It looks like the article is missing a page or two. Guess that detail comes up later.
But this phone definitely looks like something I'd like to buy as opposed to the constant stream of compromises that came before. And HTC has a much better track record when it comes to software updates which for me is worth more than any removable battery or curved screen.
... But the fact that you haven't mentioned water proof means it isn't a feature right... Too bad. I guess it will become a mist have the day Apple does it :-(
You could say that any phone with a usb port doesn't need wireless charging. Nevertheless fast charging or not some of us like wireless charging anyways.
It is not really about charging speed, it is about convenience.
I usually charge my phone when going to bed, and I often go to bed after my wife (she starts working earlier than me). Dropping phone on charging pad in dark is so much easier than catching elusive USB cable and touch-plugging it into phone.
But even without element of darkness, wireless charging is so convenient. Someone calls while charging (or you need to call someone), you don't have to unplug or bend over the desk because of cable length - you pick the phone from pad, use it, drop it back once conversation is finished. Eventually it almost feels like your phone doesn't need charging at all, how transparent charging is with Qi.
Alternatively, I have never particularly been bothered by having to plug my phone in at night. I have, however, lamented to discover that I was about to go somewhere, had forgotten to juice up and in the past simply resigned myself to either having a dead phone for most of an evening out, or dealing with carrying around a power brick. 50% charge in 15 minutes is a godsend.
Obviously this will be a case of different strokes for different folks, but what the manufacturer's are finding is that the majority of consumers consider quick charge vastly more convenient than slow wireless charge. Eventually, I hope we'll get to the point of fast, ubiquitous wireless charging but for now the manufacturers seem to be taking a "pick one" attitude and I for one am really glad my phone maker went with quick charge.
Every mini/micro USB-powered device that I have owned eventually stopped charging over USB due to the port wearing down. Wireless charging is not only convenient, but allows for less wear/tear of the physical ports. Charging speed has gotten a lot better than it used to be: http://phandroid.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Ch...
Funny, I've never seen a micro USB port on any of my 3 phones wear out. EVER! Now my kids Apple lightning cables last about a week before Tim Cook demands another $20 to pay for more anal lube and social justice programs. Who the hell wants to pay $50 for a wireless charger especially considering I have at least 4 chargers (home, car, office and travel)? A fool and his money...
Yep, my thoughts exactly. The lack of wireless charging was a major oversight. I've been using wireless charging on Nexus 5 for a while now and am not going back. I won't be buying an HTC 10 because of the lack of wireless charging.
That's not the issue. Wireless is really nice when you have to take the phone off the charger a lot, for instance at work. I would hate having to plug and unplug 50 times a day. Yet with the wireless charging I can just pick it up, drop it on the charger later, never have battery concerns.
It comes with turbo charge, but no wireless charging. I been using 2 of these for 3 months for testing. Now it scores a lot higher than any other phone on the market for antutu benchmarking. In my taste, it is little to small. But boomsound, good camera and finger print readers are very good. Also HTC got rid of the most junk apps, so it is close to vanilla marsmelow. If they come with the bigger screen, I will definitely buy this phone. I would just go for this phone because how quality is the sound on it.
Design? What design with that home button from hell? Makes you wish they would go back to the M7. The device is still bulky just much uglier and less practical. Specs are boring , price is very very high and that's about that. The new CEO had more than a year to show something, she failed to change anything for the better.
The specs are as boring as any other current generation flagship. And regarding design, I always considered Samsung Galaxy S (non-edge) devices to have some of the most boring (to put it delicately) design features ever to hit a phone. Since this opinion isn't shared we can just assume it's subjective and not up for debate.
And the price also looks on par with other flagship phones today...
"Home button from hell" You mean the fingerprint scanner? On the M7, M8, and M9 that was a "htc" logo that didn't do anything.
This phone is exactly what I've been wishing for coming from the One M7. Capacitive buttons, AMOLED screen, good screen to bezel ratio, good size, nice camera, great software update track record, unobtrusive UI layer, Uh-Oh protection.
In my experience they also have great customer service. I damaged my One M7 out of warranty and HTC swapped a refurbished one for $100. I've enjoyed the M7 for 3 years, the most ever out of a phone I've owned, and hope to get 3 out of the M10. Here's to hoping HTC stays afloat!
I was waiting to see the Note 6 before I decided on what I wanted to upgrade to. But I gotta get my girlfriend a new phone too, she is a selfie whore and lives on music, this might be perfect for her.
I'll feel a little safer with the free Uh Oh protection too since I only buy unlocked phones out right. Never lease, finance, or subsidize my phones with a contract. Might as well just burn money.
How is paying $480 for a phone up front or $20 a month for two years burning money? In the end it is the same amount you spend... I can understand subsidizing with a contract, especially one that wouldn't drop by $20 after it is paid off, as being a complete waste of money, but interest free financing simply spreading the price of the phone over n months isn't costing you any more...
Generally you also pay a monthly subsidization fee to pay for your carrier subsidizing phones (at least in the US), even if you do the AT&T NEXT or whatever it's called across the different carriers. So you're spending the $480 on the NEXT payments and ~$400 on the subsidy payments. So you lose money.
