- [Michael] It's one of the most tired
cliches of the tech world.
This year's phone is what last year's
phone should have been.
But as worn out as it is,
seldom has a trope fit quite as well.
This year's HTC flagship is head and shoulders
above last year's tepid offering.
So why isn't helping this company?
I'm Michael Fisher and this is the
Mr. Mobile review of the best Android
you're not buying.
The HTC 10.
(techno music)
A word about my time with the 10.
I've carried it far longer than the week
I usually spend with a review device.
In fact I've been using since just after
its release in May.
Over a month before the first ever
Mr. Mobile video went live.
For awhile I flirted with the idea of
splitting business and personal phones.
And the 10 was always my preferred sidekick
for getting things done.
Why?
Because for all the other things you can say about it,
the essential truth of the 10
is that it's an all around terrific
every day phone.
Part of that is specific to my line of work.
Periscope and Facebook Live and Snapchat
are how I talk to you guys behind the scenes.
And the 10's optically stabilized
front-facing camera makes it perfect
for shooting that kind of stuff.
Also you might have noticed that my reviews
usually touch on how well a phone handles
in one hand.
That's because whenever I'm out doing
something I'm usually carrying a tripod
or a bag or another device.
So I often have only one hand to spare.
The 10 strikes the perfect balance
between a screen big enough to see
what you're doing and a casing
small enough to let you manipulate
it single-handed.
And why your thumb is darting
all around the screen,
the software has no trouble keeping up.
Even after three and a half months
with 116 apps on board and
no resets to its name,
my review unit still flies.
The 10 is the phone I would recommend
to someone who doesn't give a damn
about specs or cutesy features because he
or she is too busy trying to get things done.
The 10 gets things done.
And yes,
it does have its drawbacks.
HTC to remove its trademark front-firing
speakers is understandable.
It makes room for a fingerprint sensor
among other things.
But I hate it.
Every time I fire up Netflix
and have to cup my hand around the woofer
on the bottom to make it sound right.
Every time I take a call on the speaker phone
and realize only the bottom port is actually
doing the work.
I long for yesterday's HTCs with their big
brassy grills flanking the screen.
(tinny music)
Also RAM management isn't always what
I'd expect a phone with four gigs of the stuff.
And this fingerprint scanner feels
a little pokey next to some other devices
of this generation.
But most of those are nit picks.
And they're easy to forget when I
pick up the 10 and feel that reassuring
aluminum unibody.
That lock button with its aggressive
texturing and clicky feedback.
The mass of the 3000 mAh power pack
that usually gets me through a day,
if I'm careful.
And the camera.
Well look it's still not the best one out there.
But it's also not the worst.
That sounds like a cop out until
you remember that last year's HTC camera
was one of the worst.
I used the 10 to shoot much of the
behind the scenes stuff leading up
to the Mr. Mobile launch,
and I never got one complaint about
the shooter I was using.
Let me shut up for a few seconds
so you can see for yourself.
(techno music)
On the video front there's something
worth mentioning here.
The 10 can record in four K and when
you toggle the high res audio
that sound will be recorded in FLAC format.
That means it's lossless,
basically perfect audio.
And it does sound incredible.
Sadly you'll need to take my word on that
because the resulting videos are
packaged in the MKV format,
which introduces a whole host of
complications if you want to edit those files
without compromising quality.
That's a little techier than I usually like to get,
so this is all very well explained
in a video by Jerome Ortega,
which I'll link in the description below.
Point is,
the 10 has more capabilities than
you'll probably need on the video side,
and the sound quality will amaze you.
Finally the 10 finishes strong
on the day to day details.
A micro SD card slot for all that four K video,
Quick Charge 3.0 for some of the fastest
top ups around,
clear voice calls with ample noise cancellation,
and a discreet DAC for the music lovers out there.
That stands for Digital-to-Analog Converter
and it along with the headphone amplifier
makes sounds sound better.
HTC has been okay keeping up with Android
security updates too,
and it offers a hell of a warranty package.
As you can see from my unit,
the 10 can take some pretty serious drops
on concrete without shattering,
but if you do manage to demolish that
display within the first year,
HTC will replace your phone for free.
The same deal with water damage.
So with all those thumbs up for the 10,
why don't more people seem to be buying it?
Well first,
in a word,
Galaxy.
As usual Samsung has sucked all the air
out of the room with its marketing this year
and for the first time,
it's also built a few phones that live
up to the hype.
The Galaxy S7 has wireless charging,
a brighter display,
water resistance,
and a better camera.
And it can even be had for cheaper.
That's the 10's real Achilles heel.
HTC built a great phone for 2016
but it priced it like it's still 2013.
This is the age of OnePlus,
Alcatel,
Honor,
phones with solid specs and
pretty nice reviews that you can
pick up for $400.
Do I prefer the HTC 10 to those?
Absolutely!
But the existence of those cheaper phones,
coupled with the added features of
Samsung's higher end,
are a one-two punch that's tough to get past
unless you're a die hard HTC fan.
That's a shame because it means
a lot of people out there are missing out
on owning a fantastic smart phone.
But it's also just one of many
mean realities of this ultra competitive market.
Fun fact
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videos is shown to increase happiness.
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Until next time,
thanks for watching,
and stay mobile my friends.