HTC 10 evo first impressions: a decent package with some premium elements

“The HTC 10 Evo is a full metal body smartphone resistant to dust and splashes”

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Recently launched exclusively for the American market, the HTC Bolt was showcased in India at an event with a new moniker, viz. the HTC 10 evo. The smartphone seems like a mix of some jaw-dropping features and other standard bits. While the 10 evo will only be available in India next month, we tried our hands on it and here’s what we think.

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Crafted out of metal, the 10 evo is IP57 certified for protection against dust and water. That isn’t the only assurance of durability we got, since the build of the device felt pretty solid. It did feel chunky in the hands and slightly heavy as well, but the weight only added to the grip, as did the matte finish and chamfered edges on the phone. The HTC 10 evo looks understated yet stylish. The only qualm we had with the design was smudges and the fingerprints that the phone kept collecting.

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While most of the ports and buttons placement remains standard, the HTC 10 evo omits the 3.5mm headphone jack and instead uses the USB type-C port for both charging and connecting the earphones.

The reason why the brand has gone for a Type-C audio port is to make the smartphone compatible with Hi-Res BoomSound Adaptive Audio. The company claims that the bundled earphones map the reflected sound waves from the user’s ears like a SONAR, and creates a personalised audio experience.

The HTC 10 evo gets a 5.5-inch 2K display with a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 5. The display looked really sharp, and the screen brightness was more than you can ever ask for… we’d think the sunlight legibility should be great on the smartphone. Under the hood, the evo is powered by a Snapdragon 810 chip and there’s 3GB of RAM to go alongside. While the processor configuration sounds decent enough for smooth everyday use, we will wait till we can try it out properly before commenting on performance.

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Software-wise, the smartphone runs Android Nougat out of the box and is one of the few smartphones to do so. The interface is mostly stock and the phone does not come with much bloatware. That said, you will find a few preloaded apps like Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and more.

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There’s only 32 gigs of built in storage which is a little disappointing. What’s more disappointing is just 20GB of available storage.

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The HTC 10 evo gets a 16MP primary camera with phase detection autofocus and a BSI sensor. Up front, it utilises an 8MP BSI camera.

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The default camera app has a few useful shooting modes, while the overall UI looks minimal. The phone is capable of shooting 4K videos as well. We tried to click a few pictures and found the shutter speed to be impressive. The camera captured good details as well, for the lighting we were in. However, we’ll be able to put out our final verdict on the shooting prowess of the 10 evo in our full review.

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The phone is backed by a 3,200mAh battery, and considering that the phone ships with a 2K display, we wonder if it can drive the phone through a full day. However, there were a few power saving modes that we saw which will be of use in situations of power crisis. 

Since there’s no word on the pricing of the smartphone, and the specs are a mixed bag, we can’t say what rivalry the HTC 10 evo will face when it comes to the Indian market. However, we will have more on the device as soon as the details are announced… so make sure you keep watching this space.