HTC 10 officially announced - everything you need to know

In the smartphone world, HTC’s bread and butter has always been design. The One M7 is widely considered to be one of the most attractive smartphones to date, and the company even managed to improve on that design language with its 2014 flagship, the One M8. Then with the One M9 in 2015, many consumers were torn. With poor battery life, a lackluster camera experience and a design that failed to turn the heads of most, the One M9 was a good phone, but it wasn’t great. Now the company is hoping to bounce back with its new flagship, the HTC 10.

There’s been no shortage of rumors surrounding this handset over the past few months, and today we’re excited to take a look and see what it has to offer. Without further delay, here’s what you need to know about the HTC10.

HTC 10 specifications

The HTC10 is a flagship on the spec sheet through and through. It has a 5.2-inch Super LCD 5 display with curved-edge Gorilla Glass, and a resolution of 2560 x 1440. That’s right folks, HTC has finally brought us a flagship smartphone with a Quad HD resolution! While just about every major OEM adopted these higher resolution panels back in 2015, HTCforwent that decision and instead included a Full HD screen on the M9. Aside from the bump up in resolution, HTCsays the 10’s display is 30% more colorful and 50% more responsive to touch than its predecessor, so this should be more than enough of an upgrade for users who weren’t impressed by the M9.

HTC has always included top-of-the-line processors in their flagships, and the 10 is no different. Under the hood it sports a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor clocked at 2.2GHz, backed by a massive 4GB of RAM. It also comes in both 32 and 64GB variants, and you’ll be able to throw in a microSD card (up to 2TB in size) if you need more storage space.

Under the display sits a capacitive home button, much like the one found on the One A9. This home button doubles as a fingerprint sensor, and HTC says it will be able to “recognize your finger from almost any angle.” We really enjoyed the fingerprint reader on the One A9, so we’re hoping this one works in a similar fashion.

Moving around back, you’ll find a rear-facing 12MP UltraPixel 2 camera sensor, complete with laser autofocus, a 1.55µm pixel size, optical image stabilization (OIS), and an f/1.8 aperture. All in all, this seems like a major step up from what HTCoffered on the One M9. The camera will be able to launch in as little as .6 seconds, and the second-generation laser autofocus implementation will allow the camera to focus much faster. Of course, we’ll need to wait until our full review to give you our complete thoughts on the camera, but we’re happy to say things are looking promising.

The HTC10 sports a 5MP front-facing “UltraSelfie” camera as well, with a pixel size of 1.34µm, OIS and an f/1.8 aperture. The front camera comes with a wide-angle lens and screen flash, so this should be more than good enough for your selfie taking needs.

This handset comes with a non-removable 3,000mAh battery, which is a nice bump up from the 2,840mAh cell on the M9. While it doesn’t support wireless charging, you’ll be able to charge up the device in no time at all — it comes with support for Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0 and can reach a 50% charge in only 30 minutes. As you’ve likely noticed in the spec sheet, HTC’s flagship also makes the move over to USB Type-C for charging.

HTC 10 design, software and features

The HTC10 isn’t too much of a departure from the One M9, though there are a few things we should note. It’s still mostly made of aluminum, though the 10 does sport some beautiful chamfered edges that surround the entirety of the phone’s chassis. The front is also completely covered in glass this time around, which helps make for a more seamless look.

This device is also certified for Hi-Res audio. It comes with a headphone amp that will deliver two times the power of a conventional headphone amp, and the ability to upscale from 16-bit to 24-bit audio, which will certainly make audiophiles happy. HTChas also included a new Personal Audio Profile system that will let you create unique profiles that will dynamically adjust specific sound frequencies to each ear. The 10 comes with re-engineered BoomSound Hi-Fi edition speakers that feature a separated tweeter and woofer design. The speaker on the front (above the display) is simply a standard speaker, while the second speaker, located on the bottom next to the USB Type-C port, acts as the subwoofer, making for a fuller, richer sound experience overall.

On the software front, the 10 comes with Android 6.0 Marshmallow with HTCSense. HTChas reduced the number of pre-loaded applications this time around, so you should notice a lot less bloatware on the device (at least on HTC’s part). One of the biggest changes with the user interface is the addition of the new Freestyle Layout mode. When you select this option, you no longer have to use the on-screen grid that dictates where you put your apps and widgets. You can layer them, group them, and even add stickers to make the experience a little more fun.

HTC is also including a new Boost+ app on the 10. This app is designed to help make your phone faster, consume less power and provide additional app management features. Boost+ includes a mode called smart boost, which automatically optimizes your device’s memory, a game battery booster that will help conserve battery during gameplay, and a new PowerBotics system that will auto detect and shut down apps that use excessive power. Boost+ will also let you utilize App Lock functionality, which will allow you to lock any app of your choosing.

HTC 10 pricing and availability

Depending on which market you’re in, the HTC 10 will be available in two variants with different Qualcomm Snapdragon processors. One variant will come with the Snapdragon 820 CPU, while the other version is unspecified. HTCsays both versions will come with the same design, audio, camera and display, as well as “similar software experiences and battery life.” We’ll be sure to let you know what changes are being made as soon as we get the details.

The HTC10 will be available sometime in April in Carbon Grey, Glacier Silver and Topaz Gold color options. Pricing and exact availability is to be determined.

I know you folks are ready to tell us your thoughts on the HTC10, so head to the comment section below and let us know what you think! Be sure to also check out some of our other great HTCcontent:

• HTC 10 hands on