I just realized you might not have been saying the $20/2 year plans were good, just that spending money on a phone isn't dumb. In that case my bad and I wish we could delete comments D:
Did they keep the screen on gestures (swipe up to turn screen on, etc.)? They made a big deal about toning down Sense and getting closer to stock Android. I liked Sense. I'd especially be sad if they ditched the gestures.
Motion launch gestures are still available. The one change is that instead of volume down to launch the camera it is now a double swipe downwards as the volume button launch was found to be unreliable.
After some more digging this is the controller. There's also a SlimPort controller ANX7816 with support for 4K30. In general it looks like DisplayPort is the primary supported standard.
Do you have a slimport cable around that you could verify? I know HTC's spec page says "Display Port," but it'd be nice to know for sure.
I was hoping they'd go MHL since I already have cables for that, but SlimPort would be acceptable. Otherwise, I'll lean towards the G5 that I KNOW has SP.
What a poorly written comment. You could have take 10 seconds to write what you did not like about it so you could bring an improvement to future ones.
This phone looks amazing, but $700 for the 32Gb version seems high. I hope the next Nexus device is comparable but under $500. I would have jumped on this phone at the right price.
Wow so the Nexus phones have no US Support or availability? Quick someone tell Google before they continue to make phones for the US Market that aren't support or are available!
Don't bother waiting for a full review. Courtesy of Ars Technica, we know that HTC has plumbed the depths of late 90s PC scamware to find its newest anti-feature, a "memory optimizer":
"Speaking of options, HTC has developed a new app called "Boost+" that promises to optimise your phone's performance by clearing out old cache files, RAM, and old apps."
So as much as I like the m8 I've been using for the last 18ish months or so; this is the final nail in the coffin and I'm definitely going to be replacing it with a Nexus 2016 now.
"However unlike the competition it looks like the HTC 10 is still using eMMC which could have an effect on performance, although HTC is claiming that overall responsiveness with regard to app launch and multitasking exceeds that of the competition. The unit I got to spend some hands-on time with appears to use SanDisk DF4032 NAND, and it looks like this is actually either iNAND 7132 or 7232 so it isn't necessarily a guarantee that this storage will underperform relative to UFS solutions."
"including better earbuds out of the box for every device, with larger drivers and a new diaphragm design that should improve sound reproduction, although it’s unlikely that these are going to be better than dedicated studio monitors."
$3 USD paired dynamic driver buds better than studio monitors?
Yes, very unlikely :-D
I mean really -- is Anandtech audio understanding really this bad? Do you have basic understanding of acoustical physics?
BTW for sound quality into most low impedance (32Ohm or lower) non-impedance-linear buds (say, 99% of them) the most important quality is as near zero output impedance as possible and load-independent opamp.
The other things they claim, it's just marketing speak.
yeah I guess it's not that evident that it's tongue-in-cheek, too many internet writers use that figure of speech seriously because they don't know what they're talking about and so they talk about possibilities and not facts.
Has Anandtech given up on reviewing electronics? It's been over a month since the similarly superficial look at Samsung's Galaxy S7 and six weeks since the flagships using the Qualcomm SD820 arrived on the market and yet Anandtech still hasn't attempted to answer whether the SD820 is a throttling dumpster fire like the SD810. The "we're testing wifi" excuse is beyond thin given that this question dominated Android phones for all of 2015.
Heck, Ron Amadeo is a better source of information at this point.
Snapdragon 820 doesn't suffer from the same issues that Snapdragon 810 does, this is evident from our Mi5 launch article which shows maximum CPU power consumption and the GS7 Part 1, which shows that in our much more intensive web browsing 2016 test efficiency is comparable to at least the 7420.
I agree that we've taken far too long to get the review out and I take responsibility for this problem. Part of the problem is that I am a full time EE student first, so I cannot simply drop all my courses in finals week to review a device. UCLA's quarter system does not have any notable breaks beyond winter break so reviews have to be done at the cost of studying. Regardless, I will try to get the GS7 Part 2 review up as soon as possible.
Mr. Ho, I appreciate that you attempt to shoulder the responsibility for the shortcoming. However, as your life situation indicates, you are not the one doing a slipshod job here.
Anandtech should not be run as if it were still in Anand Shimpi's bedroom. The in-depth reviews of flagship mobile devices should not be outsourced as part-time work to college students. Purch and Ryan Smith are ultimately responsible for this site's decline into clickbait advertising without content.
While I agree with your comment in general, it'll be difficult to get a full time review writer who's as good as Joshua. You'll more likely to end up with someone who has never seen a breadboard or a O-notation in their life, in other words a general "journalist" with very little hard technical knowledge.
Sorry to repeat this, but do we expect no reviews for the GTX 950/960? They're the only GM206 chips out, and Anandtech has done no reviews on them or any in-depth analysis.
I'm impressed. This is what the M9(or even the M8) should have been. If I hadn't already sprung for the iPhone last year I would be seriously considering this one. I hope it holds up to the competition, because HTC needs a win.
Too big and heavy for it's size especially battery. Compare that to the Mi5 which is 22g lighter and smaller (especially much thinner) with same battery size.
