC, both of them apparently, Huawei is making the next small tablet.jaden24 - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
Negative. I have been waiting for it to come out in black for Sprint.itsjustaprankbro - Friday, September 23, 2016 - link
It was too pricey. It still is.You can get an LG G4 for 280$.
While this device costs 750$ still.
It's crazy.
HTC somehow also forgot about carriers here.
Back then I was able to buy the One X and the M7.
Now they sold (only a few carriers) the M9, but no M10 whatsoever.
It's like HTC is trying to kill itself.
If they fixed the carrier and price situation (lower it as device gets older), I would have bought a few for the company already.
BUT, currently, this thing is 750$, meanwhile an S7 Edge is 160$ with plans.
Now, which one would you pick? Even if you are not a Sammy fan... ?
The Gonz - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Hey Costanza...you're not a hand model anymore. Let it go.fanofanand - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
The hand in the picture provides a sense of scale. It doesn't bother me one bit, though your Costanza reference isn't all that bad.tipoo - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Among explosions and all the debate over the headphone jack debate, this all rounder really seems to have fallen off the collective consciousness, hasn't it? Just HTCs lack of marketing power, or does the very fact that it's so just "good" in every area make it forgettable in the Androidscape?
Cliff34 - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Partly is a marketing issue and the other part is that it looks so similar to S7 that why would people choose this over that? I would rather pick the S7 (which I am using a S7 Edge) bc I know it is a good phone for what it is worth.Unless HTC or other phone company does something that really stands out, their phones will be lost in the crowd.
invinciblegod - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
I guess you mean looks similar spec wise because it looks nothing like an S7 appearance wise (especially with that weird super chamfer).Meteor2 - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
HTC's software is far better than Samsung's. That alone puts it ahead of the S7.TheinsanegamerN - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
A surprising number of people *like* touchwiz for some unknown reason.darkich - Tuesday, September 27, 2016 - link
Multi window!It's by far the best multitasking you can find in any mobile platform, especially on the Galaxy Note devices, where it can basically intuitively, simply and easily do a pc-grade windowing without any issues.
Only thing it can't do is minimizing a game within a window (pointless anyway).
The other feature is screen minimizer which allows easy one handed usage for even the biggest phones.
Impulses - Thursday, September 22, 2016 - link
If I HAD to buy a device over the last six months I would've gone right for the 10, I think it was largely viewed as a totally viable alternative to the S7 by most objective eyes... I'm holding off for the smaller Pixel tho, hoping it doesn't disappoint.Never owned a phone anywhere near as long as I've owned this Nexus 5, and I'm still reluctant to go to a larger device (Sony Z3c is the only other phone to remotely tempt me besides the 10).
damianrobertjones - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Dear HTC,Why not try something different? Release 5 Windows Mobile 10 based handsets (Just after MS announces their Surface Phone).
It's worth a shot.
Murloc - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
the problem with that idea is that WP is dying.Nokia tried doing that and their phone business is currently dead.
WP10 even broke the lockscreen background-changing feature because it was made dependent on silverlight and then they killed silverlight.
Funnily enough, Edge and windows phone internet explorer don't even support silverlight.
The lack of mass market adoption killed app availability, most new apps don't support it, the big ones that do receive updates much later.
Google made sure that no decent youtube app is available too.
ToTTenTranz - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Every single windows phone from the last 10 years has resulted in millions of losses but you think the next one is going to work out well because...?eSyr - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
It would be nice to have comparison to m8 also, since many m8 owners just skipped m9.Badelhas - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
I agree. I am still rocking the M8 and love it.Great review, though!
edlee - Wednesday, September 21, 2016 - link
i loved my m8, nothing i got recently feels as good as that phone did.Since that phone, i have had s6, and s7 edge, but for some reason m8 will always stick with me
bennyadamo - Thursday, October 6, 2016 - link
Agreed. The One M8 was a smartphone masterpiece. I owned both the M8 and a Galaxy S5 (and numerous iphones) and in terms of design, performance and user interface you still can't beat the M8. And HTC's Sense UI absolutely blows iOS and "Touchwiz" out of the water (just an aside, but how idiotic is "touchwiz" as a name for a UI? Or for anything else for that matter? I feel embarrassed just typing it). If you think the UI doesn't make a huge difference in your phone experience, try using Sense and Touchwiz side-by-side for a week. Even just small things like the small amount of lag time it takes for the display to re-orient from portrait to landscape when rotating the phone in your hand become infuriating when you have to live with Touchwiz daily. And besides the superior UI, the One M8 just looked and felt like a premium piece of hardware. Many, many times I had people ask me what type of phone it was or inspect it front to back when I let them hold it in their hands, impressed by the solid/premium feel of it. At this point, the One M8 is still (rather unfortunately) HTC's high-water mark. Although having said that I did just order the HTC 10 to take advantage of their sale ($150 off if you buy an unlocked phone directly from HTC from 10/1/16 to 10/8/16).Also, I read some of these comments saying that it's a waste of time to review or buy a phone 7 months after it's launch - that's not true and is a really misguided/misinformed opinion. A lot of people buy a phone that long after it's come out simply because they are waiting for their current phone contract to expire. Other reasons are because some of the teething bugs have been worked out or simply because the price drops after that amount of time (read above re: HTC's current sale on the HTC 10). The average person doesn't need to buy the newest/highest-end/highest-spec phone every year, and most people probably get 2-2.5 years out of a smartphone like this.
