Taiwanese tech giant HTC has not been in best of its form from last one year, but the loyalists still have faith in the brand and HTC is pushing hard to maintain that trust. While Samsung is going with curved edges, LG is going for modular design; HTC has launched its latest flagship the HTC 10 in India. HTC 10 sticks to simplicity and has improved every possible area with significant upgrades and refinements.
I spent some time with the new HTC 10 at the launch event, and I am really impressed with the type of work HTC has done on its latest flagship. It has worked on the design, performance and also the user experience feels much better compared to earlier flagships from HTC.
HTC 10 Specifications
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HTC 10 Photo Gallery
HTC 10 Physical Overview
The HTC 10 comes in a full metal body with a lot of changes compared to previous iteration of the HTC flagship. This time, HTC has used a lot of new elements to make the design more ergonomic and logical. The front has a 2.5D curve glass that makes it look smooth from the front. The back has the major changes which include unusually wide chamfer on edges. Unlike the previous models, HTC 10 has flatter back to avoid rocking when kept on a flat surface. Even though, there is a slight curve on the sides. It feels great in hand and you can have a confortable hold to this pebble like design.
The front top bezel has the earpiece which acts as the secondary speaker for mid to higher tones. On its right, you can locate a big front camera lens which is seen in previous models as well. You will find the proximity and ambient light sensor on top of the earpiece.
The bottom has the home button with the fingerprint sensor build in and it looks a lot like one we have seen on Samsung phones, but this time HTC has included capacitive touch navigation keys to fill up the empty space on the broad bottom bezel.
Volume rocker, SIM tray and power/sleep key are on the right hands side of the phone. The power key has a texture over it to differentiate both the keys without looking at them.
At the bottom, there is a USB Type-C port for data syncing and charging, microphone and the loudspeaker grill.
3.5 mm audio jack is placed at the top of the phone.
HTC 10 User Interface
HTC 10 comes with the latest Android Marshmallow with the flavor of new HTC Sense on top. HTC has improved the latest iteration of its Sense UI, it is now easier to use and has become smarter that before. It comes with great customization options including thousands of themes, freestyle layout that allows you to place each icon, widget and stickers to the place you wish to.
Another great thing about the software is that HTC has paid a head to the apps this time. It does not come with a bunch of useless apps that eat up your RAM and storage; it has picked the best app for each function and kept it in the drawer. Even if the app is from HTC or from Google, there is no repetition of unwanted apps in the app tray.
HTC 10 Display Overview
The HTC 10 comes with a 5.2 inch Quad HD Super LCD5 display, with the pixel density at 565 PPI. The display is protected by Corning’s latest Gorilla Glass 4. According to me 5.2 inch is the perfect size that fits in the palm and also is big enough to enjoy videos on the go. The display calibration is done amazingly, colours look natural and the details are crystal clear. It has good outdoor visibility and viewing angles are also one of the best I have seen.
Camera Overview
Looking at HTC’s track record, camera has not been the strongest part of HTC ever. HTC has again gone with the UltraPixel camera with a 12 MP sensor at the back, and it has 1.55-micron pixel size with f/1.8 aperture which can prove to be great for low light pictures.
HTC has included laser autofocus for quicker focus and also offers a lot of options in the camera settings. It supports 4K video recording and HD audio recording, in case you like filming from your smartphone camera.
The front camera boasts 5 MP and an f/1.8 aperture, with a with a wide angle lens. The best part is the integration of optical image stabilization (OIS) in front camera, which is a rare sight in front facing cameras.
Competition
At this price point, HTC 10 will be competing with Samsung Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge and LG G5. All these smartphones are the latest flagships from the top companies, till now only the Galaxy S7 has made its place in Indian market. We have to wait and see how consumers react after all 3 flagships are available for purchase.
Price and Availability
The HTC 10 is priced at Rs. 52,990 for the 32 GB version. It will start shipping from June 5th.
Conclusion
HTC 10 comes with great power, amazing camera, great display and a premium built and design. I was really impressed with the type of feel it gives to its users, and the performance is also top notch. The only thing that I didn’t like is that HTC didn’t bring the 64 GB model in India. We did not use it for enough time to give our final verdict about the phone but we really liked the phone after our initial hands on. We will be looking forward to review the HTC 10 and find out how it performs in day to day usage.