Nice Hands-On...It looks very nice indeed. Seems like HTC fixed most things. Dont know if I want to upgrade from my lovely M8 yet, though... Looking foward for the full detailed review. :)
'bout time. HTC has always been great at the actual mechanics of building a phone, they just kept coming up with weird hoky designs that no one wanted.
Also, with regard to those USB-C headphones— how is it possible for something to be "sweat proof" but only "water resistant?" Special seal that only blocks water if it has salt in it? ;)
"This design should retain the front-facing speaker quality that we’ve come to expect, while reducing the bezel of the device with some minor loss in stereo separation."
Can you confirm that there is actual stereo separation, and not just a mono signal with a low-pass filter applied to the bottom speaker and high-pass filter to the top speaker? I can't seem to find the word "stereo" in any news from other sites.
If this is an omnidirectional "full-range" speaker on the bottom and a directional tweeter on the top, it would be really nice.
If it's just tweeter + subwoofer then I guess it'll be good for hands-free talks but little else. Lenovo's Vibe X3 would be worlds apart from this.
What about when your alone at home, or taking a dump :) ? Just because you ALWAYS use headphones dosent mean its always necessary. To listen to music I use headphones, on the street, also. But when watching a video at bed or showing it to a friend headphones are not really usefull.
My Mark Levinson amp and Magnepan speakers say you dont know what you're talking about. I enjoy the speakers on my M7 and M9. Not everybody fits into your simplistic world view, murloc.
The stereo separation is definitely there. I just went ahead and for this and sounds that are only playing out of the left channel mostly plays back from the top speaker, while the right channel plays from the bottom.
Long phones are not pocket friendly so its virtually of no value to me or most of my colleagues. Most of us are about to upgrade but are sticking to smaller screen phones purely because they haven't figured out how not to put large selfie cams, fingerprint scanners, and dedicated buttons in the way. A light sensor, speakers, and microphones are fine. They should make one with a shorter body to match and make it wider or thicker if needed.
Even with no buttons and rear fingerprint scanner (Nexus 5x & 6p), you still end up with similar bezels because you need somewhere to wrap your hand and thumb without resting on the touchscreen.
1) I really believe you meant to say >> "HTC seems to have understood just how critical TWO FRONT FACING SPEAKERS [not "camera"] is to differentiate them from the rest of the market," 2) I also believe you meant to say >> "This design should SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE [not "retain"] the front-facing speaker quality that we’ve come to expect..."
Generic. Nothing really special. They could've at least gone with a 1080p AMOLED panel to get more out of the Adreno 530. To add to the insult, the headphone out is on top...
Super LCD5 is pretty close to AMOLED, and I believe in games the software scales down the display to 1080p for better performance. This is definitely an M7 successor in many ways.
I'm so glad HTC didn't switch to AMOLED screens. LCD screens are much better outdoors, and they don't have those stupid Pentile pixels. I hope you can disable the capacitive buttons and switch to on-screen buttons, I hate those off-screen buttons because I always hit them by accident.
Capacitive buttons, Super LCD5, Snapdragon 820 and 4 GB RAM... What's not to like?
Love the fact that many manufacturers are moving to capacitive buttons again. On screen buttons are noting but a waste of screen, especially with phones that have onscreen buttons combined with HUGE bezels. One m8 and m9 are good examples of this (mis)design.
Pricing is going to be key to the success or failure of this device. Hardware wise there is not much to separate it from competitors.
as a side point, the lack of options in the context of flagship socs is boring to say the least. Its Snapdragon 820, Exynos 8 or Mediatek X20/25. Remeber 5 years ago when we had a shit load of options with the likes of TI and Nvidia still in the game.
I thought they came up with a standard a while back so all that FCC crap laser etched on the back could be in the phone ROM instead. Guess HTC didn't get the memo.
Excellent article for a first impression "hand-on" piece. Quality content like this puts most news outlets to shame.
I'm very impressed with the turn around HTC has made with the 10. This is the first HTC phone I've been interested in for several years and I think they could really grab some good attention with it.
For the love of all that is holy, can we stop with 1440p and go back to 1080p please? I care far more about a few hours of battery life than I do the difference between visual clarity virtually no one can actually even tell apart!
Unless it's a phone like Samsung's Galaxy series and it has a dedicated VR headset where improvements on pixel density could still occur, yes, I also wish they would stop the 1440p nonsense and just go back to 1080p. Even Apple was smart enough to stop at their "retina" display level 326 ppi for their main phone line and 401 ppi for the Plus line, and Android phone OEMs going to the high 500s for ppi is getting ridiculous. Like I said, I think for Samsung, it makes sense as they have a dedicated VR headset, but for other OEMs, it's really just a numbers race.
It makes sense for Samsung because Pentile displays look like crap at 1080p and below. Phones with LCD screens have no need to be above 1080p because they have standard RGB pixels and look much better at normal resolutions than AMOLED screens.
That will probably not happen. A special version of HTC 10 called HTC 10 Lifestyle has been featured for the Indian market. The device rocks Snapdragon 652 SoC, other than that the device is replica of the flagship HTC 10, complete with 5.2'' QHD SLCD 5 display and 12 MP 1.5 um camera. I don't know how much margin will HTC make by not featuring the Snapdragon 820 SoC, but one thing is clear that a ''mini'' version of the device is not in their mind, atleast for the time being.