ipaulw83 - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
certainly not dead, the HTC 10 is a far much better choice than the G5, S7 & Note 7 "Fiasco" and other flagships. the only real threat to HTC is the OnePlus 3 but overall the build quality and camera is in favor of HTC 10... i would hate to see them die or break software updates promises as recent news, nevertheless they have a great product that is more special than any other current android flagship (IMHO).i do not own any HTC product currently or stock or anything i use an iphone and an LG nexus 5x but wanted to give my opinion
repatch - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
"far much better choice" for you perhaps. Why all the generalizing?I for one went with the LG G5, for one reason: the camera. The super wide angle camera on this thing is FANTASTIC, everyone who's seen it marvels at the kind of shots you get with it. It's REALLY fun. For ME, the "far much better choice" is the G5, but that won't apply to most others.
The S7 for me was a no go due to the glass back (can't stand glass backs because they are so prone to breakage, my Nexus 4 went through 3, and NONE of those were broken due to drops). The HTC 10 just didn't have anything 'special' going for it.
Again, that's MY opinion, it's best to sit down and write down what are go/no go's, for YOU, and make a choice that way.
IMHO of course.
Impulses - Thursday, September 22, 2016 - link
I really wanted to like LG's latest, I use an ultra wide lens on my mirrorless M4/3 cameras so that was right up my alley... The overall package (and uber gimmicky modules on their latest) never convinced me.If I HAD picked up a new phone last year it would've been a 10, for the better audio and lack of TouchWiz... My N5 is still trucking along tho, at least until the Pixels come out.
This breadth of choices, even in a market that's contacting, is still something I really like about the Android ecosystem.
FourEyedGeek - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Already have the Galaxy S7...smorebuds - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
And this article is for you and only you...FourEyedGeek - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
Its for all those people who want to make a decision on buying a new smartphone, but might have been helpful to those making a choice months ago don't you think?Freido - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
HTC 10 is a nice looking phone. But it lacks a high brightness screen. It is a tad bigger as well. Thats my personal opinion. If it was a bit smaller like 4.9", I would have bought it. I've decided to buy Sony X compact or iPhone SE. Recent Sony phones like xlX performance and XZ sports very good displays I think. Looks as stunning as of iphones IPS displays.I was wondering why Anandtech never reviews Sony flagships even though they does release good phones with less gimmicks.
Will anyone consider my suggestion?
fanofanand - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
They have addressed this in the past, typically Sony does not give out samples to the press. In today's "give me everything for free" world, websites like this simply don't have the excess cash to go buying every cool new toy that comes out. Would it be sweet? Absolutely, but for the most part if Anandtech doesn't review something it's because they couldn't obtain one from the company.Jigolo - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
New wifi tests and WALT tests are awesome. Should be in every review they can be in.Dennis Travis - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Excellent review Josh. Great Job. Very impressed with the Camera.137ben - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
TOTALLY UNFAIR! The GNote 7 was reviewed on the day of its release, meanwhile it's been THREE WHOLE DAYS since the iPhone 7 was released and there is STILL NO IPHONE 7 REVIEW! This is blatant favoritism of Android! Everyone knows a review is worthless unless it is posted on the same day the product is released, WHY DOES ANANDTECH HATE APPLE SO MUCH?!?fanofanand - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
This wasn't even good trolling. Back to the drawing board for you.smorebuds - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
It sums up a lot of the comments here, though. I mean there are posts with relevant criticism, but they're drowned out by the seemingly obligatory "AT loves Apple more than Android" comments. The iPhone reviews are given the exact same time and priority as Samsung phones, and other devices that have that type of impact on the mobile market.BillBear - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
This seems so familiar somehow.Nickname++ - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Hi Josh, I wouldn't care too much about the absolute RSRP reported by a device. Even in the cellular world the requirement on the absolute accuracy for RSRP are only +/- 6 dB at best (see 3GPP TS 36.133 section 9.1.2.1 for LTE intra frequency measurements for example). And cellular modem have typically stricter calibration and better accuracy than WiFi.So as a general rule, it's best not to rely on devices too much for RF channel absolute quality metrics. The reporting is still interesting, and relative changes are more accurate. But to compare different devices it's pretty much useless IMHO.
Zoomer - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Certainly could be an explanation as to why it could maintain better throughput and the connection at lower rssi than the Samsung 820.zer0hour - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Yet another months late Anandtech review. Phones, especially flagships, have a yearly refresh schedule. When you post a review 5 months past a product's launch, that's nearly half of the lifecycle.I've been coming to this site for years, but the review cycle these days is getting seriously wonky to the point where the in-depthness of the review is NEARLY not worth it anymore. Have to call it as I see it.
meorah - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
oneplus 3 owner checking in. price on the HTC 10 is a non-starter. if I'm paying $200 more for a phone and camera is important to me I'm looking towards s7 edge or iphone 7 just for pure cpu/camera performance.HTC is stuck with low brand power, no gimmicks, broken promises, and squeezed by value and performance on both sides.
cyberfrost - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Thanks Josh! I hope now people will stop trolling and asking for HTC 10 review in other review articlesSmall Bison - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
WHERE'S THE HTC 10 REV--Oh. Well, this is awkward...
iSynic - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Yeah, I mean it's only 6 months late. Right before the Pixel phones are due out by the same manufacturer. Had no problem getting the Samsung reviews out. But yeah, it was totally unreasonable for people to wonder where the Hell this review went...TheinsanegamerN - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
had no problem getting the samsung reviews out, like the s7 review that was months late that everyone complained about?jtang97 - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
You mean part 2 of the review?I wonder how long it'll take AT to review the Pixel phones once they are released.
