A new report suggests that there will be not three, not four, but five Galaxy S10 models coming, and we're not counting colors and storage options.
The post Not three, not four, but five Galaxy S10 models coming? appeared first on Pocketnow.
HTC’s ‘Blackest Friday’ includes small U11 discount and free JBL earphones
The HTC U11 is on sale for the OEM's "Blackest Friday" starting at $599, free JBL USB-C sport earphones and Fetch companion included.
The post HTC’s ‘Blackest Friday’ includes small U11 discount and free JBL earphones appeared first on Pocketnow.
Sprint-only HTC Bolt with Snapdragon 810 is $200 for a limited time
Black Friday this necessarily isn't, but you can pull off a great deal if your circumstances match the case — $200 for a phone above the mid-range fold.
The post Sprint-only HTC Bolt with Snapdragon 810 is $200 for a limited time appeared first on Pocketnow.
An HTC U11 deal, finally, in upcoming “Green is Good” campaign
The HTC U11 launched about five months ago and it's about time that there was a sale on the thing. Fortunately, we'll get it from October 2.
The post An HTC U11 deal, finally, in upcoming “Green is Good” campaign appeared first on Pocketnow.
HTC Hot Deals provide a “Kick Off to Summer” with $120 off U Ultra
The HTC 10 stays relevant in the discount section (as well as the Bolt, if you think about it) while the U Ultra gets prime cuts.
The post HTC Hot Deals provide a “Kick Off to Summer” with $120 off U Ultra appeared first on Pocketnow.
HTC sale expands to general public as part of spring cleaning
The manufacturer is hoping you will get sprung into spring with some choice discounts on its recent phones and accessories.
The post HTC sale expands to general public as part of spring cleaning appeared first on Pocketnow.
Sprint 3CA service spreads to iPhone 7, Galaxy S7, LG V20
Faster download and upload speeds that launched with the HTC Bolt have spread to six other devices and another six are on the way.
The post Sprint 3CA service spreads to iPhone 7, Galaxy S7, LG V20 appeared first on Pocketnow.
The Sony Xperia XZ is the most popular flagship from the second half of 2016
Just because it has a crippled fingerprint sensor in the United States doesn’t mean that it can’t be a hit phone everywhere else.
App metrics company Apteligent has put out a “2016 Mobile Year in Review” on what it has tracked with its performance-tracking APIs. Those APIs are integrated into apps big, small, mobile and PC.
But strictly speaking about Android smartphones that were launched in the second half of this year, the data seems to say that the Sony Xperia XZ has come out on top as the most used in the global market right now.
Yep, thanks to that Galaxy Note 7 melting down and the subsequent recall, it’s Sony that has the far-and-away lead on its competition with nearly 0.15 percent in share.
At its peak, the Note 7 snagged more than 0.35 percent in early October. The XZ passed by the Note on its way up in mid-November. The Note 7 currently stands at below 0.05 percent and handily beats the LG V20, HTC 10 evo (or HTC Bolt) and even the OnePlus 3T — though all three phones only got started with sales within the last couple of months.
The Moto Z strikes just above Note 7 territory while the Google Pixel and the Pixel XL follow on respectively at around 0.06 percent.
The post The Sony Xperia XZ is the most popular flagship from the second half of 2016 appeared first on Pocketnow.
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.”
The post HTC Bolt buyers are now ‘rewarded’ with free USB-C to 3.5mm audio adapters appeared first on Pocketnow.
HTC 10 evo launches as the global HTC Bolt
What’s good for the goose should be great for the gander. For Sprint, we saw the HTC Bolt come to life. As a global device, it is officially the HTC 10 evo.
The metal-bodied HTC 10 evo is stacked with all the same components as the Bolt, including a 5.5-inch quad HD display using an older Super LCD 3 with a curved edge Gorilla Glass 5 panel. A Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (yep, not the 820) runs Android Nougat and Sense UI with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage with microSD expansion available of up to 2TB. The 3,200mAh battery is compatible with Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0.
The 16-megapixel rear BSI sensor has an f/2.0 aperture, OIS. The front unit has 8 megapixels of resolution.