Anyone notice the huge gap between the home button (fingerprint) and the screen on the bottom? As pretty as the phone is, I can't believe the engineers can't properly design the phone so it would at least be properly positioned as the earpiece at the top.
Bit of an unusual request. but i'd love some detail about the quality of the recording of music through the 3 mics. My wife records herself playing violin a lot, and considering there aren't many great external cheap mics for android, this sound quality is a vital factor. I'd really appreciate any info on this quality! thanks.
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BedfordTim - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Does it have wireless charging?close - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
It looks like the article is missing a page or two. Guess that detail comes up later.But this phone definitely looks like something I'd like to buy as opposed to the constant stream of compromises that came before. And HTC has a much better track record when it comes to software updates which for me is worth more than any removable battery or curved screen.
Ian Cutress - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
It's a hands-on for now, full review to follow.close - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
The article left me wanting more details so I was hoping for more pages :).jospoortvliet - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
... But the fact that you haven't mentioned water proof means it isn't a feature right... Too bad. I guess it will become a mist have the day Apple does it :-(BPB - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
But they do have the Uh Oh protection. So if you wreck it you get one free replacement (in the 1st 12 months).AP27 - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
According to ARS, it doesn'tBlamo11 - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
No. It charges to 100%in just over an hour hardly needs it.snowmyr - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
You could say that any phone with a usb port doesn't need wireless charging. Nevertheless fast charging or not some of us like wireless charging anyways.nikon133 - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
It is not really about charging speed, it is about convenience.I usually charge my phone when going to bed, and I often go to bed after my wife (she starts working earlier than me). Dropping phone on charging pad in dark is so much easier than catching elusive USB cable and touch-plugging it into phone.
But even without element of darkness, wireless charging is so convenient. Someone calls while charging (or you need to call someone), you don't have to unplug or bend over the desk because of cable length - you pick the phone from pad, use it, drop it back once conversation is finished. Eventually it almost feels like your phone doesn't need charging at all, how transparent charging is with Qi.
forgot2yield28 - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Alternatively, I have never particularly been bothered by having to plug my phone in at night. I have, however, lamented to discover that I was about to go somewhere, had forgotten to juice up and in the past simply resigned myself to either having a dead phone for most of an evening out, or dealing with carrying around a power brick. 50% charge in 15 minutes is a godsend.Obviously this will be a case of different strokes for different folks, but what the manufacturer's are finding is that the majority of consumers consider quick charge vastly more convenient than slow wireless charge. Eventually, I hope we'll get to the point of fast, ubiquitous wireless charging but for now the manufacturers seem to be taking a "pick one" attitude and I for one am really glad my phone maker went with quick charge.
nathanddrews - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
Every mini/micro USB-powered device that I have owned eventually stopped charging over USB due to the port wearing down. Wireless charging is not only convenient, but allows for less wear/tear of the physical ports. Charging speed has gotten a lot better than it used to be:http://phandroid.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Ch...
superflex - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
Funny,I've never seen a micro USB port on any of my 3 phones wear out. EVER!
Now my kids Apple lightning cables last about a week before Tim Cook demands another $20 to pay for more anal lube and social justice programs.
Who the hell wants to pay $50 for a wireless charger especially considering I have at least 4 chargers (home, car, office and travel)?
A fool and his money...
turdfurguson - Monday, April 18, 2016 - link
I bought about three of four wireless chargers from China and they were only about $10 or less each and work fine for my Android phone.turdfurguson - Monday, April 18, 2016 - link
Yep, my thoughts exactly. The lack of wireless charging was a major oversight. I've been using wireless charging on Nexus 5 for a while now and am not going back. I won't be buying an HTC 10 because of the lack of wireless charging.hansmuff - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
That's not the issue. Wireless is really nice when you have to take the phone off the charger a lot, for instance at work. I would hate having to plug and unplug 50 times a day. Yet with the wireless charging I can just pick it up, drop it on the charger later, never have battery concerns.lilmoe - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Don't think any metal-back phone will have wireless charging anytime soon...Meteor2 - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Qualcomm have released a metal-body Qi charging chip.TurK-fx - Sunday, April 24, 2016 - link
It comes with turbo charge, but no wireless charging. I been using 2 of these for 3 months for testing. Now it scores a lot higher than any other phone on the market for antutu benchmarking. In my taste, it is little to small. But boomsound, good camera and finger print readers are very good. Also HTC got rid of the most junk apps, so it is close to vanilla marsmelow. If they come with the bigger screen, I will definitely buy this phone. I would just go for this phone because how quality is the sound on it.jjj - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Design? What design with that home button from hell? Makes you wish they would go back to the M7. The device is still bulky just much uglier and less practical. Specs are boring , price is very very high and that's about that.The new CEO had more than a year to show something, she failed to change anything for the better.
close - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
The specs are as boring as any other current generation flagship. And regarding design, I always considered Samsung Galaxy S (non-edge) devices to have some of the most boring (to put it delicately) design features ever to hit a phone. Since this opinion isn't shared we can just assume it's subjective and not up for debate.And the price also looks on par with other flagship phones today...
benzosaurus - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Seriously! Until the S6 Samsung's phones looked like chintzy $100 phones whose design never changed.caleblloyd - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
"Home button from hell" You mean the fingerprint scanner? On the M7, M8, and M9 that was a "htc" logo that didn't do anything.This phone is exactly what I've been wishing for coming from the One M7. Capacitive buttons, AMOLED screen, good screen to bezel ratio, good size, nice camera, great software update track record, unobtrusive UI layer, Uh-Oh protection.
