Reports of HTC's death have been greatly exaggerated. Well, somewhat exaggerated. The Taiwanese smartphone maker, once a market leader, has fallen on hard times of late. Until a few months ago, I wasn't sure we'd see them release another phone in Australia. HTC's last big splash was 2014's HTC One, a beautiful device in almost every way, let down by a terrible and gimmicky camera. Will the HTC 10 be enough to resurrect the company? Sadly, I don't think so.

Like a Volvo, the HTC 10 feels sturdy, classy even, but a little boring and boxy. The clean unibody design was unique to Android in 2014, but since then the competition has caught up. In 2014, Samsung's flagship looked like a tacky plastic band aid, but today the Galaxy S7 Edge is the most beautiful phone in stores. Sony's design has improved too, the Xperia line-up has all the class of HTC, in a thinner, more beautiful shell. Even midrange phones from little known manufacturers are sleek slabs of polished metal, even if their designs feel a little familiar at times.

HTC's new model is good, but is it good enough?

And that is HTC's biggest hurdle with the 10. There is nothing wrong with the device, but there's nothing that makes it stand out, either. I'm not sure how this phone is meant to compete against the massive marketing weight of Apple and Samsung.

Along with beautiful hardware, HTC once differentiated itself by making incredible, classy software. HTC's Sense UI was known for it's light touch on Android, cleaning up the look of notifications and built-in apps, and adding just a few flourishes like Blinkfeed.