HTC 10: My First Impressions
So I have had this phone for about a week now and I am super impressed with what HTC did with their flagship this year. The reason why I wanted to wait a week for the HTC 10 as opposed to giving you all my first impressions after a couple of days is because of the HTC M9. Last year, I liked the M9 for my first few days until I really started getting into the phone and then I realized that it was my least favorite phone of last year and probably of all time.
The HTC 10 to me, was improved in just about every way. So let's highlight a few things that I have really enjoyed about this phone so far. The first thing being the obvious beautiful design that HTC went with this year. It’s crazy different in terms of a first look but it’s actually pretty drastic when you hold it hands. The huge chamfered edges give this phone an amazing feeling in the hand and make it easily one of THE most comfortable phones I have ever held.
Quick side note, my biggest gripe with the HTC M9 was the awful power button and volume button placement. They were super close together and impossible to tell which is which. With the 10, the layout is a little further apart but pretty much the same. The best part is that the power button has a very noticeable rigid texture to it and is super easy to distinguish which button is which.
Although I did not get to have any hands-on time with the HTC A9 from last year, I was really intrigued by the design of the phone and I am glad that HTC took some of the better design elements from that phone and merged it with the 10. I really like the way the glass sort of curves over the front edges of the phone and the addition of a home button fingerprint sensor.
My only gripe with the button is that it isn't technically a physical button like the Samsung Galaxy S7 and it makes me really want that satisfying feeling of an actual button click. Good news is, the fingerprint sensor is FAR more accurate than the S7. The fingerprint sensor/home button combo reminds me of the OnePlus 2.
In 2016, the specs for a flagship device are usually always the latest and greatest so we don't need to get into them but where a phone truly makes its mark is in the software and this year's version of HTC sense is already MUCH better. HTC essentially went with the Motorola approach and kept their ROM to as close to stock Android as possible. Their additional features all lie within the settings app and can be toggled on and off whenever.
There have been rumors of HTC making this year's Nexus and at first, I wasn't really into this idea but after playing around with the HTC 10, I can definitely see HTC making an amazing Nexus phone this year if they make these phones similar in any way.
We will get into the camera and the rest of the software features in the full review and if you guys have anything else that you want to see specifically, please let me know in the comments below.