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HTC 10 With 5.2-inch QHD Display, Snapdragon 820 SoC, 12MP Camera Launched at $699 (theverge.com)

Posted by msmash on from the another-new-Android-flagship-smartphone dept.

Dan Seifert, writing for The Verge: HTC is today formally announcing the 10, its flagship smartphone for 2016. The HTC 10 follows last year's M9 and blends the design of the M series with the A9 that came last fall. HTC says it spent 12 months designing this phone and integrated feedback from its customers throughout the development process. The 10 has everything you might expect from a flagship Android phone in 2016. There's a 5.2-inch, quad HD Super LCD 5 display that HTC says displays 30 percent more color than last year's phone. The screen is covered in Gorilla Glass with curved edges that blend into the phone's metal frame. You'll be able to find out if that's enough for HTC to compete when the phone ships next month for $699. One interesting feature, which separates HTC 10 from many other Android flagship smartphones, is support for AirPlay. The feature enables the smartphone to stream media content to an Apple TV.

57 comments

  1. 18 Month Lifespan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The average smart phone has an 18 month lifespan. That puts the cost of having this thing at about $40/month.

    I, for one, don't think a smart phone is worth $40/month just for the privilege.

    1. Re:18 Month Lifespan by danbob999 · · Score: 0

      You can easily keep the phone for twice as long, maybe more. Other than gaming, I don't see any application requiring a new phone.
      But still, $20/month is quite high. These phones are not worth the extra $$$ over $400-500 phones such as the Nexus series.

    2. Re:18 Month Lifespan by amiga3D · · Score: 1

      You may be right but 40 bucks is less than I spend on a typical meal out with my wife. The shitty, half-ass service on the other hand is where I get fucked.

    3. Re:18 Month Lifespan by Z00L00K · · Score: 2

      And after three years the battery dies and it's impossible to replace.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    4. Re:18 Month Lifespan by rmdingler · · Score: 1

      Your wife is turned on when you yell at the waitstaff?

      --
      Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

      Ernest Hemingway

    5. Re:18 Month Lifespan by CastrTroy · · Score: 1

      Personally, I'll always go with a phone that costs less than $200. With the way they lock the phones down, there's no way to guarantee 100% that you will be getting updates 2 years down the road. And even if you are getting updates, there's no certainty that you'll even want to be on the same operating system in 2 years time.

      In the last decade, I've my phones have been running Windows phone 6, Symbian, Android 2.2/2.3, and currently Windows 8/10. When I bought my Android phone, I was sure that I'd never be on Windows phone again, but now I'm at the point where I feel the exact same way about my Windows 10 phone, and wouldn't switch back to Android.

      Things are constantly changing so fast with mobile operating systems that It's hard to say from year to year what the most appealing phone is at any time. Things are so chaotic. Android can't figure out from release to release if they are going to support even something as simple as installing an app on an SD card.

      Plus, there's always that risk that the phone will break. There are tons of unforeseen things that can happen in your life, even if you are careful with the phone.

      The last thing to think about is that the $200 phones are getting nicer every year. I really don't see the appeal of the $700 or even $400 phones at this point. They offer very little in terms of actual noticeable day-to-day performance gains. Perhaps when they get to the point of being able to plug in the phone and run full desktop applications right off the phone I'll have to reconsider. But until that point, the phone is still very limited in its functionality, and I'm only willing to spend a limited amount of money on a device that's really only used for some light web browsing, keeping up with the news, and keeping in touch with friends.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    6. Re:18 Month Lifespan by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 1

      That was my immediate reaction: barring any hidden defects, this looks like a nice piece of hardware(and not having the Nexus series' de-facto ban on microSD slots is a nice touch); but $700 buys a lot of smartphone these days; and I'm having a hard time discerning the difference between this device and the $400-$500 range, especially since any mobile CPU that the vendor hasn't brutally crippled will either kill your battery or hit its thermal limits in short order if it actually runs at full speed, so the real-world spread in CPU and GPU performance in cellphones is sharply limited by power and cooling problems. There still is a spread; since the demand for handsets that the developing world can afford has created a large market for 'the absolute cheapest crap you can run Android on', which is still pretty slow; but "Fastest chip Qualcom sells" vs. "respectable midrange Qualcom chip" is quite likely to be an invisible difference once the phone has had 30 seconds to heat up.

