The HTC One M10 may very well become the HTC 10, as we told you yesterday, with renown leaksters now using the new name (HTC 10) as the new social media hashtag surrounding the phone instead of the old HTC One M10 moniker. Now, we’re back to provide a look at what you can expect from the HTC 10, HTC’s upcoming high-end flagship. To that end, we’ll dive into some of the peripheral information first, then jump into photos and intricate details about the device.
HTC 10 Specs
The HTC 10 prototype (the first phone of the new model) has a 5.15-inch Quad HD display with a 2,560 x 1,440p screen resolution, an octa-core Snapdragon 820 processor, Adreno 530 GPU, 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM, a 12MP back camera, and features USB Type-C charging, according to @OnLeaks. These are only the specs for the prototype, the first HTC 10 in existence, mind you. As of now, we can’t assume that these specs will remain by the time the HTC 10 is mass-produced and ready for primetime — so take these specs lightly, for now, that is, until we get closer to the unveiling.
HTC 10 Performance
There’s very little we can say about this now, particularly because we don’t have a given battery size for the HTC 10, but we do know about how the device scores in benchmark scoring. Now, some view benchmarks as nothing more than hypothetical numbers, but smartphone benchmarks are akin to medical stress tests: in the same way that a medical stress test can reveal an approximate condition of a person’s heart (the physical, that is), benchmark tests reveal the maximum potential of a device. While these tests do not reflect day-to-day experiences for many, they are important because they indicate what “could” be the case when a device has all the optimal factors in place.
From the looks of it, the HTC 10 looks to be a beast of a smartphone. Recent AnTuTu benchmark scoring shows the HTC 10 registering at over 100,000 points — at 109,936 points to be exact. The HTC 10 beats out Samsung’s own homegrown, Exynos-powered version of the Galaxy S7 (105,000 points on AnTuTu), but it fails miserably when stacked up against the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820-powered version of the Galaxy S7: the HTC 10 scores 109,936 points while the Snapdragon 820 Galaxy S7 scores 125,288 points at AnTuTu. The Snapdragon 820 helps both the HTC 10 and the Galaxy S7 perform well, but Samsung’s is still quite a ways ahead of the new HTC flagship.
HTC 10 will feature BoomSound
You remember BoomSound, right? It’s the trademark audio experience that made the HTC One M7 a phone to beat all other phones when released 3 years ago. While most consumers don’t seem to mind that their devices don’t feature BoomSound, diehard HTC fans have come to appreciate the feature and won’t buy a device without it.
According to some leaked photos, the HTC 10 will not have front-facing speakers, leading many to conclude that it wouldn’t have BoomSound — but these individuals couldn’t be more wrong. The HTC 10 will still feature BoomSound, according to a leaked photo from @OnLeaks. So, perhaps it is the case that front-facing speakers will be non-existent with HTC; however, that doesn’t mean audio quality will be affected. How HTC will implement its top-notch audio with non-front-facing speakers, however, is anyone’s guess.
HTC 10 in Photos
The HTC 10 isn’t out yet, as the rumors clearly demonstrate, but there are a few photos making their way around the blogosphere. We’ve got a few for your eyes, though, and we’re sure to see more leak as the time continues to progress until HTC provides a formal announcement invitation and set a date.
The latest HTC 10 photos show that the device looks similar to past HTC One M and Desire devices, but comes in two colors (light silver and a dark gray, so far). HTC intends to place a fingerprint sensor-embedded home button on the HTC 10 this year, leading some to view this as the worst design decision the company could make. Ultimately, though, HTC is trying to make a design decision that’s intuitive for a number of smartphone users. Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy customers, for example, rely on a physical home touch button for their fingerprint authentication, so it makes sense to go with this design choice. Yes, Google’s Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X, not to mention the LG G5, go with a back-cover fingerprint sensor (matching LG’s decision to use a volume rocker on the G2 three years ago), but most consumers view a home button on the front of the device as the way to go.
More on the HTC 10 home button
The HTC 10 home button isn’t a touch button, though. It doesn’t appear to be quite like the Samsung Galaxy home button users have grown accustomed to. Instead, it looks more like the OnePlus 2 home button: more of a capacitive sensor that seems “built-in” and physical but doesn’t work like you’d expect hardware buttons to. So, with that said, HTC may go for more of a capacitive sensor instead of a physical home button. The HTC 10 may look like a Samsung Galaxy device on the front, but the home button may be slightly different. When you consider the capacitive touch buttons to the left and right of the home button, this setup makes more sense for HTC.
HTC 10 speaker
There will be only one speaker, as pictures of the dark gray (or somewhat black) version of the HTC 10 shows, with the Samsung-like home button right where Samsung places its own home buttons.
HTC Back Camera and Flash
The HTC back camera and flash have some differences in design. Whereas HTC has always used a square back camera, the new HTC 10 camera will have a round, circular shape, and the flash will have more of a slimmer and more “squa-rectangle” look (square and rectangle combined).
HTC 10 to feature USB Type-C charging
In line with the Huawei/Google Nexus 6P, LG/Google Nexus 5X, and OnePlus 2, the HTC 10 will feature USB Type-C charging. Due to the newness of USB Type-C charging, however, HTC may have to either make a USB-C charger of its own or rely on Google’s own USB-C cables at the Google Store for help. Samsung has decided not to bring USB-C to the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, and there’s good precedent to hold off until the time is right (and ripe).
Conclusion
This is all of the news surrounding the HTC 10 that we have for now. We’ll continue to keep an eye out for what you can expect from this 2016 flagship, but the HTC 10, codenamed “Perfume,” is shaping up to be a pretty “sweet” device. What do you think? Are you prepared to give HTC another chance to impress you? While making your decision, you can view the photo gallery below.
