HTC 10 evo review: Lookin good

I have the HTC 10 evo with me today which is an interesting release from HTC. It isn’t exactly HTC’s highest-end offering (that would be the HTC 10) but the evo sits right below it. Let's find out if this it's worth your money.

The HTC 10 evo arrived in a white box with the phone, a charger and a pair of headphones. Normally that would sound about the least interesting thing to read but the HTC 10 evo comes bundled with a pair of USB Type-C headphones which is a first I've seen with any phone. Sadly no 3.5mm to Type-C dongle is included the box so connecting it your older, wired devices will require a seperate purchase as the HTC 10 evo does not come equipped with a 3.5mm jack. 

The HTC 10 evo looks like HTC 10 from the front and the HTC A9 from the back with a flat black. It’s a great design and feels nice in your hands. It's available in black, silver and gold. I received the black version for review which is definitely my favorite and one of the better looking phones this year. 

Measuring 153.6 x 77.3 x 8.1 and weighing 174g, the HTC 10 evo isn’t very light but I quite enjoyed the heft which gives it a premium feel. The unit has an IP57 rating which means its water, splash and dust resistant. Button placement is fairly standard to other HTC phones with volume buttons and a textured power button sitting on the right. A USB Type-C connector sits at the bottom while a very fast fingerprint sensor sits below the screen with capacative buttons on each side.

Specs-wise, the HTC 10 evo is a bit of a surprise and is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 SoC which, in my opinion, isn’t one of Qualcomm’s finest processors. Almost every phone I’ve tested with this chipset had heat issues. The HTC 10 evo doesn’t get super hot like some of the earlier phones that came with it but nevertheless, it’s full metal body acts like a heatsink and it gets warmer than most new phones I’ve tested. 

The phone also isn’t as fast as some of the other new phones like the Huawei Mate 9 or the LG V20, both of which are also running Android 7.0 out of the box.That does not mean the HTC 10 evo is slow by any means- it’s just not as zippy as the rest.

The rest of the specs on the HTC 10 evo include 3GB or RAM and 32GB of storage along with a MicroSD slot. Sadly, dual SIM is not supported on the HTC 10 evo and when I asked why, HTC Middle East assured me that they’ve made the case for the popularity of high-end dual SIM phones in the Middle East to their HQ.  

One of the key selling points of the HTC 10 evo is that the phone supports HiRes audio which is the reason a USB Type-C headset is included with the package. When you first attach the headphone, a test runs on the headphones that measures how your ears react to the sound and the sounds settings are saved accordingly. While this provides a better audio experience than almost any bundled headphones, don’t expect the quality you get from a $100 or higher pair of earphones. HTC does support Hi-Res audio so if you do have a pair of headphones that support this spec, expect a really good audio experience. 

On the software side, the HTC 10 evo comes with Android 7.0 out of the box which provides enhancements to notificaions and does a good job of optimizng the OS. On top of that HTC bundled it's Sense skin which is minimal where it needs to be and yet offers the flexibility to customize it to your liking with sticker placements and such. HTC specific festures such as BlinkFeed and Zoe (Live) photos are also present on the HTC 10 evo.

Moving on, the 16 MegaPixel, f/2.0, OIS camera on the HTC 10 evo can take some pretty good shots but it’s on the slower side. On average it took between 2-3 seconds to take a shot which feels very slow compared to competing phones that take pictures in under a second. What this means is that the HTC 10 evo can produce great pictures if you have the time to properly frame your shot but isn't suitable for quick shots of moving objects. Here are some sample shots from the phone.

 

Wrapping up, the 3,200mAH battery on the HTC 10 evo does a pretty good job of making sure it lasts you a full day and then some even under heavy usage. You won't get through the next day without charging unless you're a very light user- but that's the case with almost every other phone.

Overall, the HTC 10 evo is good device from HTC that I think could have been much better and faster had HTC used a better chipset. It has a beautiful design, highly impressive audio capabilities and a really good but slow camera. But in the price range for AED 1800, there are devices that offer better bang for your money.