      Also, while the microSD slot softens the blow, why do you even make 32GB versions of a $700 phone?

    7. Re:18 Month Lifespan by Lumpy · · Score: 1

      HTC ONE M8 battery is still at 99% capacity. Friends with the M7 are still going strong.

      the problem is that HTC puts the battery in a spot that when it swells it will destroy the LCD. so at the end of life it does not just hold a charge anymore, it shatters the display.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    8. Re:18 Month Lifespan by Lumpy · · Score: 1

      Personally I avoid any crap sold by anyone other than the Google Play store that are 100% unlocked and boot loader unlocked with none of the bullshit that these manufacturers are pulling.

      My current android phone is an HTC M8 only because the One Plus X I got is a steaming pile of crap. and taught me that One Plus phones are junk. Next one will be a $600 phone from google directly that is a developer phone. the only way to freaking get a pure android and have it my property without carrier crap inserted and samsung/HTC/LG/etc trying to lock me out of it.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    9. Re:18 Month Lifespan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Personally, I'll always go with a phone that costs less than $200. With the way they lock the phones down, there's no way to guarantee 100% that you will be getting updates 2 years down the road.

      Better than that. If certain legislators in the Land of the Free get their way, any phone that you buy that doesn't meet their standards of encryption breakability are likely to get bricked by the telco, either literally (downloads self-destruct firmware update) or at least figuratively (denied access to the phone system).

    10. Re:18 Month Lifespan by varag · · Score: 1

      Good point, but the Google phones comes with non-replaceable batteries and no SD card slots.

    11. Re:18 Month Lifespan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Two features that absolutely nobody has needed for 5 years.

      This is not 2003 anymore you dont need to replace your battery constantly.

    12. Re:18 Month Lifespan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      Two features that absolutely nobody has needed for 5 years.

      This is not 2003 anymore you dont need to replace your battery constantly.

      Do you work in Mountain View or Cupertino?

    13. Re:18 Month Lifespan by CastrTroy · · Score: 2

      What about the SD Card slot? With the cameras on phones getting higher and higher resolutions every iteration for photos and videos, the included storage runs out just as quick, if not quicker than it always did.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    14. Re:18 Month Lifespan by tom17 · · Score: 1

      Still running my M7 here and it's doing great. Still fine for gaming too (I only really play Real Racing 3 on it).

      Thinking of what to get next and this HTC 10 will be on my list of options. I need to buy outright this time though as I won't be able to retain my good data plan if I get a new contract.

      And yes, I think $20/mo is worth it.

    15. Re:18 Month Lifespan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You also should begin the practice of downloading that media off the device in the event it gets lost/stolen or uploading to the cloud a la Dropbox, Google Photos, Bittorrent Sync or any other syncing solution. Additional flash memory is becoming useless. I put a 64GB card in my M8 and i haven't even used up a full 32GB of in-phone mem.

    16. Re:18 Month Lifespan by Luthair · · Score: 1

      My Nexus 4 lasted me ~39 months before I needed to replace it.

    17. Re:18 Month Lifespan by Luthair · · Score: 1

      The trouble is that $200 phones are pretty much guaranteed to be quickly abandoned by manufacturer & carrier. So while you're avoiding the upfront cost you're going through more devices causing more waste.

    18. Re:18 Month Lifespan by afidel · · Score: 2

      LOL, I need an SD slot since I carry my music and podcast collection with me rather than pay my cellular provider $$$ every month to access my own music and other information, if you could get a 128GB phone without spending an extra $200 I wouldn't need an SD slot, but in reality I consider it a required feature. As far as battery replacement, I needed to replace the battery in my 18 month old Note 4, wouldn't hold more than about 6 hours of charge and got quite warm during any activity that drew more power than web browsing indoors, $40 later for two batteries and a charger and I don't need to replace my $800 handheld computer (the same as replacing the RTC battery in desktop computers, some cheap, crappy systems had the battery welded/glued in place so once it died your computer was ewaste instead of spending a few dollars on a new battery).