In my experience they also have great customer service. I damaged my One M7 out of warranty and HTC swapped a refurbished one for $100. I've enjoyed the M7 for 3 years, the most ever out of a phone I've owned, and hope to get 3 out of the M10. Here's to hoping HTC stays afloat!
close - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Only it's not AMOLED, it's Super LCD 5.caleblloyd - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Thanks for the correction, should've read the specs instead of recalling the leaks :). I'm still in for 1.Refuge - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
I'm still using my M7! love this fucking tank! :DI was waiting to see the Note 6 before I decided on what I wanted to upgrade to. But I gotta get my girlfriend a new phone too, she is a selfie whore and lives on music, this might be perfect for her.
I'll feel a little safer with the free Uh Oh protection too since I only buy unlocked phones out right. Never lease, finance, or subsidize my phones with a contract. Might as well just burn money.
Myrandex - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
How is paying $480 for a phone up front or $20 a month for two years burning money? In the end it is the same amount you spend... I can understand subsidizing with a contract, especially one that wouldn't drop by $20 after it is paid off, as being a complete waste of money, but interest free financing simply spreading the price of the phone over n months isn't costing you any more...Kumouri - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
Generally you also pay a monthly subsidization fee to pay for your carrier subsidizing phones (at least in the US), even if you do the AT&T NEXT or whatever it's called across the different carriers. So you're spending the $480 on the NEXT payments and ~$400 on the subsidy payments. So you lose money.Kumouri - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
I just realized you might not have been saying the $20/2 year plans were good, just that spending money on a phone isn't dumb. In that case my bad and I wish we could delete comments D:barn25 - Sunday, April 17, 2016 - link
I dont know what fee you talking about but the T-mobile version for payments doesnt add to the price.greyhulk - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Did they keep the screen on gestures (swipe up to turn screen on, etc.)? They made a big deal about toning down Sense and getting closer to stock Android. I liked Sense. I'd especially be sad if they ditched the gestures.JoshHo - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Motion launch gestures are still available. The one change is that instead of volume down to launch the camera it is now a double swipe downwards as the volume button launch was found to be unreliable.greyhulk - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Awesome! Thanks for the confirmation.AbRASiON - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Home button returns! HTC, congratulations, I'll now consider your phones again.Pissedoffyouth - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
IS there going to be a SD820 and Exynos deep dive any time soon?lostleaf - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Joshua,Can you please comment on what's capable thru the usbc port? HDMI?
Also do we know the bands for the Verizon version?
JoshHo - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
http://www.analogix.com/en/products/usb-c-port-con...After some more digging this is the controller. There's also a SlimPort controller ANX7816 with support for 4K30. In general it looks like DisplayPort is the primary supported standard.
middlehead - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Do you have a slimport cable around that you could verify? I know HTC's spec page says "Display Port," but it'd be nice to know for sure.I was hoping they'd go MHL since I already have cables for that, but SlimPort would be acceptable. Otherwise, I'll lean towards the G5 that I KNOW has SP.
lostleaf - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Cool thanks for the info. Eagerly awaiting the full review.thetuna - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Holy cow, what a poorly written article.Now that that's off my chest; the 10 looks pretty sweet!
fanofanand - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
It's a first look, what was poorly written about it?T1beriu - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
What a poorly written comment. You could have take 10 seconds to write what you did not like about it so you could bring an improvement to future ones.zeeBomb - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
I can definitely tell Josh is excited...its a meaningful upgrade from his M7...HTC's back in the building!Refuge - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
I am too, my M7 is starting to die quicker, and chug slower everyday... :(Meteor2 - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
I gave up on mine I got a Nexus 5X. No regrets; very pleased.fanofanand - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
This phone looks amazing, but $700 for the 32Gb version seems high. I hope the next Nexus device is comparable but under $500. I would have jumped on this phone at the right price.Refuge - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
It is right on par with all of the other flagship phones.Visual - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Yeah, well all the other flagship phones are overpriced too.It's like all brands are turning into Apple lately...
fanofanand - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
That doesn't make the price any more palatable. Huawei and others have shown that flagship doesn't have to mean $700+shadarlo - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
You also get horribly processed images and basically no US support or even availability...fanofanand - Monday, April 18, 2016 - link
Wow so the Nexus phones have no US Support or availability? Quick someone tell Google before they continue to make phones for the US Market that aren't support or are available!DanNeely - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Don't bother waiting for a full review. Courtesy of Ars Technica, we know that HTC has plumbed the depths of late 90s PC scamware to find its newest anti-feature, a "memory optimizer":"Speaking of options, HTC has developed a new app called "Boost+" that promises to optimise your phone's performance by clearing out old cache files, RAM, and old apps."
