Specs at a glance: HTC 10 Screen 5.2 inch, Quad HD (2560x1440, 564 pixels per inch) Super LCD 5 with curved-edge Gorilla Glass OS Android 6 Marshmallow with HTC Sense CPU Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 (quad-core Kryo up to 2.2GHz) RAM 4GB GPU Qualcomm Adreno 530 Storage 32GB or 64GB, plus micro SD expansion Networking 802.11 Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 & 5 GHz) Ports USB 3.1 Gen1, Type-C, headphone jack Camera 12MP "Ultrapixel" rear camera with 1.55 micron pixels, OIS, laser autofocus, and f/1.8 lens. 5MP "Ultrapixel" selfie camera with OIS and f/1.8 lens. Size 145.9mm x 71.9mm x 9.0mm Weight 161g Battery 3000mAh Network Bands 2G: 850/900/1800/1900MHz, 3G: 850/900/AWS/1900/2100MHz; 850/AWS/900/2100 MHz (US), 4G: (EMEA/Asia): FDD bands B1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 12, 20, 28, 32; TDD bands B38, 40, 41 4G (USA): FDD bands B1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 12, 13, 17, 20, 28, 29, 30 Other perks Quick Charge 3.0 support, 24-bit DSP and DAC, RAW image support Price £570 / $700 / €700

HTC has taken the wraps off its latest and greatest flagship, the HTC 10 (yup, the company has dropped both the "One" and the "M"). But it isn't some grand reinvention of the smartphone—it isn't even a reinvention of an HTC smartphone. Instead, what we have here is the result of years of refinement from a company that's in sore need of a win. The HTC 10 is a phone that focuses on nailing the basics: the screen, the camera, and the battery life. And while that might not make for the most exciting of product launches, perhaps that's exactly what the company needs right now: a solid, well-designed smartphone with mainstream appeal.

Inside, there are few surprises. The HTC 10, like nearly every other 2016 flagship, sports a Snapdragon 820 SoC with 4GB of RAM and 32GB or 64GB of storage. There's an SD card slot that supports Android 6.01 Marshmallow's adoptable storage feature. There's NFC support, too. Wireless charging isn't available, but Qualcomm's Quick Charge 3.0 is, and a quick charger is bundled in the box. HTC says the charger can charge the phone's pleasingly large 3000mAh battery to 50 percent in under 30 minutes. Promised battery life is up to two days thanks in part to the larger battery and improvements like a screen that dynamically changes its refresh rate based on the kind of app that you're using.

Gimme some of that bling-bling

At first glance, there aren't many surprises on the outside either. The HTC 10 is a mashup of last year's A9—a great mid-range phone marred by a high price tag and some ropey launch software—and the likes of the M8 and M9. The front sports a large 5.2-inch 1440p display, with glass that gently curves around the side to meet the chamfered edge of the metal body. There's a large cutout for the speaker up top along with a selfie-cam and a fingerprint sensor that doubles up as a home button on the bottom. Capacitive back and multitasking buttons also make a return, lighting up when you use them. While I'm not personally a fan—I much prefer the software keys—at least the option is there if you need it.

The display is pleasingly bright, while the 564 PPI makes it suitably crisp, too. HTC even says it covers 92 percent of the NTSC colour space and is the most responsive touch screen on the market, beating even the iPhone. While I can say that it looks great and was nicely responsive in the few hours I've spent with the phone, a more critical assessment of HTC's claims will have to wait until the full Ars review.































Round the back of the HTC 10 is where things get interesting, starting with that huge, blingtastic mirrored bevelled edge that encircles the all-metal body. I really like the way it looks against the more textured satin finish on the rest of the phone, although both pick up fingerprints. Not as many fingerprints as say, the Galaxy S7 mind, but then that phone is basically a pocket mirror.

The bevelled edge also helps the phone to feel much slimmer in the hand than it actually is—at 9mm thick, the HTC 10 is on the porkier side of smartphones. Build quality is, as you'd expect from HTC, excellent, and not only does the HTC 10 feel expensive, but it also feels like it could survive a few hard drops without issue.

Front and centre is HTC's latest attempt at a smartphone camera, and for the first time, I think it might have finally nailed it. The HTC 10 is equipped with a 12MP "Ultrapixel" sensor (yes, it's back!) that features large 1.55µm pixels—that's bigger than in the recently announced Huawei P9—as well as an f/1.8 lens and 26mm focal length. There's optical image stabilisation, a dual-tone LED flash, a swift laser autofocus system, 4K video recording, and a claimed 0.6 seconds launch time for the (improved) camera app.

I've taken some pictures with the HTC 10, but thanks to a life-threatening embargo document, I'm not allowed to post them. Suffice it to say, they look good, and the camera is easily the fastest HTC has ever produced, focusing quickly and taking snaps without the slight lag present in the A9. Again, final judgement will have to wait until the review. For what it's worth, though, HTC tells us that the HTC 10 was awarded a DxOMark score of 88—the same score as the current smartphone camera champ, the Samsung Galaxy S7.

The front-facing selfie camera has got some love, too: there's a 5MP "Ultrapixel" sensor, with fairly large 1.34µm pixels and a fast f/1.8 23mm wide-angle lens. Notably, it features OIS, too, which should help keep all those fabulous Instagram selfies blur-free. The simpler camera UI is a marked improvement over HTC's previously cluttered attempts, while still offering a fully manual mode and the option to shoot in 12-bit RAW. Those RAW photos can now be viewed in Google Photos, which, in an interesting twist, is the default gallery app on the HTC 10.