The Power of 10: HTC 10 Review

I’ve always prided myself on doing smartphone reviews that highlight only features that I think noobies might find interesting or useful. In other words, I try not to burden my readers with the details of what type of processor the phone has or the fact that the battery lasts 10 minutes longer than another phone. Now, if the battery lasts 4 hours longer, that’s a different story!

So in this spirit of keeping with smartphone review philosophy, here are the highlights of the HTC 10 smartphone.

Hi-Res sound

HTC has long tried to separate their smartphones from the other by offering better sound. The HTC 10 is no different. It features “BoomSound” and has a dedicated amplifier for each of its speakers.

When I listened to the sound on the phone, however, I didn’t really hear any noticeable difference. Thinking it might be just me, I decided to do a little test. I pulled up the same YouTube video on both the HTC 10 and my Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. Then I invited my son and my wife into my office for a little blind audio test.

Both my son and my wife thought the YouTube video sounded better on my Galaxy S6. In fairness, I mentioned this to a Verizon employee and he said that the HTC 10 excels better with true music apps like Spotify and not ultra-compressed videos on YouTube. He also mentioned it sounds great with a good pair of headphones.

Dual laser focus camera

As you would expect with any new smartphone, the HTC 10’s camera has improved. It now uses dual lasers for an ultra-fast focus and has optical image stabilization on both the front and rear cameras. You won’t have to worry about taking a bad photo with the HTC 10.

Other little things

A few other observations about the HTC 10. I’m not sure why but they put the power and volume buttons on the same side of the phone. The result is a few accidental presses of the power button when I was trying to adjust the volume and a few accidental volume adjustments when I was trying to press the power button. I’m guessing you would probably get used to it after a while but I still prefer the power and volume buttons be on opposite sides (or at least different sides) of the phone.

The HTC 10 uses a USB-C type connector which is both a blessing and a curse. The blessing is that it doesn’t matter which side is up when you plug the charging cable into the phone. The curse is that none of your existing USB cables will work with the HTC 10 without some sort of adapter.

The HTC logo now appears on the back of the phone instead of on the front bottom panel. This clears up some room for the screen and the navigation buttons along the bottom.

If you just have to know…

So that’s everything I have to offer on my review on the HTC 10. If you are still craving all of the minute details and specs of the HTC, I found this rather lengthy video from Android Authority that will satisfy your every need.

If you can not see the embedded video above please use the following link: HTC 10 Review!

Recommendation

Overall, I did like the HTC 10. And I still stand by the fact that it’s hard to go wrong with any top company’s flagship smartphone. That being said, I’m still partial to the Samsung Galaxy S7 over the HTC 10.

Note: The HTC 10 in this review was provided to me by Verizon Wireless and can be purchased at your local Verizon Wireless store or at www.verizonwireless.com.