So as much as I like the m8 I've been using for the last 18ish months or so; this is the final nail in the coffin and I'm definitely going to be replacing it with a Nexus 2016 now.
dezonio2 - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
HTC won't mind you skipping the 10 for a 2016 Nexus device, they're the one building it.Murloc - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
how is this different than ccleaner really?Eden-K121D - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Is it UFS 2.0 or eMMC 5.1vortmax2 - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
"However unlike the competition it looks like the HTC 10 is still using eMMC which could have an effect on performance, although HTC is claiming that overall responsiveness with regard to app launch and multitasking exceeds that of the competition. The unit I got to spend some hands-on time with appears to use SanDisk DF4032 NAND, and it looks like this is actually either iNAND 7132 or 7232 so it isn't necessarily a guarantee that this storage will underperform relative to UFS solutions."extide - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
It is eMMC 5.0 or eMMC 5.1, dependiong on whether it is iNAND 7132 or 7232halcyon - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
"including better earbuds out of the box for every device, with larger drivers and a new diaphragm design that should improve sound reproduction, although it’s unlikely that these are going to be better than dedicated studio monitors."$3 USD paired dynamic driver buds better than studio monitors?
Yes, very unlikely :-D
I mean really -- is Anandtech audio understanding really this bad? Do you have basic understanding of acoustical physics?
BTW for sound quality into most low impedance (32Ohm or lower) non-impedance-linear buds (say, 99% of them) the most important quality is as near zero output impedance as possible and load-independent opamp.
The other things they claim, it's just marketing speak.
JoshHo - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
It was tongue-in-cheek, I'll be sure to test the earbuds but I'm not really expecting miracles from them.Murloc - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
yeah I guess it's not that evident that it's tongue-in-cheek, too many internet writers use that figure of speech seriously because they don't know what they're talking about and so they talk about possibilities and not facts.mkozakewich - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
Understatement is found in popular writing every once in a while. Like sarcasm, which is another thing that people are very good at understanding.Zoomer - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
Could you test if it can drive hard to drive loads? It'll sure be nice for these that walk around with cans and an external portable amplifier.BPB - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
HTC claims the headphones are worth $100.willis936 - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Return of the king! I might trade in my 6S.Gunbuster - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Pictures of the Sony Xperia C6 with a properly small screen bezel appear last night. Coincidence?...dhotay - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Has Anandtech given up on reviewing electronics? It's been over a month since the similarly superficial look at Samsung's Galaxy S7 and six weeks since the flagships using the Qualcomm SD820 arrived on the market and yet Anandtech still hasn't attempted to answer whether the SD820 is a throttling dumpster fire like the SD810. The "we're testing wifi" excuse is beyond thin given that this question dominated Android phones for all of 2015.Heck, Ron Amadeo is a better source of information at this point.
Meteor2 - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
I wouldn't have put it so strongly, but I do agree.Anandtech should reconsider their priorities.
JoshHo - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Snapdragon 820 doesn't suffer from the same issues that Snapdragon 810 does, this is evident from our Mi5 launch article which shows maximum CPU power consumption and the GS7 Part 1, which shows that in our much more intensive web browsing 2016 test efficiency is comparable to at least the 7420.I agree that we've taken far too long to get the review out and I take responsibility for this problem. Part of the problem is that I am a full time EE student first, so I cannot simply drop all my courses in finals week to review a device. UCLA's quarter system does not have any notable breaks beyond winter break so reviews have to be done at the cost of studying. Regardless, I will try to get the GS7 Part 2 review up as soon as possible.
dhotay - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Mr. Ho, I appreciate that you attempt to shoulder the responsibility for the shortcoming. However, as your life situation indicates, you are not the one doing a slipshod job here.Anandtech should not be run as if it were still in Anand Shimpi's bedroom. The in-depth reviews of flagship mobile devices should not be outsourced as part-time work to college students. Purch and Ryan Smith are ultimately responsible for this site's decline into clickbait advertising without content.
ajohntee - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
While I agree with your comment in general, it'll be difficult to get a full time review writer who's as good as Joshua. You'll more likely to end up with someone who has never seen a breadboard or a O-notation in their life, in other words a general "journalist" with very little hard technical knowledge.RaichuPls - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Sorry to repeat this, but do we expect no reviews for the GTX 950/960? They're the only GM206 chips out, and Anandtech has done no reviews on them or any in-depth analysis.JoshHo - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
I can't speak to whether there will be a GTX950 or GTX960 review.Pissedoffyouth - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
What happened to Andrei?JoshHo - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
He's still alive and working away on his analysis of the major SoCs available today.Laxaa - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
I'm impressed. This is what the M9(or even the M8) should have been. If I hadn't already sprung for the iPhone last year I would be seriously considering this one. I hope it holds up to the competition, because HTC needs a win.venky80 - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
do we know if storage is UFS 2.0?Kepe - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Read the article.Azurael - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Oh excellent. hTC have finally joined the excessive pixel density club. Think how much better the battery life would have been without it :(Also: It's a bit of a brick for a 5.2" phone, isn't it? That made sense when hTC had front facing speakers. Now, I don't really get it...
