



HTC shook things up quite a bit yesterday, with the announcement of the Bolt. The handset has already been compared by many to the Pixel XL , minus the Google branding and it is hard to deny there are quite a few similarities.

It is still early to judge properly on the merits of the 5.5-inch QHD smartphone, especially considering it does utilize the slightly outdated Snapdragon 810 SoC, plus 3GB of RAM. But even despite that, the all-metal handset has already managed to grab more than a few gazes with attention to details like the added IP57 dust and waterproofing, 3x20MHz carrier aggregation of the X10 modem, promising 16MP main snapper and 24-bit Hi-Res audio, USB Type-C headphones included in the box.





That being said, US fans are already lucky enough and can pick up the HTC Bolt today. It is currently a Sprint exclusive for a $25/month fee, but can also be purchased off-contract for $600 at Best Buy, The Radio Shack and Costco. As for international availability, it is still early to say, but an HTC representative already made it clear that the HTC Bold won't be coming to Canada. At least in the same form, that is:





"..the HTC Bolt is a Sprint exclusive device and will only be available in U.S. It won't be available in Canada."







But if you really have your heart set on the new HTC device and currently reside outside the US, you might want to hold off going through the trouble to import it, at least a little bit longer. There is still the distinct possibility that the HTC Bolt will see an international release pretty soon as well, just not under the same name.











Reputable leakster Evan Blass, already hinted at the HTC 10 evo moniker a few weeks back. Come to think of it, the resemblance is definitely there. Plus, such a move would theoretically allow HTC to skip on Usain Bolt's involvement in further marketing. We can't imagine its particularly cheap to have the fastest man alive front and center in an ad campaign, which is precisely what HTC and Sprint are currently doing in the US.