Impulses - Thursday, September 22, 2016 - link
I wonder what'll be worse, AT's Pixel review timelines or the degree of botching to Google's launch... Let's face it, neither's track record is great as of late. :PI bought a N5 and N7 2013 both on launch day btw, and still enjoy reading AT, guess I'm just a sucker...
Bought a N9 as a gift but way after launch, and cheaper on Amazon... I think that device's launch shennanigans (and initial price) actually hurt it worse than the ones I own.
zeeBomb - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
People can finally shut up now...but then the first comment I see: HTC IS DEADohhh the irony
Meteor2 - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
I think I just pooped my pants.Next there will be reviews of Polaris and the 1060.
Mourning the SD820 deep dive though.
ToTTenTranz - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
AT has released their 1060 review several weeks ago.Polaris cards are nowhere to be seen, though.
Meteor2 - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Over a month ago, in fact! My bad.zeeBomb - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
The days when the M7 got that gold plaque from Anandtech...will we be seeing that type of success here for HTC again?Zoomer - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Good point. What about the silver and bronze plaques?Meteor2 - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Josh, you ask what makes a good display -- I'd say brightness of at least 400 nits (500 to be great), at least sRGB coverage, accurate white and low delta E -- I.e., accuracy. The one thing you don't test which makes a big difference is reflectance. That's the critical factor when using a screen in sunlight.fanofanand - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
This seems like an excellent phone, for $400. The days of $700 flagships are nearly over. When the difference between the high-end and mid-range are a few percent, I do not see why consumers should pay nearly double.Death666Angel - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
As long as a lot of people get their phones through contracts that hide the true cost over a 2 year monthly payment, it won't.fanofanand - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
Those days seem to be coming to an end as well. T-Mobile has been incredibly disruptive in the mobile carrier space. I hope the trend continues which theoretically should bring phone prices down to earth. I know they house a ton of technology in a tiny package, but it's a little bit crazy that a phone costs more than a semi-decent laptop which has dramatically more functionality. Of course there is the portability aspect I'm not delusional, smaller everything costs more to package but there is little sense of value in today's flagships.Impulses - Thursday, September 22, 2016 - link
People in the U.S. still rely on payment plans a lot, which goes a long way towards hiding the total cost and keeping them buying phones from carriers.Vagabondjonez - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Oh man am I dreaming?Aenean144 - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Really liked the measurement of WiFi performance. Nice Job!It probably doesn't matter much, as most consumers would be gated by their broadband bit rates which are typically much less than 100 mbit/s, but it was lovely to see. Those high bit rates are really nice for video transfers from the computer though.
I would recommend using fixed x and y axis ranges for the plots. If the point of the plots are for comparison, and basically that's the purpose of a plots, you should either co-plot the data from the devices are minimally have fixed axis ranges.
I wonder if the differences are really about design decisions. So, Apple optimized for high bandwidth, and it resulted in a quicker fall off at lower signal levels? And vice versa for the HTC 10 and Samsung device?
JeffFlanagan - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
I used to be an HTC fan long ago, but the quality of their phones had been in decline for a long time. Add to that my experience with their non-existent customer support on the Vive, and they've become a company that I avoid wherever possible.Badelhas - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
My experience with HTC has been great, including the HTC Vive. Do you have any HTC product to support your theory?JeffFlanagan - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
If you've dealt with Vive support, you already know what I'm talking about. It's no secret that their support is hopeless.ACM.1899 - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
tnx for the review . great Job. impressed with the Camera. how about audio quality? although we know it's great. so there is no DAC? i've heard (read) there is.in android phones , i guess HTC 10 is the best as long as you don't like One+3 or a Nexus (Pixel).
specially Nexus devices that somehow are at the beginning of their era , compared to HTC's that i think are at the end.
Haldi - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Qualcomm AqsticACM.1899 - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
and by end i meant : not much left to achieve... ;)zepi - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Nice review.What should I make of the that HTC wifi performance figure? Your graph shows that it still has some throughput at well under -80dBm signals when other phones stop much earlier?
Then in the test you mention signal strengths are about 5dB worse than with S7. Should I read this that in the end, all phones lose connectivity at roughly same location?