BoomSound is only available via USB-C audio (on the USB 2.0 standard), — no 3.5mm headphone jack here, folks — but in return, you have IP57 ingress resistance. In terms of water resistance, that takes us down to 1 meter for 30 minutes.
Wi-Fi ac is available as is Bluetooth 4.1 and a fingerprint sensor.
Various regions will receive the HTC 10 evo in Gunmetal, Glacier Silver and Pearl Gold starting this month.
Sculpted by Light, Illuminated by Sound:
HTC 10 evo ushers in the next evolution in smartphones
Never miss a beat with HTC BoomSoundTM Adaptive Audio, the world’s first USB Type-C dual adaptive earphones where sound is tailored to you
TAIPEI – Nov. 22, 2016 – Pulse-pounding audio that adapts to the unique structure of your own ears. Eye-popping, all-metal design that glistens in light as much as in water. This is a smartphone unlike any you have seen before. HTC Corporation, a leading innovator in mobile and virtual reality technology, today announced the HTC 10 evo, a dramatic evolution of HTC’s renowned sculpted-by-light style that introduces the world’s first USB Type-C dual adaptive earphones that tailor sound to your ears’ unique hearing abilities for a truly illuminating audio experience. The HTC 10 evo also features an all-metal unibody that is water, splash, and dust resistant1.
Think what music tuned to your ears would sound like. The HTC 10 evo takes audio to an unprecedented new level with HTC BoomSoundTM Adaptive Audio, which almost instantly adapts your audio to sound levels around you, keeping you in the zone of the music and sound you’re enjoying. Pushing the multimedia experience even further, the HTC 10 evo has a big, 5.5-inch display to show stunning visuals for vivid gaming, movies, and more. And of course it’s an HTC, so you know the design is gorgeous, further advancing the renowned HTC design legacy pioneered by HTC 10 with more precise contours that catch light beautifully.
Adaptive Audio tuned to you
Imagine relaxing in the quiet of your home, enjoying some quality time by yourself to listen to a favorite new album. You plug your HTC BoomSound Adaptive Audio earphones into your HTC 10 evo and the sound adapts to your unique ear structure and the quiet home environment.
Later that day, you’re taking the train into the city to visit a friend, and with a few taps HTC BoomSound Adaptive Audio adjusts to the noisier environment. This tuning process happens quickly and easily, and once it’s done you’ll experience music and movies with notes, nuances and tones that sound clearer than you believed possible. It even includes Hi-Res audio for spectacularly realistic 24-bit sound making you feel like you’re right there in the movie theater, nightclub, or concert hall.
Also in a first for HTC, the HTC 10 evo includes USB Type-C adaptive earphones right in the box2 so you can enjoy spectacular adaptive sound from day one. The earphones feature rumbling bass and pitch-perfect treble in a beautiful, style design that fits in at the gym, on the street, or wherever you go.
“I’ve been a huge fan of music all my life, and the HTC 10 evo has the most awesome sound I’ve ever experienced in a smartphone,” said Guy Chriqui, member of HTC’s Elevate community of smartphone enthusiasts. “The capabilities of the HTC BoomSound Adaptive Audio earphones are unbelievable in how they match the sound to my ears. I’ve never heard anything like it before!”
Your all-terrain smartphone
With such amazing audio on your smartphone, you’ll want to take it everywhere – but is it safe to do so? Fortunately, the HTC 10 evo’s full metal unibody is water, splash, and dust resistant with an IP57 rating1, so you can rest easy that it will withstand dunks or spills. It has further been subjected to a multitude of grueling drop, bend, scratch, submersion, climate, and corrosion tests, which means you’ll enjoy exceptional build quality and style that you can take almost anywhere from hiking to mountain biking, no matter what the weather – sun, rain or snow.
Adding to the HTC 10 evo’s rugged build is a big 5.5” display covered by Corning® Gorilla® Glass 5. A new glass solution that helps your phone resist life’s inevitable knocks and tumbles. So now dropping your phone while taking selfies doesn’t automatically mean a smashed screen3. And while Gorilla Glass 5 is tougher than ever, it doesn’t compromise optical clarity or touch sensitivity. Giving you the ultimate combination of drop protection and performance.
