HTC has a new phone to show us, and it’s one that was the subject of several rumors leading up to its announcement. Coming hot on the heels of the launch of the HTC Bolt, the HTC 10 Evo is the same phone but made for the U.K. and other regions. The Bolt is a Sprint exclusive in the U.S., but the HTC 10 Evo will be sold through HTC’s own website in the U.K., where it will presumably be available unlocked and without a contract.
Here’s everything you need to know about the HTC 10 Evo.
International Bolt
The HTC 10 Evo’s design and specification will be familiar to anyone who has taken a close look at the HTC Bolt. The only difference between them is the Sprint exclusivity. If you decide it’s the phone for you, you’ll gaze at a 5.5-inch, 2560 x 1440 pixel screen that displays Android 7.0 Nougat, which takes its power from a Snapdragon 810 processor with 3GB of RAM.
Wrapped in a full metal unibody, the HTC 10 Evo is water, splash and dust resistant thanks to an IP57 rating. This isn’t quite up there with the protection promised by Samsung for the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, which have IP68 ratings, or the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus’s IP67 rating. The display is protected by Corning’s latest Gorilla Glass 5, which HTC says will lessen the chances of it smashing if the phone is dropped.
On the rear is a 16-megapixel camera with optical image stabilization and phase detection autofocus, plus there’s a manual mode for complete control over your shots, and the chance to save the resulting file in RAW format. Selfies are taken with an 8-megapixel front camera with an auto HDR mode. The device is secured with a fingerprint sensor in the home button, and energy comes from a fast-charging 3,200mAh battery.
Audio
HTC has always made audio a selling point of its phones, but like Apple, has taken the controversial decision to remove the 3.5mm headphone socket. This means utilizing the USB Type-C port to plug in a pair of supplied headphones, buying a new pair with the right connection, or choosing to go wireless with a set of Bluetooth headphones.
Included with the HTC 10 Evo are a pair of BoomSound Adaptive Audio earphones, which adjust the sound played according to the structure of your ear and the listening environment. If it’s noisy, the earphones will adapt accordingly, for example. The phone will play back 24-bit hi-res audio files.
Release date and price
We’re not sure how much the HTC 10 Evo will cost, but if its similar to the Bolt’s $600 price tag, it may have a hard time finding fans — especially in a market saturated with powerful phones at cheaper prices.
HTC will have a gunmetal and glacier silver model available for sale through its website in the U.K., and there’s a choice of either 32GB or 64GB internal storage space, plus the phone has a MicroSD card slot to increase this further.
Like the price, the release date hasn’t been announced yet, but we’ll keep you updated on both.
Article originally published on 11-28-2016 by Julian Chokkatu. Updated on 11/22/2016 by Andy Boxall: Added all the official release news for the HTC 10 Evo