WoodyPWX - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Where are the OnePlus 3 in the results for a comparison? That phone actually kills HTC 10. Is that a coincidence?Lau_Tech - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Hi Josh, thank you. I enjoyed this review greatly and learnt much from it. I bought the HTC 10 in May and through my own informal testing I can confirm the majority of your findings regarding the build quality, camera, WIFI performance, U.I and even display contrast (however, my screen does not have the "pink" off angle issue though, possibly because it is a Sharp-manufactured panel).One area which the HTC 10 is a stand-out (and possibly still worth due consideration even at this juncture) is in its internal audio performance. I understand that Anandtech lacks the equipment to test this objectively but I can confirm that the HTC 10 is within a select group of smartphones that audiophiles can consider. (the others being the LG V10,V20, Iphone 6s,7 and possibly the ZTE axion 7.)
From your review I infer that this has become your new daily driver. Coming from a One Plus One, I do agree the rock-solid reliability of the Sense U.I is a big differentiator. The HTC 10 really is a phone that ages well, and the software updates do quite alot to address the obvious issues that crop up. in version 1.90 the option for 16second shutter delay was also added, I wonder what are your thoughts on this? For me it seems largely unusable without a tripod.
Once again, thanks for getting this out, and for taking the 'badgering' in your stride. Having read and watched every review of the HTC 10 on the web I can say without qualification that this one is by far the best. Well done!
Lau_Tech - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
https://www.ptt.cc/bbs/MobileComm/M.1462332737.A.C...A taiwanese side-by-side of the two panels. I must say the Sharp Panel does seem more subjectively appealing.
ACM.1899 - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
couldn't agree moreBadelhas - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
Very well putJKJK - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
Anand actually started to measure sound quality of phones before he left, but it ended up dead in the water after 2-3 models.I think GSM Arena has audio measurements. This is important for me, and the reason for buying M7, M8 and M9. Not sure about the pre/dac in HTC10 thought. But I just ordered the HTC10, so I'll find out soon!
Zoomer - Thursday, September 22, 2016 - link
Tested with my AKG K550. Drives it pretty easily. Quite transparent, and the boomsound profile can act as a EQ to cure deficiencies.Haldi - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
There is definitely a separate DAC in the HTC10, it's called Aqstic.From the official Qualcomm website.... https://www.qualcomm.com/news/snapdragon/2016/06/0...
If you take a look at some tests HTC10 vs G5 or S7 you can see a huge difference.
Oh yeah, and Talking about PowerBiotics.... HTC's TaskScheduler which reduces the Load on Big cores when the phone gets too hot sucks. Really. 4th core is going almost offline if the phone gets too hot. Welcome to Triplecore world!
And charging from 1% to 100% Takes roughly 90 Minutes. Charging from 1% untill it stops/constant current is 150 Minutes. Anandtech's "using the time it takes for the device to drop to a certain level of power draw from the wall" is somewhat inbetween this.
P.S if you think the EIS in video recording works fine, go into a pineforest and take a video of the Peaks. Slowly paning from left to right. 1080p only.
ACM.1899 - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
if it's integrated within SD820 why don't other smartphone such as mi5 sound as good.unless it's another chip...
ACM.1899 - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
and i think Mi5 SD820 chip is not the same as in other flagship.philehidiot - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Just a thought but as you quite rightly said the OEMs don't pay attention to anything you don't test.... My HTC M9 seems to be very dodgy when placed in an area known for consistent 4G signal and will sometimes take ages to switch from "G" or "E" to "4G" - sometimes it will do it briskly and sometimes it will take an age and some prodding. Is there anyway you can test how the modems cope and adapt to various data signals being available?Unhappyhtc10 - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Bought it 2/3 weeks ago!At first it looked good with the quality of pictures, great sound, organiser (pictures, music etc...) and of course on paper make you want to give a try!!
After taking some time to get my hand around it (i had an iphone) i noticed that a lot of the functionnalities are not even close or inexistant than on a samsung. For ei you can have skype BUT can't even use the video! Can only take the voice. Then i am told to have another app that no one who use skype will have... I mean really?? And their is other stuff suche as the keyboard sensitivity, battery life which advertise lasting 27 hours on phone call supposedly but after about 45mins on the gps google map it drained it from 100% to circa 55% (you better not be traveling far...)
Conclusion: i have past the 14 days exchange at the store so if i can't exchange it i will be stuck with this crap!! (have it for 20days)
fanofanand - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Considering you created a profile just to make that comment, I'd say you seem like the typical Apple customer, and that's where you would likely be happiest. Everything you wrote screams of "user error". Go back to your shiny gadget and be happy.Zoomer - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
I have the ten and can say that I've not noticed the battery issues with navigation. Besides, what does talk time claims have to do with gps?Sounds like a troll since the organizer is play music and Google photos. A stated in the article.
kmmatney - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Sounds like my experience a few years ago. I switched to a "high end" LG phone because I got tired of Apple not having larger screens. I loved it at first, but had a lot of the same issues - keyboard didn't work well, battery life sucked, and other annoying issues. Tried a few different ROMs (everyone seemed to have their favorites that was the "best" one), but that just made things worse - would fix a particular issue, but create several others. Stuck it out for 18 months, and then finally just sold it, took a $50 hit (hey, I'm cheap!), and bought a used iPhone 5 to tide me over for 6 months until next upgrade cycle. I guess it was all "user error" on my part.fanofanand - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
You are absolutely right, expecting your SOT to match the "call time" numbers is totally normal. /sMorawka - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
if this review is getting this many comments then HTC is doing something right here.StrangerGuy - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Yeah they doing a great job if market success is solely determined by how much comments the vocal tiny minority generates.Oh and BTW I'm sick of hearing trite being called "innovation" at every single corner. That buzzword is so debased to the point of uselessness.
