When browsing the news today in search of something to write about, I told myself: no Note 7, no iPhone 7, and no Pixel. When you take those three out of the equation, it's quite a bit more difficult to find something relevant to talk about. But there was something a little different that stood out to me: HTC is discounting the HTC 10 by $150 again, and really, it’s probably the best time for them to do that.
I recently wrote about the HTC 10, mostly because I hadn’t written about it for most of the year. I described it as being a “forgettable” device, not because it was worth forgetting about, but there was just nothing so glaringly wrong or innovative about it that made it stand out among this year’s flagships. The post caught a lot of attention, but not before a new wave of posts regarding Google’s new Pixel line and the continuation of Samsung's unfortunate saga regarding its “safe” Note 7 models popped up. Once again, HTC has found itself shoved off somewhere else, mostly unnoticed.
But now seems like a good time to once again showcase a couple of HTC 10’s notable features. For instance, it doesn’t explode when charging or spontaneously combust when unprovoked. It also has a headphone jack, which shouldn’t be as big of a deal as it is, but neither is a phone not exploding. And yet here we are.
More importantly, the HTC 10 really doesn’t fail in many areas, if any. When checking out camera comparisons between it and the Samsung Galaxy S7, which is regarded to have one of the best cameras of the year, there are only subtle differences that sway in the S7’s favor. HTC made up for the past 3 years of camera mistakes with this year’s 12-megapixel camera with f/1.8 and OIS. Although the device no longer features the iconic dual front-facing speakers, the HTC 10 does feature stereo speakers that keep the audio loud and clear. Additionally, although completely subjective, HTC Sense UI has been one of my favorite Android UIs throughout the years, and Sense 8 in the HTC 10 is no different. There’s also rumor the HTC will be quick to push out Android 7.0 Nougat in some of their smartphones before the year’s end, including (but not limited to) the HTC 10, but those rumors are best taken with a grain of salt. The rest of the 10's specs, such as the Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 32/64GB of internal storage with expandable storage via microSD, keep it competitive with other 2016 flagships.
With the return of the $150 price cut, the HTC 10 becomes one of the more affordable 2016 flagships on the market, whereas without it the 10 was one of the most expensive (which is another reason why it was neglected). Not only that, but in the wake of so many people likely exchanging their Note 7 for something different, I feel like the HTC 10 deserves to be brought up again as it truly is a great option out there with this discount in place.
The deal on the HTC 10 only lasts until October 16, but I hope that HTC ends up making the discount permanent. In the wake of the Note 7 aftermath, which has been affecting Samsung as a brand regarding its smartphones, as well as continued (albeit much quieter) backlash for Apple for getting rid of the 3.5mm headphone jack in the iPhone 7, HTC really should take advantage of this opportunity for the rest of the year.
