HTC 10 first look: this phone hopes to be a perfect 10

HTC‘s newest flagship phone is no longer just the”One”, but the Taiwanese phone maker does hope it is a perfect 10.

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This is the day HTCfans have been waiting for! We have gotten our hands on the all-new HTC 10, so before we bring you our full review very soon, let’s take a look at what this smartphone has in store.

Design and build quality

At first glance, you can tell the HTC10 keeps plenty of characteristics that made its predecessors so well-received. That gorgeous all-metal construction is still around, but there are some things that have been changed around. Some of these changes are actually features we saw coming to the HTC One A9, so they may seem a bit familiar.

Let’s start with the front. The device sports a 5.2-inch display, which makes the handset reasonably easy to handle with one hand. One of the biggest differences is that when looking at the bottom bezel you will notice one of the front-facing speakers is gone. Does this mean the awesome audio is also absent? Not quite.

There are now capacitive buttons on the bottom part of the front, as well as a home button that doubles as a fingerprint reader. The second speaker has simply been moved to the bottom of the phone. It is placed right next to the USB Type C port and it’s said to function more like a sub-woofer. This is supposed to provide fuller and richer sound when listening to audio.

The next major difference is the design element in the back, which HTCis calling ‘Silhouette Design’. You can find edges (or slopes) all around the backing of the HTC10, which provide a bit of a curve and make the phone more comfortable to handle, contouring to the shape of the palm.

Hardware

2.5D glass covers the SLCD 5 display, which comes in at a QHD resolution (2560×1440). So far we can tell you the colors look quite nice on this screen, but HTCis all about the fact that it is supposed to adhere to the NTSC standard much more than other phones out there. Inside we can find a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, 4 GB of RAM and also a microSD card slot.

The fingerprint sensor seems to work pretty well so far. The process is just as easy as with any other modern Android smartphone. Simply hold your finger over the particular area – the phone will then wake itself and unlock.

The HTC10 carries a 3,000 mAh battery, which is currently the standard for handsets with a good capacity. We can speculate it will last at least a full day, but don’t take our word on that just yet. We will save that for the full review. HTCdoes state about 30 minutes of quick charging (QC 3.0) could grant a full day of battery life, though.

HTC is known for its media consumption capabilities, which means audio couldn’t be left out of the equation. This phone carries a DAC and a headphone amp, which means it should provide one of the best audio experiences out there. More details in our upcoming review.

Camera

Let’s be honest… cameras haven’t quite been HTC’s strength. This time around the UltraPixel camera returns with a 12 MP sensor that should let in more light than traditional phone cameras, thanks to the 1.55-micron pixel size. Laser auto focus and OIS are also included, amping up this f/1.8 aperture package.

There is no lack of options in the camera settings. In fact, there is a ‘Pro Manual’ mode that will help photo buffs set up everything for the right shot. The HTC10 also enjoys 4K video recording, as well as hi-res audio recording.

The front camera is not bad either. It boasts 5 MP and an f/1.8 aperture, with a slightly wider field of view for better selfies. But what I really love about this front-facing camera is that it actually has optical image stabilization. This is not something we see in smartphone front cameras.

Software

Let’s talk software. We do see HTCSense returning here, with the regular home screens and an app drawer (just in case you were worried it was gone). Of course, BlinkFeed is also still around.

HTC has made it a point to work with Google to try and consolidate its apps with the search giant’s. Where there was once duplicates, there may now be just one application. For example, the HTC10 comes pre-loaded with Google Photos, as opposed to having its own gallery app in there.

We can find other software additions like Boost Plus (a memory and battery manager) and an enhanced theming engine, but those are things we will leave out for the full review.

Gallery

Price and conclusion

Want to sign up? The HTC10 is available for pre-orders today (April 12th) and should be shipping in early May. As for the price, the unlocked edition will cost $699. It will come in silver and grey.

Our review is coming pretty soon, so keep it tuned to Android Authority if you are still on the fence. We will give you our full thoughts as soon as we finish putting the HTC10 through its paces.