PHONE ROUND -UP
it’s the flagsh ip smartpho ne that htc has go ne all-out to des ign, but does it live up to the hype?
T3 takes a closer look at the HTC 10, the Huawei P9 and the LG G5
The HTC One M8 was a great phone, but its successor – the M9 – was a disappointment in comparison, lacking any real innovation. Well, phone fans, there’s good news: the HTC 10 is here and it’s very good.
HTC says the 10 has been tuned to be more responsive to the touch, compared to its current competition, giving it a much lower latency in use. This isn’t surprising, given the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset and plentiful RAM inside.
The phone’s screen has also been upgraded, with an LCD 5 and a QHD pixel count, giving you 564 pixels per inch. However, it doesn’t scream ‘ultimate sharpness’, at least when compared, for example, to the Super AMOLED in the Samsung Galaxy S7.
Surprisingly, the HTC 10’s camera gets a megapixel cut – it’s just 12MP, compared to the M9’s 20MP. And there’s also 4:3 aspect ratio to keep any photography enthusiasts happy. While it may seem as though HTC is diddling its customers, these changes actually work to improve things, adding up to faster snapping, better image processing and improved low-light capabilities. Better still is the built-in optical image stabilisation (OIS) on the front and back cameras, for clearer selfies.
Want the option to take RAW photos? The 10 delivers with its Pro mode. This phone is capable of recording in 4K with 24-bit sound, and it can remove distortion and create professional-grade videos whatever you’re filming.
Video aside, the camera results are a bit mixed – generally they’re good, with the aforementioned ability to snap RAW images giving pictures extra detail over JPEG, but low-light snaps aren’t that great, especially if there’s any movement. Again, it’s certainly not in the same league as the Samsung Galaxy S7.
The other area HTC has put major effort into is the audio. The speakers have been upgraded, delivering marginally improved sound, at least when playing games. The real goodness can be found in the combination of Hi-Res Audio certification and bundled Hi-Res Audio headphones, giving you superlative sound output from the get-go, whether it’s premium-grade 24-bit files or low-rate Spotify.
The HTC 10 has a huge 3,000mAh battery pack – about the same as the Galaxy S7 – with stellar standby life and decent results in use, lagging only fractionally behind the S7 in testing. The USB Type C connection and Quick Charge 3.0 combo offer speedy battery recuperation.
The interface is cleaner than ever, with any pointless duplicate apps removed. You’ll also come across some nice customisation options within, the key one being Freestyle layouts, which help you create a desktop-style screen with icons wherever you like.
While its looks might not be iconic, and some might find that, at 161g, it’s a touch hefty, there’s no doubting that the HTC 10 is both smart and superbly crafted.