HTC Bolt buyers are now ‘rewarded’ with free USB-C to 3.5mm audio adapters

The age of irritating adapters is upon us, as various device manufacturers continue to nix widely used ports and connectivity options instead of joining hands to move to universally accepted standards.

Worse yet, costly “next-gen” laptops and phones often come without precious accessories inside their retail boxes, requiring additional expenses and unnecessary hassle for a decent user experience. Case in point, the Sprint-exclusive HTC Bolt, now known internationally as the 10 evo.

As if HTC’s Snapdragon 810 processor choice wasn’t controversial enough, the classic audio jack-killing Quad HD 5.5-incher also lacks a basic way to embrace your “obsolete” wired headphones. Fortunately, you can now sign up for a USB-C to 3.5mm cable “reward” with your handheld’s purchase date, transaction number and MEID, although it may still take up to a month for the adapters to reach your doorsteps.

According to global PR Jeff Gordon on Twitter, “future production runs will include the headphone adapter in the box”, which begs the question why wasn’t it like that from the get-go? It’s not that you can’t afford the separate adapter on your own, at between $5 and $10 through third-party sellers, but some things just need to be free. Even Apple agrees.

On the bright side, it’s important to remember the HTC Bolt, available today and tomorrow for $300 instead of $600 at Sprint, is sold with complimentary USB Type-C dual adaptive earphones that apparently tailor sound to your ears’ “unique structure for a truly illuminating audio experience.”

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HTC 10 could start receiving Nougat this month, Bolt’s international 10 evo name rumored again

While they’re far from officially confirmed, the latest rumors centered on HTC’s two 2016 flagship phones definitely ring true, perhaps foreshadowing better times for the long-struggling Taiwanese OEM.

No need to worry the Nougat-powered, water-resistant, 5.5-inch HTC Bolt has only seen daylight on America’s fourth largest mobile carrier to date. Reliable tipsters still expect the headphone jack slayer to expand to other countries… eventually under a different name.

The HTC 10 evo (-lution) will arrive to the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) region soon, according to both @evleaks and @LlabTooFer. The latter HTC-specialized leakster also has an update to share on, well, the Android 7.0 update of the standard, 5.2-inch, 3.5mm audio port-including, non-water-protected 10, which is apparently supposed to start “by the end of November – beginning of December.”

The high-end smartphone’s makers told us not long ago it was their intention to kick off the Nougat festivities this quarter, but self-imposed deadlines often fall through. It doesn’t sound like this one will (huzzah!), at least in Europe, where the first updated batch of HTC 10 units probably resides.

Next up, our trusted informant predicts the newest (major) Android build could roll out to the HTC One M9 in “late December – January”, though that estimate feels more like a guess than leaked intelligence.

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Sprint-exclusive HTC Bolt revealed to feature 16/8MP cams, IP57 rating, 3,200mAh cell

One by one, the puzzle pieces continue to fall into place. We’re now pretty certain a 5.5-inch HTC 10 lookalike dubbed Bolt is exclusively headed for Sprint as far as US carriers go, with an alternate “international” 10 evo moniker, WQHD screen resolution, glacier silver and carbon gray paint jobs, but alas, no headphone jack in tow.

The “all-aluminum unibody” bad boy could also inexplicably bring back the controversial Snapdragon 810 processor, pairing it with a relatively large 3,200 mAh battery meant to support “over 20 hours” of continuous talk time, and capable of giving you enough power “to last a day” after only a 30-minute quick charge.

Quite a mixed bag of middling and super-high-end features, and to be frank, we’re unsure where to file the just-revealed 16 rear and 8MP front-facing cameras of the Sprint-bound HTC Bolt. Technically, both those megapixel counts represent an upgrade over what the HTC 10 offers, but the upcoming 5.5-incher’s main OIS shooter apparently sports f/2.0 aperture, down from 1.8 on last spring’s 5.2-inch flagship.

HTC Bolt cameras

Meanwhile, there’s no doubt an IP57 rating is better than… no rating, adding partial dust protection and a water shield up to 1 m immersion to the Bolt’s list of strengths. Also expect 24-bit audio processing, “the world’s first adaptive earphones” with BoomSound technology for “fuss-free auto measurement and calibration to adapt to your ears”, as well as pre-loaded Android 7.0 Nougat, Amazon Assistant and further bloat included.

November 11 is reportedly the day Sprint will formally unveil the HTC Bolt at an as-yet unspecified price. Stay tuned.

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Nostalgia overload: Sprint’s upcoming HTC Bolt to be dubbed 10 evo ‘globally’

Poor HTC. The financially (and creatively) struggling Taiwanese device manufacturer looks to finally have a couple of (moderate) box-office hits on its hands, but at least from a marketing perspective, it can’t take any credit, due to Google’s express wish that people identify the Pixels as phones “made” by ...

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