      --
      There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
    19. Re:18 Month Lifespan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't know why this bullshit gets propagated. My last phone lasted 3 years until it quit working, but the battery wasn't at fault and I noticed no reduction in capacity up until the hardware itself died. I charged it nearly everyday.

    20. Re:18 Month Lifespan by danbob999 · · Score: 1

      My phone is 2.5 years old and I don't plan on replacing it (or its battery) before another 6 months.
      Although I agree that user replaceable batteries are better, I could still replace the battery in my phone if I really wanted to (but not change it quickly every day).

    21. Re:18 Month Lifespan by cmiller173 · · Score: 1

      I'm frequently in locations that have no or slow cell service (on all carriers). I want may media collection local, sure I keep it on Google Play Music and other services as well but that doesn't obviate my need to have it locally. On my LG G3 the 32GB internal memory is about 75% and the 64GB SD card is a little over 50%, because I caught up on a lot of podcasts (audio and video) while I was out of town this weekend. I might be willing to live without a changeable battery, but I really would have a hard time giving up the external SD card. Of course, if I can buy a 64GB microSD for $20, it shouldn't cost $100 more for a phone with 64GB vs. the same model with 32GB. The price difference for a 32GB chip and a 64GB chip is like $1 in 1,000 quantity, should be even a smaller margin at very large quantities. If sane prices for high memory capacity phones existed I could switch, but no-one wants to do that.

    22. Re:18 Month Lifespan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can easily keep the phone for twice as long, maybe more. Other than gaming, I don't see any application requiring a new phone.
      But still, $20/month is quite high. These phones are not worth the extra $$$ over $400-500 phones such as the Nexus series.

      I'm running a Moto G, which is $220 new, unlocked, no carrier. That's less than 10/mo, assuming a 24 month lifespan. No complaints so far.

      Even that may be overkill. Moto E's newest generation is looking pretty good, and runs about half the price of a Moto G.

    23. Re:18 Month Lifespan by CastrTroy · · Score: 1

      First, I don't buy carrier tied phones anymore. I've learned my lesson from getting carrier locked phones that never got the update when other unlocked phones did. Also, this is part of the reason that I went with Windows phone this time around. Microsoft is much more in control of the updates and you are much more likely to receive the updates, even on the $200 phones. They are very similar to Apple in this regard.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    24. Re:18 Month Lifespan by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      My M7 did experience the swelling battery syndrome, which isn't fun when it pushes out the display.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    25. Re:18 Month Lifespan by AF_Cheddar_Head · · Score: 1

      Check out the Moto G line of phones. Unlocked GSM phones for approximately $200, no carrier bloatware and Motorola is pretty good about staying current with Android. My Gen 1 Moto G is still going strong with Android 5.1

      This might change with the Lenovo buyout but for now a good deal if you don't need a flagship phone and want an unlocked phone.

    26. Re:18 Month Lifespan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your not on the cloud?

    27. Re:18 Month Lifespan by jfengel · · Score: 1

      Has there been some technology change that allows that? I've got a slightly older phone with a replaceable battery, and it needs to be replaced about once a year or so. Which is OK; they cost around ten bucks. (Forty, if I bought certified parts, but Anker makes knock-off parts that do at least as well.)

      Do the non-replaceable batteries have a different technology that allows them to last longer?

    28. Re:18 Month Lifespan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Anker batteries are castoff seconds from the big battery makers, and are why you keep replacing them.

    29. Re:18 Month Lifespan by Luthair · · Score: 1

      Funnily enough they were recently graded F - http://www.computerworld.com/a...

    30. Re:18 Month Lifespan by Luthair · · Score: 1

      We also know already that Microsoft is abandoning quite a few, even relatively recently phones for the Windows 10 upgrade.

