Introducing the HTC 10. After a good many leaked photos, the company has officially launched its newest and best smartphone. HTC (which stands for High Tech Computer) has wrapped the mobile in an all-metal body, with some serious chamfering on the back.
In a word, the new phone is streamlined to its very core. Even the name has been cut down, with HTC removing the confusing ‘M’ designation in favour of 10.
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The phone – which will cost AED2,399 when it’s available on May 1 – comes in either gold, silver and dark grey. All three versions have a 5.2in QHD-resolution LCD screen on the front, a fingerprint sensor, touch-sensitive buttons (for the first time) and a speedy Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 CPU.
HTC has always championed its quality cameras, and the 10 is no different. You get optical image stabilisation on the front and back, making for better low-light photos and action shots. There’s a 12MP ultrapixel sensor on the back, along with dual LED flash and a laser autofocus system. The front-facing ‘selfie-cam’ is 5MP.
What’s an ultrapixel?
HTC doesn’t talk in anything as generic as megapixels. Instead, it has developed ultrapixels, which are bigger than regular pixels. The increase in size allows each pixel to capture more light, which, as the theory goes, should translate to better images.
There is a USB Type-C port along the bottom of the phone, along with a 3000mAh battery on the inside (to compare, the iPhone 6s has a 1715mAh battery). Thanks to Qualcomm’s QuickCharge technology, it will refuel faster too – the phone is slated to go from zero to fifty per cent battery life in just 30-minutes.
A fan favourite feature is back with the return of a microSD card slot (letting you boost the phone’s 32GB internal memory up to a whopping 2-Terabytes). The phone also comes packed with a pair of noise cancelling earphones.
HTC worked closely with Google to develop the software for the 10. It runs one of the most vanilla Android Marshmallow skins available, meaning it works more like Google’s stock operating system with none of the ‘bloatware’ applications that some phone manufacturers force upon users.
Surprisingly, it seems HTC even had secret meetings with Apple. The HTC 10 is the first Android phone to be officially compatible with Apple’s Airplay wireless streaming service, which makes flinging tunes around your pad something of a doddle.
The HTC 10 is a worthy successor to last year’s M9, with a vast array of improvements both on – and under – the hood. It will be available from all major retailers in the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia on May 1. The phone will reach the rest of the Gulf (including Egypt) later that same month.
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