JKJK - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Long time htc fan. Ordered one this weekend + a 200GB SD card.Good review, even thought it's a bit late. But finding bugs like wifi and such that MIGHT give it enought focus to make HTC look into it, is worth it. Even tought it has a few sore spots, I suppose it will be a nice upgrade from my M9 either way.
A friend of mine has one, and one thing I really don't like about it, is that is a bit unergonomic when you have small hands, like I do. And the edge on the back makes it uncomfortable to hold compared to the M9 because of this (edge).
JKJK - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Another weird thing ... It doesn't seem possible to find original norwegian / european charger for the HTC 10. I'm speaking of the Rapid charge / Quick Charge 3.0 with USB Type C. You actually have to buy another phone (!) at this point to get a charger. For now, I'm stuck with the M9's rapid charger / Quick charge 2.0 adapter and a belkin USB C cable. Very frustrating.It took almost a year before a Quick Charge 2.0 charger hit the market for the for the M9, and it hit england about 3 months before norway. According to Scandinavian (swedish) support, It's supposed to hit market "within 2016". Not good.
Vagabondjonez - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
thats harsh man. I have so many qc 2 adapters lolfanofanand - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
Google "Anker" they make fantastic QC 3.0 with Type C bases.JKJK - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
Yes, but not with norwegian/european plugs?However. Found another qualcom certified qc3 chargers with europlug and usbc.
Compared with some high quality belkin cables with 3A suport and correct resistance, I think I'm gettig there.
I think it wad Aukey/Auky chargers
JKJK - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
Err.. paired with the belkin cables.However. Original htc qc3 charger is said to be coming in sale this year (Htc tc p5000-eu/uk/etc.)
Awful - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
This review is interesting insofar as it gives insight into what we might see coming from HTC in the new Pixel (Nexus) phones on Oct 4...so in some ways the timing isn't so bad. I gave up on 3rd party phones after the nexus 5...Impulses - Thursday, September 22, 2016 - link
Ditto.Fidelator - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Fantastic review, the HTC 10 is really as good as I hoped it to be, which is basically the top of the hill, I'm sure a lot of readers would appreciate a new Audio quality section on these reviews, of course, keeping some subjective comments on the speaker quality and listening experience, it's an important piece of what makes a device great.Definitely considering this as my next device
randomguy128 - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
What do you mean by featured review. Did HTC have to pay you guys to finally do this reviewvision33r - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Good phone 8 months ago. HTC failed to deliver a bigger size 10, fewer people in Asia buys phones smaller than 5.5" these days. Every Android OEM in China starts at 5.5" and work their way up to 6"Anakha - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
Wow... Anandtech beat HTC South Africa. I had a bet with a friend on which would come first, the review on Anandtech or the release of the HTC 10 in South Africa. Sadly, we are still waiting for the 10 in South Africa and it got to the point where I said stuff it and upgraded my contract to the Huawei P9 Plus. I was really looking forward to the 10 but I just could not hold onto the M8 for any longer and needed something better. Hopefully next year HTC can launch on time...Vagabondjonez - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
awesome story manzeeBomb - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
That distillation starts at the name it seems as rather than the One M10 as you might expect given that the naming scheme for the past few generations has meant that its predecessors are called the One M8 and One M9.Wut
asfletch - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
I would just like to echo comments praising the review and disagreeing with the 'too late' sentiment. The 10 launched here in Australia at ~US$830 and is still around US$750 at major retailers. I wasn't at all sure it was worth so much, so I ended up going with a NOS Note 4 instead for half the price.Now I am armed with the confirmation I need that it's the phone for me (and knowledge that I want a Sharp rather than Tianma display version), I am happy to wait until it drops closer to $400 and my Samsung wears out. I like reading on 5.7" but I'll be happy to go back to 5.2 for my next phone for easier one-handed use.
PS if LG made a V20 mini I'd be all over it (no, the G5 is not that phone).
jtang97 - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
Only a small paragraph about the audio quality of the HTC 10? It always amazes me that a lot of sites when reviewing mobile PHONES do not talk about the audio quality. Sure, it might not be used for conversing with others so much anymore but it's still important.Also, I don't know what version you are using, but when I change the volume, the audio slider disappears after a few seconds. It has NEVER remained on the screen like you claim it does. Tapping on the screen after you moved the slider only makes the slider disappear faster.
MobiusPizza - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
Gosh that sentence is quite a mouthful
asfletch - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
Agreed. Also re the content - is it surprising to anyone else that UFS solutions don't have a clearer advantage over eMMC? I mean my 2014 Note 4 gets about 19/7 on Random Read/Write with the same Androbench settings. According to these charts, that's better than the current Note 7. Also the HTC 10 here on test beats all of the UFS phones handily for Sequential Write speed.What's up with that? Is it the benchmark?
Guitahero - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
What happened with the deep audio analysis from anandtech?JKJK - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
Indeed! I miss them too!winjay - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
"for its size I don’t believe there’s another Snapdragon 820 device with better battery life."Sony usually does wonders with battery life. Have you checked Xperia XA battery life?