Sharper shots in a snap
Whether you’re in town or out hiking, incredible moments can happen when you least expect them, so the HTC 10 evo’s 16MP camera has OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) that reduces camera shake to capture sharp photographs on the go in almost any environment, even in low light. With quick camera launch time and an ultra-fast autofocus of up to 0.3s with Phase Detection Auto Focus, you’ll be sure to capture the perfect shot every time.
The HTC 10 evo features Pro mode to give you pro-like control over your photography. Besides the advanced options you’d expect, such as RAW capture, RAW enhancement and manual control over almost every setting on the camera, you now also get the ability to take photos with long exposure times for perfectly mastering the motion of light in your photography.
You’ll get seriously awesome selfies with the HTC 10 evo, too. Featuring an 8MP front camera with Auto HDR, your selfies will show vivid detail to bring out not just your smile but also the environment behind you. A super-wide panorama mode lets you capture your whole family with room to spare, and an integrated screen flash ensures the shot looks great even at night or in dimly lit indoors.
Power, convenience, and customization
Running the latest Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box, the HTC 10 evo offers all the powerful features you would expect from the latest flagship smartphone, including split-screen view, quicker multitasking, new security settings, and much more.
The HTC 10 evo’s built-in fingerprint sensor lets you unlock your phone at the touch of your finger – in as little as 0.2 seconds. Your fingerprint can also be the key to easily unlock apps locked by the App Lock function in Boost+. Even better, Boost+ also keeps your phone in top condition by cleaning up junk files and dynamically allocating resources like phone memory as required, ensuring your phone is running smoothly with maximum battery life.
HTC Freestyle Layout frees you from an on-screen grid and lets you make your phone as unique as you are. Drag icons, stickers and widgets anywhere. Layer them, overlap them, group them and more. You can even link stickers to apps, and get rid of on-screen icons entirely. The home screen is yours to use your way.
Powers users can rejoice that all these features are powered by a big 3,200mAh battery, enough for up to a day or more use on a single charge. And if you need to recharge quickly, the HTC 10 evo features Qualcomm® Quick ChargeTM technology, so you can charge your phone fast4. Load up on photos, videos, movies, and games with the HTC 10 evo’s 3GB RAM and either 32GB or 64GB storage space5, expandable with optional SD cards for up to 2TB of space so your storage needs are covered now and far into the future.
The HTC 10 evo, available in Gunmetal, Glacier Silver, or Pearl Gold6, brings the next evolution in smartphone design and performance to regions worldwide beginning November 2016. Please see htc.com for detailed specifications and more information.
- Ends –
Notes to editors: 1 HTC 10 evo has an IP57 rating and is water, splash and dust resistant. Normal wear and tear may decrease splash and water resistance over time. Do not intentionally submerge HTC 10 evo. Do not attempt to charge or otherwise use the USB Type-C port on a wet HTC 10 evo. For drying instructions and tips on maintaining water resistance, consult the user guide, support site, or the Help app on the device. Liquid damage may not be covered under warranty. 2 Inbox accessories may vary from country to country. Please check with an authorized retailer or operator for availability. 3 Drop test conducted up to 1.6m surviving up to 80% of the time. 4 Battery charge duration may vary based on cellular network, location, signal strength, feature configurations, phone usage, and many other factors. Actual results may vary. 5 Available storage is less due to phone software. Available storage is subject to change based on phone software updates and apps usage. 6 Availability of colors varies by market and timing.
About HTC
HTC Corporation aims to bring brilliance to life. As a global innovator in smart mobile devices and technology, HTC has produced award-winning products and industry firsts since its inception in 1997, including the critically acclaimed HTC One and Desire lines of smartphones. The pursuit of brilliance is at the heart of everything we do, inspiring best-in-class design and game-changing mobile and virtual reality experiences for consumers around the world. HTC is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE: 2498). www.htc.com
###
HTC, HTC One and the HTC logo are the trademarks of HTC Corporation. All other names of companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
The post HTC 10 evo launches as the global HTC Bolt appeared first on Pocketnow.
HTC 10 evo launches as the global HTC Bolt
What’s good for the goose should be great for the gander. For Sprint, we saw the HTC Bolt come to life. As a global device, it is officially the HTC 10 evo.
