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Score: 8.5/10
Verdict: This is HTC’s best phone yet but it lacks that little bit extra that would turn it into an essential purchase.
ONE OF THE last companies to reveal their flagship phone, HTC’s decision to announce its latest phone when things are quiet wasn’t a bad idea. With its smartphone sales plummeting in recent times, it needs a hit and all the attention it can get if it wants to reverse its fall.
That phone is the HTC 10 and it’s learnt many lessons from its last few attempts. But in a market where the standard is incredibly high, it needs to pull out all the stops to be noticed.
The best of both worlds
As mentioned in our preview, HTC 10 has taken inspiration from last year’s M9 and the iPhone-like A9. This focuses more on refinement than revolution.
The front is mostly the A9 with fingerprint scanner being the main home button and the back and recents placed beside them and the Boomsound front facing speakers replaced with one at the bottom and one at the top front.
The back follows the design choices of the M range and still feels as comfortable and sleek to hold. It’s also incredibly shiny too thanks to the many subtle curves at the back.
You can’t fault HTC’s design quality and its ability to craft a phone is still one of its main strengths.
Removing bloatware
When it was announced, one of key features was the lack of bloatware on the phone. This can feel a little strange when you boot up the phone and find a home screen with nothing on it save the app tray and the Google Docs and Notes app at the bottom.
Yet that’s one of its strongest features. The decision to use Google Photos as the primary photos app and use HTC’s camera app works, giving you the best of both worlds.
This is the closest you can get to a stock Android phone without buying a Nexus, and how HTC/Google partnership gives you less reason to search for alternative apps.
In some ways, it’s a better phone stock Android phone than Google’s own efforts.
Hitting the right notes
Overall, performance is fantastic and pretty much on par with Samsung’s Galaxy S7. No lag, instant access when cycling through apps and no real instances of it heating up through use.
The battery life is decent, if not great – HTC promises two days but you’ll really get a day through normal use, and another 12 hours if you play it safe.
The sound quality is also pretty good thanks to the inclusion of personal sound profiles. Creating one is easy to do, and the deeper sound it creates does help improve the music you’re listening to (On a related note, the bundled earbuds are some of the better ones out there).
The traditional front-facing speakers may be gone but it still manages to deliver good sound quality, even if it’s a little heavy on the base.
Consistency
While it wasn’t an area HTC focused on massively with its promotion, the camera is one of its best so far. It’s not quite on par with the Galaxy S7 but it’s consistent in quality.
Photos tend to be similar to the iPhone in that they opt for natural colours instead of vibrancy, something that can lead to slightly darker photos than normal.
Low-light situations show decent results although it takes a little longer than other flagships to focus properly. This is still a very short period to wait but after being used to other rival phones booting up instantly, it certainly more noticeable.
The other thing is the lack of a good quick launch option. Instead of double pressing the power button for the Nexus range, HTC opted for a double swipe down while the phone is locked. It’s different, but it’s an unnecessary hindrance.
Should you buy it?
While it’s a fantastic phone, the biggest criticism you could give it is it doesn’t have a definable selling point. It delivers in a number of areas including sound, performance and camera, but for the average person, they’re not quantifiable.
An amazing camera, long battery life, or easy software are things that people can get behind but there’s not one main feature you could say stands out. If you’re saying why you should buy the HTC 10, the answer is “because it’s a great all-rounder”.
There is a place for the HTC 10 and you most certainly won’t be disappointed using one, but in a world full of great phones, that one thing could end up hindering it. And if it does, that would be a real pity.
Pros
- Lean version of Android works in its favour.
- Performance and hardware is top-notch.
- Consistent and accessible camera.
- Sound quality is great.
Cons
- Battery is decent, but not great.
- Camera focus can take longer than expected to focus.
- Lack of convenient quick launch method for camera.
The HTC 10 will cost €699 unlocked and will be available in Three from 5th May.
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Some good news for a change..
FARCing great news.
“Obama vowed continuing support for Colombia, a key ally in the US war on drugs.”
Really Mr. Obama? Maybe have a look at your own security agencies who are up to their bloody elbows in the drugs business in Columbia and many other countries for over 70 years:
“The litany of this is a long one, with the OSS (the predecessor of the CIA) forming a strategic alliance with the Sicilian and Corsican mafia after World War II to prevent possible communist uprisings in Europe and to smash left-wing unions; the CIA’s assisting the Kuomintang with its opium trafficking operations to fund their joint anti-communist efforts in Asia; the CIA’s actual trafficking of opium out of Laos, Burma and Thailand to help fund the U.S. counter-insurgency effort in South East Asia; the CIA’s support of “the chief smugglers of Afghan opium, the anti-communist Mujahedin rebels in Afghanistan” in their efforts against the pro-Soviet government in Afghanistan, leading ultimately to Afghanistan becoming one of the largest opium suppliers in the world (a status only briefly interrupted when it was under Taliban control); and the Reagan Administration’s funding the Nicaraguan Contras (after such funding was outlawed by Congress) by, among other things, cocaine smuggling operations.