Vagabondjonez - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
with a 2k display he probably meantwinjay - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
Also this phone is said to have an amazing DAC. How is the audio output?Ro_Ja - Tuesday, September 20, 2016 - link
The front looks like a Samsung Galaxy.amosbatto - Wednesday, September 21, 2016 - link
This review (and every other review I have ever read) doesn't cover the most important issue, which is the longevity of the phone. Here are the issues which I suggest that a review should cover:1. We all know that the battery will die after 2 years. Every phone which has a replaceable battery should automatically get a higher rating, just because it will probably last longer than one which doesn't. If a phone has a sealed case, the reviewer should try to open the case and give readers an idea how hard it will be to replace the battery. If the case is glued together, if the battery is glued to the case or if it is impossible to buy replacement batteries on the internet, then the review should let us know.
2. Reviews should emphasize the amount of storage space a phone has and how expandable the phone is, because this has a big impact on how long the phone will last. If a phone is limited to 32 gigabytes of storage, then the phone will probably not last more than 2 years, because people tend to buy new phones once they run out of space. Trying to decide what apps to uninstall, what music to remove, what photos to delete, etc. is such a painful process, that many people simply buy a new phone. Reviews should really knock phones which don't have a MicroSD slot to expand storage and I would love to see some benchmarking on the difference in speed between the internal NAND and a normal MicroSD.
Frankly, I wish that smartphone manufacturers would offer us phones with two MicroSD slots, where one is used to expand the storage for apps on the phone and the second is the memory that we can remove to transfer files to our PC.
Another thing that reviews should cover is how hard is it insert and extract a MicroSD card. On my HTC Sensation from 2011, it was very easy to pop the MicroSD card in and out of the computer, but it can't be done without a special tool on my Moto X Pure Edition. Not a single review ever covers how hard it is to insert and extract the MicroSD card, but this is essential information for people like me who intend to keep their phones for many years.
3. Every review should mention how good the manufacturer is about offering security updates and OS upgrades to its phones, which are essential for extending the life of the phone. HTC has an excellent track record of offering fast updates when a new version of Android is released, whereas Samsung does not. Every review comparing an HTC phone to a Samsung phone should mention this difference, because it will influence the buying decisions of people who care about the longevity of their phones.
4. Another way to extend the life of a phone is to install an OS that doesn't come from the manufacturer. If the manufacturer stops offering upgrades, then we have the freedom to install CyanogenMod or another mod to get the new features in the latest version of Android. No review ever covers how hard it is to unlock the bootloader and install a mod in the phone, but this is essential information for a phone buyer who wants to be able to keep upgrading the phone. Does the manufacturer offer for free the code to unlock the bootloader and does it have a policy of voiding the warranty if a mod is installed? Five years ago when I bought my Sensation, HTC had the best mod policies in the industry, but I have no idea who is best today and this review didn't mention it.
Another piece of essential information is how standard the hardware is and how likely mods will be developed for the phone. For example, the SoC on the HTC 10 is a standard Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, so it is highly likely that mods will be made for this phone, whereas it is highly unlikely that mods will ever be created for a custom SoC made by Huawei, Samsung or Apple. Yes, that custom SoC probably processes a couple milliseconds faster, but frankly most people will never notice the difference.
5. Another way to extend the life of a phone is to turn it into a PC. I frankly don't see the point of buying a flagship phone like the HTC 10 which costs $600, but I might consider it if I know that it can be used as a low cost PC. Kudos to this review for at least mentioning that the HTC 10 supports Slimline and Android 7, but it doesn't explain why that is important. The phone has the necessary hardware and software to be hooked up to a monitor and bluetooth keyboard and mouse, so it can be used as a PC with multiple windows and a mouse pointer. I would have loved to read a review about how well this works with the HTC 10.
Reviewers spend an inordinate amount of time covering differences in processing speed and other minutiae which most people will never notice when using a phone, but they don't provide the most essential information to help people choose phones with long lifespans. Part of the reason is that reviewers are the type of people who get a new phone every year, so they don't worry about the battery wearing out. However, I think a more important factor is that fact that sites like AnandTech rely on advertising from the same manufacturers who they are reviewing. Manufacturers of smartphones and other electronic devices promote planned obsolescence as a way to increase their sales. A reviewer who dwells too much on the fact that a phone is designed to be thrown away after two years probably won't get much advertising and is unlikely to get free samples to review.
Apple has always had some of the worst policies in the industry in terms of planned obsolescence, but within the last 5 years the entire phone industry has started to copy Apple in designing sealed black boxes which are difficult to open and even harder to fix. Yet, I have not seen a single review of the iPhone 7 or any of the other recent smartphones which even mentions how hard it is to fix the phone or even replace the battery. If the reviewers don't mention it, then consumers won't think to check and the phone industry will conclude that consumers don't want fixable and modifiable phones, so they will offer more and more Apple-like devices.
