Before the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2016 held late last month, there were reports that HTC One M10 will be launched during the event the way the HTC One M9 was unveiled in the same event last year.
However, the Taiwanese smartphone maker pulled a surprise by not unveiling its latest flagship handset during the MWC 2016 and instead settled for a cryptic teaser image at the tail end of the event, notes Ars Technica.
It was clear from the cryptic teaser image shown by HTC near the close of the MWC 2016 that the HTC One M10 is indeed a major upgrade from its predecessor, the underwhelming and much-maligned HTC One M9.
However, two serial leakers @OnLeaks and @evleaks recently posted on Twitter various renders of HTC’s latest flagship smartphone.
One thing that immediately caught the attention of HTC fans is that the smartphone shall not be called HTC One M10, nor will it be called as HTC Perfume as rumors early this year insinuated, the handset shall be officially called simply as HTC 10.
Aside from its all-metal unibody, the latest renders of HTC 10 showed the smartphone with a unique beveled edge on the rear, consistent with what the Taiwanese smartphone maker showed as a cryptic teaser image during the MWC 2016.
Return to form
Because of the latest renders of the HTC 10 on the internet, many users and critics believe that the latest flagship handset could signal the return to form of HTC, the way Samsung made its redemption last year with the unveiling of the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge from the disappointment that was the Galaxy S5 back in 2014.
Based on the prototypes of the HTC 10, the smartphone could come out with a 5.15-inch touchscreen display with a remarkable 2560 x 1440 resolution. It is to be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, an Adreno 530 GPU, 4GB of RAM, a 12-megapixel rear-facing camera with LED flash and laser autofocus, and a USB Type-C port.
Some users and critics are of the opinion that the HTC 10 has taken its design cues from the midrange HTC One A9 launched late last year.
But the latest flagship handset from HTC ditched the company’s signature Boomsound speakers in favor of a simple fascia with rounded edges and a rectangular fingerprint scanner at the bottom.
The HTC 10 shall also have an IP78 water and dustproof rating and a generous 3,000 mAH battery.
Better camera
While HTC does not have a great reputation for imaging, the company has tried and failed multiple times to develop and market its own version of phone imaging beginning with the HTC One M7, and then the HTC One M8, and eventually the ill-fated HTC One M9, notes Know Your Mobile.
Reports have it that the HTC 10 shall feature the return of the company’s UltraPixel technology using a Sony IMX377 sensor, just like the ones found on the Nexus 6P and the Nexus 5X.
However, the camera of HTC 10 will take the standards a notch higher with the inclusion of Optical Image Stabilization, which should ensure that the handset will achieve better quality and more consistent shots than Google’s current flagship, which currently claims to have one of the best smartphone cameras around.
After the debacle that was the HTC One M9 which it launched last year, the Taiwanese tech company has only deemed it appropriate to make up for the misgivings of its 2015 flagship smartphone.
HTC One M9 is a great phone and it also looks good when it officially came out to the markets in April last year following its launch the month before. But what made it a let-down, particularly to many users is the fact that it offered only slight improvements compared to the company’s 2014 flagship smartphone – the HTC One M8.
Instead of launching the HTC One M10 during the MWC 2016, the company decided to push it back. Now, the company has confirmed that it would be launching the HTC One M10 as HTC 10 on April 11 and shall take place in London.