    31. Re:18 Month Lifespan by AF_Cheddar_Head · · Score: 1

      Funnily enough they were recently graded F - http://www.computerworld.com/a...

      Interesting, also notice the carrier locked models are the problem not the unlocked models directly purchased from Motorola. This might be related to the carriers being reluctant to distribute the upgrades not Motorola's willingness to release.

      Will have to keep an eye on Lenovo.

    32. Re:18 Month Lifespan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Average is so misleading.

      I still have my HTC One (m8) from two years ago. It still gets OS updates (even through Verizon) and I'm in no hurry to replace it for another 1-2 years.

      Better quality phones cost more, and last longer.

  2. Is this the one? by Fuzi719 · · Score: 1

    I'm looking forward to testing one of these. Over the years, my primary phone has always been an HTC. I had a T-Mobile DASH (an HTC made Blackberry clone running Windows Mobile 6.x), MyTouch 3G Slide, MyTouch 4G Slide, One M7, and One M8. The M9 just wasn't a worthy phone, IMO, so I went with the LG V10. The LG phone is very nice, but I really miss how seamlessly smooth HTC's Sense UI pairs with Android. I want a new HTC, but I won't settle for second-best. I hope the 10 delivers.

    1. Re:Is this the one? by mlts · · Score: 2

      I'm definitely getting one, because the hardware is well within the pack of flagship phones, HTC allows unlocking via htcdev (and being able to load my own ROM is something that makes/breaks a device for me. No unlockable bootloader means no sale.)

      I have had very good luck with HTC phones. They are on par with everyone else, have MicroSD cards (which is quite useful for nandroid and Titanium Backup storage), have stood up to daily use quite well, and have done well for a daily workhorse device. With CyanogenMod, one can be assured of security updates, and with Nova Launcher, the UI will be similar across devices.

  3. Versus Mi5? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wanted a Xiaomi Mi5 but since that phone is still vapourware outside of mainland China, this looks like it'll do. Bit more expensive, but I'm really liking the ability to pop in a microsd card, and the camera sounds amazing.

  4. Security updates by johnsmithperson123 · · Score: 1

    They probably still don't have monthly security updates. They should make it an integrated OS feature that Google can push updates automatically on everyone. Security only, of course. But there are all these vendors trying to get you to buy phones, and if you have a malware-ridden phone you pretty much have to buy a new one.

    1. Re:Security updates by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As an HTC One M9 user, I can tell you this is not true. I have their Developer Edition phone, so it's unlocked and lacks all of the provider's bloatware. I received my update to Android within a week of my dad's Google Nexus 6P's. Those stuck with provider edition phones may have to wait for the provider, but getting it direct from the maker lags very slightly behind Google and not majorly enough to be an issue.

  5. Something else, too by fyngyrz · · Score: 1, Interesting

    From TFS:

    The 10 has everything you might expect from a flagship Android phone in 2016.

    I read TFA, and I didn't see anything about cordless charging. That is a feature I not only expect, but require from a "flagship Android phone." Without it, what I expect is that the charging connector will become unusable like it has in every non-cordless-charging phone I've owned. And which, since the advent of cordless charging, is now only a (very) bad memory.

    (delighted user of a Galaxy S7 w/cordless charging here. Thanks, Samsung.)

    --
    I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    1. Re:Something else, too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Because cordless charging doesn't work it's limited to 500ma MAX rate and is why almost all phones have abandoned it as large capacity batteries require a 1Amp or higher charge rate.

    2. Re:Something else, too by fyngyrz · · Score: 0

      Because cordless charging doesn't work

      LOL. The earth is also flat. You keep hanging on to those ideas, no doubt they'll come true due to your personal convictions, you bet.

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    3. Re:Something else, too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I tend to plug the USB cable into my phones roughly 2-5 times a day, for varying uses, and have yet to have a charging port fail on me...
      (No idea if that's a low or high amount).

      So I'm kinda curious what you do with your phones...