The book quotes the United Nations Drug Control Program (UNDCP) which concludes that, today, “the biggest heroin and cocaine trading institutions in the world are the militaries of Burma, Pakistan, Mexico, Peru and Colombia – ‘all armed and trained by U.S. military intelligence in the name of anti-drug efforts.’” In the case of Colombia, while the U.S., to justify its massive counterinsurgency program, vilifies the FARC guerillas as “narco-terrorists,” this title is more befitting of the Colombian state and its paramilitary allies.”
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/02/16/the-u-s-war-for-drugs-of-terror-in-colombia/
Good news all the same though Wally.
Good copy/paste job Billy. Wouldn’t call counterpunch a credible source though.
Can you identify anything incorrect in the article Tadhg?
The first rule of confirmation bias – go after the source
Billy, I can see something incorrect! – YOU!!
So no dispute as to the content of the article then Tadhg? Maybe you’d prefer the Nation Security Archive blow which also outlines the U.S involvement in drug trafficking:
“This electronic briefing book is compiled from declassified documents obtained by the National Security Archive, including the notebooks kept by NSC aide and Iran-contra figure Oliver North, electronic mail messages written by high-ranking Reagan administration officials, memos detailing the contra war effort, and FBI and DEA reports. The documents demonstrate official knowledge of drug operations, and collaboration with and protection of known drug traffickers. Court and hearing transcripts are also included.”
Evidently Ronald hadn’t heard about his wife Nancy’s “Just Say No” to drugs mass media campaign during the 80s.
@ Billy Mooney : North and South Korea are still technically at war, as they only signed an armistice, not a peace treaty. So that’s a longer war than the Farc one.
I won’t quibble with you over inconsequential technicalities Niall. When I asked Tadhg if there was anything incorrect in the article I was referring to the linked counterpunch piece.
@ Billy Mooney: no problemo. I was referring to the Journal’s abysmal record of exaggeration, lousy sub-editing, or simply getting things wrong.
This seems like great news, but in reality its a Trojan horse. The Farc were established as a Communist movement, they formed the guerrilla because Colombians voted in favour of Democracy and the Communist candidates never got enough votes. They were more popular in Rural Colombia, but still not popular enough to win an election. So what do you do when you are a stubborn Communist who always looses an election? Form a Guerrilla. These people are murderers, kidnappers, drug dealers. All with the pretexts of founding “the cause” Colombia gained the fame they have is thanks to Guerrillas, they enabled drug cartels. They made travelling by land impossible, because they would engage in kidnappings even having their own checkpoints in the roads, they had total control of rural Colombia and their roads. People up to date travel mostly by air within Colombia not to get kidnapped.
Many of the people who ruined Venezuela with Chavez and Maduro are Ex-Guerrilla members. They had the most senior positions in cabinet.
What will happen in Colombia its a What happened in Venezuela, but on Steroids. These assassins will now be free and be able to run for office and fool the vulnerable poor population with false promises just like Chavez did in the 1990s, Chavez even said that “He hates Socialism, he is pro free market and these Marxists ideas are outdated” And people bought it.
Don;t get me wrong, I am anti savage capitalism and anti oligarchy, this is the other extreme. But I dare any die hard leftists Marxists pro Cuba, Pro venezuela, Pro Communism to have the b.alls to come here and defend Farcs action, to defend Communism, Cuba and Venezuela without even been there for themselves. I dare someone who has been in in these places and say that Communism is the answer.
Ok Uribe.
Very good analysis Juan. You seem to know what you’re talking about.
FARC didn’t start this conflict, the army’s attacks on civilians did.
Colombia wasn’t a democracy- it was an oligarchy where only two parties could run for office until the early 90s. It was a ‘perfect dictatorship’ like Mexico, in the hands of an elite.
What happened every time FARC tried to demobilize? It’s members were assasinated. Google the genocide of the Union Patriotica.
Worried that poor people will vote for FARC? That speaks volumes about the country- the poor are so oppressed that they might vote for the hated guerrilla over the mainstream parties.
I’m no supporter of FARC but people need to stop acting as though they’re solely responsible for the war.
The United Nations are actually doing something useful! I need to lie down.
That’s good news ☮
Fantastic news for the SF bird watching society. They can now watch some birds in Colombia without coming under undue suspicion.
Congratulations to Eamon Gilmore as well.
What about the punishment for using child soldiers by farc.
Usually govt propaganda, helps to deprive your opponents of legitimacy
The army force poor Colombians who can’t bribe their way out to fight on the frontline. FARC aren’t alone in forced recruitment.
No more Sinn Fein/ IRA training trips. Whatever will they do with their free time?
All cause of the banana war started by the US and EU
http://www.triplepundit.com/2015/01/bananas-colombian-civil-war-u-s-supreme-court/
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