The metal-bodied HTC 10 evo is stacked with all the same components as the Bolt, including a 5.5-inch quad HD display using an older Super LCD 3 with a curved edge Gorilla Glass 5 panel. A Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (yep, not the 820) runs Android Nougat and Sense UI with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage with microSD expansion available of up to 2TB. The 3,200mAh battery is compatible with Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0.
The 16-megapixel rear BSI sensor has an f/2.0 aperture, OIS. The front unit has 8 megapixels of resolution.
BoomSound is only available via USB-C audio (on the USB 2.0 standard), — no 3.5mm headphone jack here, folks — but in return, you have IP57 ingress resistance. In terms of water resistance, that takes us down to 1 meter for 30 minutes.
Wi-Fi ac is available as is Bluetooth 4.1 and a fingerprint sensor.
Various regions will receive the HTC 10 evo in Gunmetal, Glacier Silver and Pearl Gold starting this month.
Sculpted by Light, Illuminated by Sound: HTC 10 evo ushers in the next evolution in smartphones
Never miss a beat with HTC BoomSoundTM Adaptive Audio, the world’s first USB Type-C dual adaptive earphones where sound is tailored to you
TAIPEI – Nov. 22, 2016 – Pulse-pounding audio that adapts to the unique structure of your own ears. Eye-popping, all-metal design that glistens in light as much as in water. This is a smartphone unlike any you have seen before. HTC Corporation, a leading innovator in mobile and virtual reality technology, today announced the HTC 10 evo, a dramatic evolution of HTC’s renowned sculpted-by-light style that introduces the world’s first USB Type-C dual adaptive earphones that tailor sound to your ears’ unique hearing abilities for a truly illuminating audio experience. The HTC 10 evo also features an all-metal unibody that is water, splash, and dust resistant1.
Think what music tuned to your ears would sound like. The HTC 10 evo takes audio to an unprecedented new level with HTC BoomSoundTM Adaptive Audio, which almost instantly adapts your audio to sound levels around you, keeping you in the zone of the music and sound you’re enjoying. Pushing the multimedia experience even further, the HTC 10 evo has a big, 5.5-inch display to show stunning visuals for vivid gaming, movies, and more. And of course it’s an HTC, so you know the design is gorgeous, further advancing the renowned HTC design legacy pioneered by HTC 10 with more precise contours that catch light beautifully.
Adaptive Audio tuned to you
Imagine relaxing in the quiet of your home, enjoying some quality time by yourself to listen to a favorite new album. You plug your HTC BoomSound Adaptive Audio earphones into your HTC 10 evo and the sound adapts to your unique ear structure and the quiet home environment.
Later that day, you’re taking the train into the city to visit a friend, and with a few taps HTC BoomSound Adaptive Audio adjusts to the noisier environment. This tuning process happens quickly and easily, and once it’s done you’ll experience music and movies with notes, nuances and tones that sound clearer than you believed possible. It even includes Hi-Res audio for spectacularly realistic 24-bit sound making you feel like you’re right there in the movie theater, nightclub, or concert hall.
Also in a first for HTC, the HTC 10 evo includes USB Type-C adaptive earphones right in the box2 so you can enjoy spectacular adaptive sound from day one. The earphones feature rumbling bass and pitch-perfect treble in a beautiful, style design that fits in at the gym, on the street, or wherever you go.
“I’ve been a huge fan of music all my life, and the HTC 10 evo has the most awesome sound I’ve ever experienced in a smartphone,” said Guy Chriqui, member of HTC’s Elevate community of smartphone enthusiasts. “The capabilities of the HTC BoomSound Adaptive Audio earphones are unbelievable in how they match the sound to my ears. I’ve never heard anything like it before!”
Your all-terrain smartphone
With such amazing audio on your smartphone, you’ll want to take it everywhere – but is it safe to do so? Fortunately, the HTC 10 evo’s full metal unibody is water, splash, and dust resistant with an IP57 rating1, so you can rest easy that it will withstand dunks or spills. It has further been subjected to a multitude of grueling drop, bend, scratch, submersion, climate, and corrosion tests, which means you’ll enjoy exceptional build quality and style that you can take almost anywhere from hiking to mountain biking, no matter what the weather – sun, rain or snow.