Extending the life of smartphones is not just a way to save consumers money. One of the biggest ecological problems on the planet is the fact that 1.5 billion smartphones will be manufactured this year and most of them will be junked within 2 years. More smartphones are manufactured today than all the other ICT devices combined (servers, routers, desktop and notebook PCs, tablets, gaming consoles, cameras, televisions and advanced wearables). The amount of energy, metals and other vital resources which are wasted every year in making throwaway devices is astounding. If we estimate that the average smartphone and its charger weighs 150 grams, that means we are generating 225,000 metric tons of eventual e-waste every year, which is toxic and needs special treatment.
Even more alarming is the amount of greenhouse gas emissions being generated to manufacture all these smartphones. Apple estimates that 83.6 kg of CO2-equivalent were emitted to manufacture and transport its iPhone 6 to point of sale, whereas using an iPhone for a year emits 3.5 kg CO2-e and recycling it at the end of its life emits 1.0 kg CO2-e. Of course, Apple didn't include all the energy to operate the cell towers, internet servers and routers, etc. that are used by an iPhone, but manufacturing a smartphone clearly has far more environmental impact than using it, so the best way to lower the environmental impact is to make the phone last as long as possible in order to avoid manufacturing a new phone.
Apple does not explain how it calculates its emissions, but it is highly likely that Apple did not include the SF6 which was emitted in manufacturing its screens or all the other types of greenhouse gases which often get overlooked. It also probably doesn't include in its emissions all the advanced processing to make the ultrapure chemicals, water and gases which are used in silicon and flat screen fabs. Today's crop of smartphones probably have an even higher environmental impact, considering that they are using larger screens, more memory and more processing cores than the iPhone 6, which had a 4.7in screen, 1 GB of RAM and 2 processing cores. Now-a-days, 5-6in screens, 2-4GB of RAM and 4-8 processing cores are the norm, so we can conservatively estimate that manufacturing today's smartphone will emit 100 kg CO2-e. For the 1.5 billion smartphones produced in 2016, that means 150,000 metric tons of CO2-e.
Allan_Hundeboll - Wednesday, September 21, 2016 - link
You def. have a pointasfletch - Thursday, September 22, 2016 - link
Preach! Removable battery is big reason why I narrowed my choices recently to Note 4 or LG G5/V10, and only the fear of bootlooping (again a longevity issue, seems to happen to many people after several months of ownershup) put me off the LGs. I will only buy sealed-battery phones in future if I absolutely have to, and I would love to know how hard it'd be to change their batteries.Impulses - Thursday, September 22, 2016 - link
1. Agreed... But I can easily imagine logistical reasons why AT isn't allowed to open (and potentially destroy) review samples or personally bought devices, so we'll probably have to find this info elsewhere. I'm glad my N5 was easy to open even tho I never thought I'd keep it for 3 years.2. This is subjective, how hard is it to occasionally do some cleanup? Yeah, I know people actually toss phones over things as simple as full storage but c'mon, this is AT. I can see how a couple of comments about SD removal would be useful, tho I rarely took mine out when I had phones with them (specially after USB OTG and faster Wi-Fi came of age), phone has never been my primary camera either tho.
3. This is actually way too much of a moving target, and Samsung has actually been amongst the best at keeping non-carrier hobbled flagship models updated. HTC has probably been more consistent if you go farther back than the last 2-3 years tho... AT's forte has never been on the software side anyway.
4. Even more of a moving target with different carriers imposing different policies... And probably less relevant to the mass market. I don't think having a rooted Android device is nearly as attractive as it used to be, various drivers issue tend to make user/dev ROMs a dice roll when you're talking about unsupported Android versions.
If you care that much about that stuff you'll either research it at a place like Xda or you'll just get a Nexus, IMO. FWIW I think HTC still has far more user friendly policy regarding bootloader unlock than Samsung does.
AT phone reviews have always seemed to straddle an enthusiast/mass market line... They dive deep into hardware but only so much as in how it directly affects the user, and I don't think any big time site will ever cover things like how easy it is to repair, mod, etc. Just the nature of the beast, it's post because of the manufacturer relationships but also logistics. There's places like iFixit, XDA, and forums for that...
Zoomer - Thursday, September 22, 2016 - link
The SD tray is similar to the nanoSIM tray. Use a paperclip. It's more of a install once and forget kind of thing. Just pop in a 128 or 256 fast SD and forget about it. Far easier to transfer files by connecting a USB cable, which incidentally charges it.sevenmack - Friday, September 30, 2016 - link
Additionally, on the matter of two MicroSD ports: Most people barely use the one they have, often using a 32gb or 64gb card that is plenty for them. Enthusiasts such as myself would love two MicroSD ports, but I would also rather have a 500gb MicroSD card that would work for all my needs.As for teardowns to see how easy it is to replace a battery: Again, most people (including many enthusiasts) would never bother doing that. They would just buy another phone when the two-year update period comes up. Besides, iFixit provides ample enough information on that.
Fidelator - Monday, September 26, 2016 - link
You should be hired for this site, your thoughts are above and beyondVagabondjonez - Thursday, October 6, 2016 - link
I definitely agree with you 👍eclectech - Wednesday, September 21, 2016 - link
I've had my HTC 10 for months but I learned a lot reading this review. Thanks to your review, I also disabled Chrome and Google Photos, once I found the APKs for HTC Internet and HTC Gallery.Gunbuster - Wednesday, September 21, 2016 - link
Let me just type this out: Six.Hundred.DollarsJust got a BLU R1 HD today. $60, the end of ridiculous phone prices is nearing the end. It's not sustainable. I'm a techie and this phone is good enough. What makes a $600+ phone 10 times better?
