HTC 10 Review

We all love us an underdog. But the story of HTC doesn't quite qualify it for the role. At the height of its power, the Android pioneer was responsible for one out of four smartphones sold in the United States, and not by accident. But like so many other of the giants of old—think Nokia, BlackBerry—the company's fortunes took a turn for the worse. Rock bottom was last year in August, when the once high-flying brand's stock was trading below cash reserves, meaning it was essentially worthless in the eyes of investors.

Things have gotten better since. But HTC is still an unwilling prisoner of the spiral of death, with every successive failed, or even indecisive, quarter making a resurfacing next time around even less likely. And despite the initial success of its new Vive virtual reality arm, one has to wonder just how much sweat and worry—but also passion—went into the planning of its latest flagship phone, the HTC 10, to ensure a success.

With the 10, HTC must prove to the world that its wares are worth the dough. And theirs have been a tough sale lately, largely because of objective shortcomings that the HTC 'style' of doing things—a style we've always been attracted to—wasn't enough to cover for. So the 10 needs to be rock-solid both on the inside and outside, while also doing a splendid job getting us through a busy day of life acrobatics.

Let's see how it does.

Design

Design isn't just about looks. The HTC 10 proves it.

Ask a person what they think of the design of anything and they're likely to start yapping about looks. And sure, looks are important and very much a part of design. But they're far from the be-all and end-all. And sometimes, we need devices like the HTC 10 to be reminded of that.

The HTC 10 not only looks great—it also feels great. In the hand, it's substantial and pleasantly heavy in a way that few phones are. From the chamfered edges on the back, through the solid aluminum body, the 10 is a smartphone with style. And it's also cleverly engineered.