Adding to the HTC 10 evo’s rugged build is a big 5.5” display covered by Corning® Gorilla® Glass 5. A new glass solution that helps your phone resist life’s inevitable knocks and tumbles. So now dropping your phone while taking selfies doesn’t automatically mean a smashed screen3. And while Gorilla Glass 5 is tougher than ever, it doesn’t compromise optical clarity or touch sensitivity. Giving you the ultimate combination of drop protection and performance.
Sharper shots in a snap
Whether you’re in town or out hiking, incredible moments can happen when you least expect them, so the HTC 10 evo’s 16MP camera has OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) that reduces camera shake to capture sharp photographs on the go in almost any environment, even in low light. With quick camera launch time and an ultra-fast autofocus of up to 0.3s with Phase Detection Auto Focus, you’ll be sure to capture the perfect shot every time.
The HTC 10 evo features Pro mode to give you pro-like control over your photography. Besides the advanced options you’d expect, such as RAW capture, RAW enhancement and manual control over almost every setting on the camera, you now also get the ability to take photos with long exposure times for perfectly mastering the motion of light in your photography.
You’ll get seriously awesome selfies with the HTC 10 evo, too. Featuring an 8MP front camera with Auto HDR, your selfies will show vivid detail to bring out not just your smile but also the environment behind you. A super-wide panorama mode lets you capture your whole family with room to spare, and an integrated screen flash ensures the shot looks great even at night or in dimly lit indoors.
Power, convenience, and customization
Running the latest Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box, the HTC 10 evo offers all the powerful features you would expect from the latest flagship smartphone, including split-screen view, quicker multitasking, new security settings, and much more.
The HTC 10 evo’s built-in fingerprint sensor lets you unlock your phone at the touch of your finger – in as little as 0.2 seconds. Your fingerprint can also be the key to easily unlock apps locked by the App Lock function in Boost+. Even better, Boost+ also keeps your phone in top condition by cleaning up junk files and dynamically allocating resources like phone memory as required, ensuring your phone is running smoothly with maximum battery life.
HTC Freestyle Layout frees you from an on-screen grid and lets you make your phone as unique as you are. Drag icons, stickers and widgets anywhere. Layer them, overlap them, group them and more. You can even link stickers to apps, and get rid of on-screen icons entirely. The home screen is yours to use your way.
Powers users can rejoice that all these features are powered by a big 3,200mAh battery, enough for up to a day or more use on a single charge. And if you need to recharge quickly, the HTC 10 evo features Qualcomm® Quick ChargeTM technology, so you can charge your phone fast4. Load up on photos, videos, movies, and games with the HTC 10 evo’s 3GB RAM and either 32GB or 64GB storage space5, expandable with optional SD cards for up to 2TB of space so your storage needs are covered now and far into the future.
The HTC 10 evo, available in Gunmetal, Glacier Silver, or Pearl Gold6, brings the next evolution in smartphone design and performance to regions worldwide beginning November 2016. Please see htc.com for detailed specifications and more information.
- Ends –
Notes to editors: 1 HTC 10 evo has an IP57 rating and is water, splash and dust resistant. Normal wear and tear may decrease splash and water resistance over time. Do not intentionally submerge HTC 10 evo. Do not attempt to charge or otherwise use the USB Type-C port on a wet HTC 10 evo. For drying instructions and tips on maintaining water resistance, consult the user guide, support site, or the Help app on the device. Liquid damage may not be covered under warranty. 2 Inbox accessories may vary from country to country. Please check with an authorized retailer or operator for availability. 3 Drop test conducted up to 1.6m surviving up to 80% of the time. 4 Battery charge duration may vary based on cellular network, location, signal strength, feature configurations, phone usage, and many other factors. Actual results may vary. 5 Available storage is less due to phone software. Available storage is subject to change based on phone software updates and apps usage. 6 Availability of colors varies by market and timing.
About HTC
HTC Corporation aims to bring brilliance to life. As a global innovator in smart mobile devices and technology, HTC has produced award-winning products and industry firsts since its inception in 1997, including the critically acclaimed HTC One and Desire lines of smartphones. The pursuit of brilliance is at the heart of everything we do, inspiring best-in-class design and game-changing mobile and virtual reality experiences for consumers around the world. HTC is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE: 2498). www.htc.com
###
HTC, HTC One and the HTC logo are the trademarks of HTC Corporation. All other names of companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
The post HTC 10 evo launches as the global HTC Bolt appeared first on Pocketnow.