    4. Re:Something else, too by tom17 · · Score: 1

      I have probably plugged my HTC One M7 in about 10 times a day. No issue whatsoever with the port.

      Some people may be unnecessarily rough with their connectors though. Dunno.

      One thing I do know is that when they designed micro-usb, they did it such that the male connectors die and not the ports. This was a problem with mini-usb as ports would die rendering devices junk. I have had this failure-by-design on a few cheapie micro-usb cables so I am happy it's workign as expected.

      Maybe he meant mini-usb...

      I hope usb-c will be turn out to be more resilient, however.

    5. Re:Something else, too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're the problem that OP describes. 1 month old phone that costs $700.

      I bet you don't even need it... all of what you do you could do on 3 year old Moto G that costed $200 on release.

    6. Re:Something else, too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's bizarre to even say, since brand new phones (like all new Samsung phones as far as I know) include QI wireless charging. I use a wireless charger for my Note 5 and its really nice and very convenient. They even have a rapid charge wireless standard that my Note 5 supports (http://www.androidcentral.com/quick-look-samsung-fast-charge-qi-wireless-charging-pad).

    7. Re:Something else, too by Krojack · · Score: 1

      I got the Nexus 6P and the USB-C port feels much more solid than all the old micro USB ports on every device I have ever owner. Wireless would be handy in the N6P but I'm ok without it.

    8. Re:Something else, too by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      So long as HTC loves aluminum casings, wireless charging is not going to be available on those phones.

      Design choices. HTC should be making some.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    9. Re:Something else, too by fyngyrz · · Score: 1

      You would lose that bet handily.

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
  6. What the fuck? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What benefit am i going to get from a phone that costs as much as a computer or two consoles?
    Higher framerate in mobile games?
    I'm better off spending $200 on a smartphone and the rest on a proper camera or console, to complement the only 2 things i can think of that are justification for such a phone price.

    1. Re:What the fuck? by tom17 · · Score: 1

      Now put that camera and console in your pocket. Also, now play games on the console while you are bored, sitting on a train.

    2. Re:What the fuck? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That console has a proper controller, and a proper screen attached to it via cables.
      Unless you trains come with console controllers and screens of proper size on every seat that doesn't require focusing your eyes to the point of pain;
      your comment is redundant. If you made the same argument for a tablet of proper size however, then i wouldn't question you (though you'd still have to carry around a controller for it).

    3. Re:What the fuck? by rsborg · · Score: 1

      That console has a proper controller, and a proper screen attached to it via cables.

      In other words you're comparing apples to oranges.
      Why holy shit, I could've bought 100 Big Macs instead of that console. What is more nutritious, your console with the proper controller, or 100 Big Macs...?

      --
      Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
  7. Looks a bit iPhone-y, and not very robust by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's hard to tell from the video review, as they never seem to show the phone from that angle, but from the text it seems that the screen protrudes beyond the metal rim, and curves in at the edges, which on every phone I've ever seen like that, is a giant screaming alarm bell that says:

    "You will smash this screen within 6 months"

    I've had an M7 and and M8, and dropped them on a wide variety of different surfaces, and in a wide variety of different ways, from different heights, and screen is still pristine.

    I've shattered several Samsungs under similar treatment.

    So looks like a step back for me.

    (And also looks a bit too iPhone-y).

  8. Can you... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... run Sailfish on that?

  9. Not likely by rickb928 · · Score: 1

    I've had HTC phones for >10 years; G1, Sensation 4G, M7, M8. I see nothing fascinating about the M10.

    Much more interesting to try a Nexus, and I may even buy a Nexus 5 just to try it out. Craigslist is full of them, and cheap.

    The M10 is evolutionary, but I need recommendations on superthin covers/cases to protect the edges. My M8 looks and feels terrible. I drop it. Sue me.

    --
    deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
  10. DxOMark by Stingray454 · · Score: 1

    Worth noting is that is scored 88 in DxOMark, which puts it in a split first position together with Samsung Galaxy S7. Seems they really delivered on the camera: http://www.dxomark.com/Mobiles