The wait is almost over: Signs point to November 11 release for HTC Bolt

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HTC was a very different company in 2011. It released the HTC Thunderbolt, an Android smartphone with a kickstand, and it raced past Nokia to become the third-largest smartphone manufacturer. Now it seems like the company is leaning on the Thunderbolt name to jolt some life into its declining sales. The HTC Bolt is the rumored device to be released on November 11, and here is what we think we know about it.

Design

https://twitter.com/evleaks/status/778481006454120448

The rumored HTC Bolt may follow a trend that not everyone likes: The removal of the headphone jack. Don’t worry though, the latest reports suggest that the phone will come with “the world’s first adaptive earphones,” otherwise known as “HTC BoomSound Adaptive Audio.” The earbuds allegedly measure and calibrate sound to best suit your ears. A press-style glossy image of what may be the Bolt was leaked by @evleaks on Twitter, along with several newer photographs of the device in hand — a headphone jack is not visible anywhere on the phone’s body. Unlike Apple, where the multipurpose Lightning port is used on the iPhone 7, the Bolt will rely on a USB Type-C connector for charging and audio purposes.

The Bolt is also said to be water resistant, with an IP57 rating. Otherwise, the phone pictured is very similar to the HTC 10, except it’s larger thanks to its 5.5-inch display. The HTC 10 has not done all that well — AT&T did not sell the device outright, and T-Mobile dropped it just two months after it was released.

The side view shows a slight raised camera module, and the presence of two card slots, potentially one for the SIM and the other for a MicroSD card.

Leaked specs

Apart from offering us a glimpse at the device, Evan Blass has coughed up its specs as well. The 5.5-inch smartphone will have a resolution of 1,920 by 1,080 pixels and QHD display. It features 3GB of RAM, 64GB of internal storage, and a MicroSD card slot for more space.

HTC’s popular BoomSound audio tech will only be available when listening to headphones — even though there’s no headphone jack, you’ll get HTC’s exclusive feature via Bluetooth headsets. There’s a single, bottom-firing speaker, but it won’t offer BoomSound capabilities.

There’s a fingerprint sensor on the front, and a USB Type-C port just like the HTC 10.

The rear camera is packed with 18-megapixel with an aperture of f/2.0, and the front has 8-megapixels. The primary camera can shoot 4K video. We can’t verify this information, so we’ll have to wait and see if these leaked specs match up when the device is announced.

Curiously, the HTC Bolt is currently rumored to feature the Snapdragon 810 processor, a seemingly strange move that may result in overheating. The Bolt is also said to feature a 3,200mAh battery with quick charging, which will provide 20 hours talk time with “power to last a day” with just half an hour of charging. The upcoming phone is also rumored to be the first phone from HTC to run Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box.

Release

Noted leaker Evan Blass has mentioned that a device, likely to be named the HTC Bolt, will be available globally and on Sprint in October. But now that the month has come and gone, it looks as though November 11 is the most recent rumored release date.

HTC recently filed a trademark for the name “Bolt,” which is our main confirmation the phone exists. HTC’s having a busy time recently — now that the Desire phones have launched, and the Bolt looks set to follow soon, the company is also manufacturing Google’s Pixel smartphones.

Article originally published on 09-15-2016 by Julian Chokkattu. Updated on 11-07-2016 by Lulu Chang: Added news of a November 11 release date.

HTC Bolt news and rumors