HTC 10 evo event scheduled to bring Bolt into the world on November 22
HTC does not get off of 2016 without a controversy and it comes out of Sprint with its Bolt smartphone. The controversial Snapdragon 810 that dealt with overheating issues in front of the launch of the HTC One M9 has made its way back into the news, along with 3GB of RAM and the lack of a headphone jack.
It seems that the rest of the world will be getting its piece of the Bolt soon with an event in Taiwan scheduled for November 22. The bet is that we’ll hear the Bolt being called the HTC 10 evo here, an odd naming choice considering that HTC made phones for Sprint that the carrier sold under some derivation of the “EVO” branding.
Funny how the water beads are splashed on in this promo picture — the Bolt is also seemingly IP57 ingress resistant (water of up to 1 meter for 30 minutes)
The post HTC 10 evo event scheduled to bring Bolt into the world on November 22 appeared first on Pocketnow.
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.
The post HTC 10 could start receiving Nougat this month, Bolt’s international 10 evo name rumored again appeared first on Pocketnow.
HTC Bolt First Impressions: Unboxing Sprint’s Fastest Phone
HTC is wrapping up 2016 with an attractive phone packing an odd combination of hardware components. The Bolt looks like it’s built to similar specifications as Google’s Pixel XL, with large front bezels and a 5.5″ display. Then you notice the front fingerprint sensor, the larger angles and edges, larger camera module, and you realize this isn’t just a re-badged Pixel. There’s a definite feeling that this is a mash-up of previous phones like the HTC 10 and the A9.
Yet there are some design decisions which give us pause. HTC removed the headphone jack on this device. We also see that HTC decided on an older chipset, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810, which gave several manufacturers (HTC included) some problems with performance and heat management. Sprint is using this device as a showcase for the newest LTE advancements on its network, but will that be enough of a draw to balance out a few of these compromises?
Before we can review this beauty, we have to get it out of the box. Here’s our HTC Bolt first impressions!
The post HTC Bolt First Impressions: Unboxing Sprint’s Fastest Phone appeared first on Pocketnow.
HTC Bolt lights up Sprint’s LTE Plus network, 5.5-inch Quad HD screen and Nougat included
With a name somewhat reminiscent of Verizon’s 2012-discontinued first 4G LTE smartphone, bizarre Sprint exclusivity, at least stateside, no headphone jack in tow, and a controversial Snapdragon 810 processor making an unlikely comeback to replace the safe SD820 bet, you were probably not overly excited about the HTC Bolt.
But the oversized HTC 10 lookalike available today on America’s Now Network isn’t that bad all in all. It very closely resembles the company’s global 5.2-inch flagship, same all-metal unibody, chamfered contour and front-firing fingerprint reader, adding 0.3 Quad HD-capable inches of screen real estate.
The elegant and robust 5.5-incher is also HTC’s very first water-resistant aluminum-made hero, with a solid IP57 rating for partial dust protection and liquid immersion up to 1 m depth and 30 minutes.
At $600 outright, $200 with two-year contracts, or $25 a month for 24 months, the HTC Bolt provides plenty of raw power, thanks to 3GB RAM and a respectably spacious 3,200 mAh battery. Pre-installed Android 7.0 Nougat is obviously a first for the slowly-recovering Taiwanese OEM too, although Sprint elects to focus its initial marketing efforts on LTE Plus connectivity.
Since it’s capable of technically unlocking the next-gen cellular network, the Bolt is fittingly billed as Sprint’s “fastest smartphone ever.” Unfortunately, new 4G speeds are only available in a few places nationwide.
If it’s any consolation, HTC tries to make up for the 3.5 mm audio port absence with the world’s first “adaptive earphones that fine-tune the listening experience for how you hear individually.” You of course get USB Type-C support, as well as 32GB expandable storage, 16 and 8MP cameras. Not easy to tell if this is an HTC 10 upgrade or downgrade at the end of the day.
The post HTC Bolt lights up Sprint’s LTE Plus network, 5.5-inch Quad HD screen and Nougat included appeared first on Pocketnow.