beginner99 - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Too big and heavy for it's size especially battery. Compare that to the Mi5 which is 22g lighter and smaller (especially much thinner) with same battery size.Murloc - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
*itsZoomer - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
You know alu weights more than plastic, right?Badelhas - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Nice Hands-On...It looks very nice indeed. Seems like HTC fixed most things. Dont know if I want to upgrade from my lovely M8 yet, though...Looking foward for the full detailed review. :)
benzosaurus - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
'bout time. HTC has always been great at the actual mechanics of building a phone, they just kept coming up with weird hoky designs that no one wanted.Also, with regard to those USB-C headphones— how is it possible for something to be "sweat proof" but only "water resistant?" Special seal that only blocks water if it has salt in it? ;)
Murloc - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
people don't usually literally bathe in sweat so I guess that water resistance is enough to be sweat proof.ToTTenTranz - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
"This design should retain the front-facing speaker quality that we’ve come to expect, while reducing the bezel of the device with some minor loss in stereo separation."Can you confirm that there is actual stereo separation, and not just a mono signal with a low-pass filter applied to the bottom speaker and high-pass filter to the top speaker?
I can't seem to find the word "stereo" in any news from other sites.
If this is an omnidirectional "full-range" speaker on the bottom and a directional tweeter on the top, it would be really nice.
If it's just tweeter + subwoofer then I guess it'll be good for hands-free talks but little else. Lenovo's Vibe X3 would be worlds apart from this.
Murloc - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
people who use the speakers are obnoxious 14 years old listening to 128k mp3 of rap music, and don't even know what stereo is.ToTTenTranz - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
... or 31 year-old engineers who enjoy stereo separation in native or streamed games and even in typical Youtube clips.Spectrophobic - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
Or someone who couldn't be bothered to wear something in/on/around their ears.Ever heard of "convenience"?
Badelhas - Tuesday, April 26, 2016 - link
What about when your alone at home, or taking a dump :) ? Just because you ALWAYS use headphones dosent mean its always necessary. To listen to music I use headphones, on the street, also. But when watching a video at bed or showing it to a friend headphones are not really usefull.superflex - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
My Mark Levinson amp and Magnepan speakers say you dont know what you're talking about.I enjoy the speakers on my M7 and M9.
Not everybody fits into your simplistic world view, murloc.
JoshHo - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
The stereo separation is definitely there. I just went ahead and for this and sounds that are only playing out of the left channel mostly plays back from the top speaker, while the right channel plays from the bottom.RaichuPls - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Still no Galaxy S7 review? Part 1 is out, where's part 2? Also, for a year now, still no GTX 950/960 review?JoshHo - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Part 2 is in progress. For reviews, it is my top priority.Badelhas - Tuesday, April 26, 2016 - link
Josh, do you have a prevision when the full review for the HTC 10 is going online? I´m deciding if I buy it based on your review :)praeses - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Top/bottom bezels are still bad.Long phones are not pocket friendly so its virtually of no value to me or most of my colleagues. Most of us are about to upgrade but are sticking to smaller screen phones purely because they haven't figured out how not to put large selfie cams, fingerprint scanners, and dedicated buttons in the way. A light sensor, speakers, and microphones are fine. They should make one with a shorter body to match and make it wider or thicker if needed.
Meteor2 - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Nexus 5X (and many others) -- finger scanner goes on the back.CrimsonFury - Sunday, May 8, 2016 - link
Even with no buttons and rear fingerprint scanner (Nexus 5x & 6p), you still end up with similar bezels because you need somewhere to wrap your hand and thumb without resting on the touchscreen.mrvco - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
I'm interested if it's $350 w/ a vanilla Android experience.zeeBomb - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
Might as well get a discounted A9 thensuperflex - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
Then wait a year and pick one up on Swappa.Otherwise, go troll elsewhere.
pseudoid - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
1) I really believe you meant to say >> "HTC seems to have understood just how critical TWO FRONT FACING SPEAKERS [not "camera"] is to differentiate them from the rest of the market,"2) I also believe you meant to say >> "This design should SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE [not "retain"] the front-facing speaker quality that we’ve come to expect..."
Spectrophobic - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Generic. Nothing really special. They could've at least gone with a 1080p AMOLED panel to get more out of the Adreno 530. To add to the insult, the headphone out is on top...Still no real M7/M8 successor.
zeeBomb - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Super LCD5 is pretty close to AMOLED, and I believe in games the software scales down the display to 1080p for better performance. This is definitely an M7 successor in many ways.Spectrophobic - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
Yes, an SoC and camera upgrade... but that's it.Nothing really stands out, considering they even removed the design feature that made the stand out.