ACM.1899 - Thursday, September 22, 2016 - link
Most buyers aren't techie....most of them are 15-30 years old that want to play HD games, watch FHD videos, listen to hq music...they want the best (based on Media or Gsmarena) and don't care that much about the money...they go to a store and all they can see is SAMSUNG and APPLE or let's say huawei...huawei used to be cheap, but now?...not much.
i think the only factor that would make a phone 10 times better (for "ordinary" buyers) is that it lasts 10 times(or whatever time that compensate the money).
look at HTC HD2 ,recently i saw one that could run Android 7...but NOT that good or smooth or enough ram left to run something else and it's a 7 years old phone. and we know that those who flash a custom rom or even root their phone is nothing compared to "ordinary" buyers.
btw in some countries you're stuck with whatever your carriers sell you.
ACM.1899 - Thursday, September 22, 2016 - link
And let's not forget about "Capitalism"Zoomer - Thursday, September 22, 2016 - link
It's not ten times better in the way that a BMW M7 isn't ten times better than a Tata Nano. That doesn't make it vastly better than a BLU.ACM.1899 - Friday, September 23, 2016 - link
i meant if your LCD, Speakers,Buttons, antennas, Charging circuit ... maintain their quality in long term. AND how REPAIRABLE it is.or more importantly Battery.
or the Rom lasts longer before becoming laggy. or how manufacturers support the phone or developers with their custom roms.
ACM.1899 - Friday, September 23, 2016 - link
not the best example though , but i see your point..because almost everybody can afford the best smartphone and when spending a lot of money , he/she would rather not to spend anytime soon.
like you buy shoes ; you can spend 150$ (50+50+50, three new cheap shoes every year) or 150$ (good quality shoes) every 3 years.(fixed prices and incomes)
ACM.1899 - Friday, September 23, 2016 - link
and of course it depends on how you use it.if you run a lot then you need good shoes.but if you just dial and text then a nokia 3310 is more than enough for you.
techconc - Monday, September 26, 2016 - link
I have no issue with you feeling good about your $60 phone. That's great. I'm truly happy for you. That said, your claim that purchasing high end phones isn't sustainable is provably incorrect. For many people, the smartphone is the computing device that people use for the better part of the day. It shouldn't be difficult to understand that even people with lower income would choose to indulge on this particular product category.Impulses - Thursday, September 22, 2016 - link
Glad you put this review out Josh, having read it I'm a little more inclined to pick a 10 up if the Pixels disappoint me... Despite all the enthusiast belly aching, people tend to keep phones longer those days and are thus much more likely to pick up a flagship model later in it's cycle.Shoot, I went thru three phones in three years (all HTC) before finally keeping one longer than that, still clinging to my N5... Not using my phone for gaming or as my primary camera has really made things like battery life, software, general design, and unique features the biggest differentiators.
Good old N5 got at least two of those right, really starting to want something with better battery life even after a cell swap and wireless chargers all over the house... Gotten quite used to those tho, hoping the Pixel's glass back means it's back in.
nukmichael - Sunday, September 25, 2016 - link
Why NFC looks still active in the battery test ?? Shouldn't be closed?DaFireStorm - Tuesday, September 27, 2016 - link
Great review. I use an HTC 10 and have become of the WiFi woes of this device but I think this may be the only review to have picked up on the WiFi problems.Badelhas - Tuesday, October 17, 2017 - link
Hi there. I just upgraded from the M8 and the wifi is not Wi-Fi range is very weak, used to be able to watch videos on the bedroom or kitchen and now it's impossible. Am I the only one? Is there anything we can do to fix it?Cheers
axcelred - Tuesday, November 22, 2016 - link
Thank you for this review, it really helped me make a decision. I was looking at so many midrange and high end flagship phones but wanted an overall good experience and low light camera as my main point to shoot. Mainly in home or social gathering use that has mid to subtle lighting and can pick up details in the shadows with less noise. Coming from a camera on a Lumia, it's hard to let go ir find something that performed similarly. With the current Black Friday 2016 - 200 dollars off, I purchased one; everything in the price range of 399-499, didn't have great reviews for these conditions and even some of the higher end phones. It may not be the fastest or have the latest processor, but it is stable, solid, and has a great community from HTC's commitments and XDA surrounded it and that is important. Really appreciate this and the in-depth reviews this site provides.calvol - Thursday, December 15, 2016 - link
I have a M8 and love it for the sound listening to Internet radio..... the 5" form factor is perfect for my hand.... unfortunately broke it trying to replace the battery... after reading Anand's review, I won't be buying a 10.... Maybe try a Sony XZ this time...Dave121262 - Saturday, December 8, 2018 - link
A terrible phone. I had more problems with this phone in 6 months than other phones in 2 years. The battery started to malfunction 6 months in to owning the phone and it would act up numerous additional times as well. I wouldn't recommend this phone to anyone.LonsieuM - Saturday, July 4, 2020 - link
Do you still have the WALT hardware device? Would be willing to sell it?