LordConrad - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
I'm so glad HTC didn't switch to AMOLED screens. LCD screens are much better outdoors, and they don't have those stupid Pentile pixels. I hope you can disable the capacitive buttons and switch to on-screen buttons, I hate those off-screen buttons because I always hit them by accident.zeeBomb - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Surprised HTC doesn't have 2x2 modem nor have UFS 2.0...but hey at least it has more rights than its wrongs Faith in HTC [|||||||] Restored!Zoomer - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
Any idea if it would support always on hotword detection / aka low power Ok Google Now from screen off?LiverpoolFC5903 - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
Capacitive buttons, Super LCD5, Snapdragon 820 and 4 GB RAM... What's not to like?Love the fact that many manufacturers are moving to capacitive buttons again. On screen buttons are noting but a waste of screen, especially with phones that have onscreen buttons combined with HUGE bezels. One m8 and m9 are good examples of this (mis)design.
Pricing is going to be key to the success or failure of this device. Hardware wise there is not much to separate it from competitors.
as a side point, the lack of options in the context of flagship socs is boring to say the least. Its Snapdragon 820, Exynos 8 or Mediatek X20/25. Remeber 5 years ago when we had a shit load of options with the likes of TI and Nvidia still in the game.
deskjob - Sunday, April 17, 2016 - link
I am glad to hear I am not alone in preferring capacitive buttons over soft buttons. Why would you waste valuable screen real estate?blzd - Thursday, April 21, 2016 - link
Between the heavy and chunky design, the off screen buttons and the high price tag, I suspect a repeat flop of M9 proportions.Gunbuster - Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - link
I thought they came up with a standard a while back so all that FCC crap laser etched on the back could be in the phone ROM instead. Guess HTC didn't get the memo.superflex - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
It's a demo phone.The production models dont have that etching.
Try getting out from under your rock
Rocket321 - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
Excellent article for a first impression "hand-on" piece. Quality content like this puts most news outlets to shame.I'm very impressed with the turn around HTC has made with the 10. This is the first HTC phone I've been interested in for several years and I think they could really grab some good attention with it.
shadarlo - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
For the love of all that is holy, can we stop with 1440p and go back to 1080p please? I care far more about a few hours of battery life than I do the difference between visual clarity virtually no one can actually even tell apart!metayoshi - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
Unless it's a phone like Samsung's Galaxy series and it has a dedicated VR headset where improvements on pixel density could still occur, yes, I also wish they would stop the 1440p nonsense and just go back to 1080p. Even Apple was smart enough to stop at their "retina" display level 326 ppi for their main phone line and 401 ppi for the Plus line, and Android phone OEMs going to the high 500s for ppi is getting ridiculous. Like I said, I think for Samsung, it makes sense as they have a dedicated VR headset, but for other OEMs, it's really just a numbers race.LordConrad - Saturday, April 16, 2016 - link
It makes sense for Samsung because Pentile displays look like crap at 1080p and below. Phones with LCD screens have no need to be above 1080p because they have standard RGB pixels and look much better at normal resolutions than AMOLED screens.superflex - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
I'll wait for the HTC 10 mini at 4.7" with a Snapdragon 823.Aritra Ghatak - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
That will probably not happen. A special version of HTC 10 called HTC 10 Lifestyle has been featured for the Indian market. The device rocks Snapdragon 652 SoC, other than that the device is replica of the flagship HTC 10, complete with 5.2'' QHD SLCD 5 display and 12 MP 1.5 um camera. I don't know how much margin will HTC make by not featuring the Snapdragon 820 SoC, but one thing is clear that a ''mini'' version of the device is not in their mind, atleast for the time being.Aritra Ghatak - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_10_lifestyle-8031.phpdeskjob - Sunday, April 17, 2016 - link
I might be wrong, but I believe that was an April Fool's thing from HTCDowneyGray - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
Anyone notice the huge gap between the home button (fingerprint) and the screen on the bottom? As pretty as the phone is, I can't believe the engineers can't properly design the phone so it would at least be properly positioned as the earpiece at the top.Aritra Ghatak - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
The Asian market will supposedly feature the Snapdragon 652 variant, HTC 10 Lifestyle. Priced correctly, this phone will rock.archheretic - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
Bit of an unusual request. but i'd love some detail about the quality of the recording of music through the 3 mics. My wife records herself playing violin a lot, and considering there aren't many great external cheap mics for android, this sound quality is a vital factor. I'd really appreciate any info on this quality! thanks.[email protected] - Friday, April 15, 2016 - link
no micro sd? no waterproofing? no replaceable batteries? no wireless charging?nothing to see here...
[email protected] - Friday, April 15, 2016 - link
severely lack in functionality.CrimsonFury - Sunday, May 8, 2016 - link
It has micro sd...jonslon - Friday, April 15, 2016 - link
Er.. it does have micros SD. And unlike other phones announced recently, it supports Marshmallow's adoptable storage too.edsib1 - Tuesday, April 19, 2016 - link
By the time Anandtechs review of the HTC 10 is finished, we'll be on the HTC 11!!Seriously, hurry up,
Gorgenapper - Tuesday, April 19, 2016 - link
How was the screen brightness under sunlight? Did you find the display too dim?blzd - Thursday, April 21, 2016 - link
I haven't seen it mentioned that U.S buyers will not receive any headphones in the box. Only outside of North America will they be giving headphones.Americans get Uh Oh protection (only if bought from the HTC store) and Canadians get neither.