My favourite retro HTC telephone marks the tip of an period

There are a selection of fantastic smartphones that have won over my heart all through the years, however one handset specifically stands above the remainder: the HTC 10 from 2016. Launched onto the market as a premium flagship providing, the HTC 10 primarily duked it out with Samsung’s Galaxy S7, LG’s G5, and Apple’s iPhone 6S and iPhone 7 fashions. Whereas these latter telephones stay well-known to at the present time, HTC’s 10 has seemingly pale from the general public consciousness, which I believe is a disgrace.

In some ways, the HTC 10 may be finest described because the penultimate HTC smartphone. Whereas retaining a lot of the forward-thinking DNA of its legendary HTC One (m7) and One (m8) forebears, it vaulted the Taoyuan, Taiwan-based firm again into the aggressive highlight after a lackluster predecessor within the HTC One (m9) the yr prior.

With the ten, HTC got here weapons blazing: the telephone included all of the high-end specs out there for the time, a refined software program expertise that revered the consumer, and an exterior {hardware} bundle that appears each bit as good-looking at present because it did practically a decade in the past. Loads has modified within the shopper electronics trade within the years since, and regardless of HTC’s retreat from the flagship device space, its 10 stands as a testomony to timeless phone-making experience.

They do not make smartphones like they used to

The HTC 10 is every part the fashionable telephone trade is not

When choosing up the HTC 10 in 2025, it is instantly obvious that the product is a relic of a bygone period. That is to not say the telephone feels antiquated — on the contrary, it evokes a way of modernism regardless of its chunky bezels, its bodily navigation keys, and its single rear-facing digital camera module. Externally, the ten holds up fantastically. Its rounded, unibody metallic construct, its weighted mass, and its distinctive beveled edge all come collectively in a satisfying means that makes the gadget appear and feel extremely luxurious.

Philosophically, the HTC 10 is the literal antithesis of contemporary high-end telephone design. Except for the plain lack of a glass rear panel, the telephone gives now-extinct niceties like a microSD card slot, a notification LED blinker, a high-quality headphone jack with customized DAC and amplifier tech, a selfie digital camera with optical picture stabilization, and a capacitive fingerprint sensor. I respect the smaller dimension of the gadget (its 5.2-inch display screen appeared huge for the time, however feels compact looking back), and the clicky, ribbed energy button remains to be probably the most satisfying button I’ve ever pressed on a telephone.

That is to not say that the ten was good: for its time, the gadget lacked a couple of options that have been turning into more and more commonplace amongst competing flagships. This features a extra sturdy IP water and dust resistance score, an always-on OLED show, and Qi wireless charging. However, the ten provided speedier 5 Gbps USB-C switch speeds, extra environment friendly Qualcomm Fast Cost 3.0 charging tech, and stereo audio system earlier than these all grew to become commonplace trade fare.

Associated

Here’s what it’s like using my very first smartphone 14 years later

I booted up my very first smartphone, the 2011 HTC Wildfire S, and took it for a spin in 2025 – here is what my expertise was like.

HTC Sense was the very best pores and skin within the recreation

On the time, it made Sense to complement the Android expertise with an overlay

In its heyday, HTC’s Sense overlay atop of Android was best-in-class. ‘Inventory’ Android from Google was nonetheless tough across the edges, and competing software skins from Samsung and LG have been bloated with out paying thoughts to the overarching consumer expertise. Sense was totally different — it was enticing and but restrained, it averted the pitfall of app and repair duplication we nonetheless see on up to date telephones to at the present time, and it added in considerate additions like screen-tapping gestures, the BlinkFeed information curator, and an Excessive Energy Saving Mode.

The HTC 10 launched with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow out of the field, and it was supported by Android 8.0 Oreo. Its Sense UI stays pleasing to at the present time, although its look has naturally fallen out of visible style as time has marched onward. Different Android telephone makers have since stepped up their software program recreation fairly significantly, however in my view, solely Google’s Pixel UX comes near matching the interface craftsmanship of 2016-era HTC Sense.

Associated

I used a retro slider phone for a week, and the learning curve was steep

The BlackBerry Torch is likely one of the most iconic slider-style smartphones of all time – here is what it is like utilizing the gadget within the yr 2025.

The HTC 10 is the head of pre-modern telephone design

HTC’s ‘Quietly Sensible’ design ethos was as soon as an unmatched power

At a time when Samsung, LG, and others have been trekking in a single course, HTC was doubling down on the fundamentals with the ten. The telephone mastered all of the necessities, and it supplied an end-user expertise that I believe again on fondly. I miss the times of strong, industrial-feeling metallic telephones, and I miss the times of microSD playing cards and high-quality headphone jacks, too.

HTC went on to launch the U11 in 2017, adopted by the U12 Extremely the yr after. These gadgets, which might find yourself being the ultimate flagship HTC choices on a aggressive scale, would succumb to numerous trade pressures. These U-series merchandise would take away the headphone jack, axe the metallic unibody, and lean into gimmicky additions like a squeezable body and a long-forgotten AI Sense Companion function.

A lot of HTC’s phone-making expertise was bought out by Google in 2017, making the fashionable Pixel collection a form of successor line to a point. Early Pixels, together with the first-generation mannequin, have been in reality constructed by HTC. Even with its diminished trade prominence in 2025, I would like to see a real non secular successor to the ten make its means onto retailer cabinets. In a sea of bezel-less glass sandwiches, HTC has a possibility to make metallic, wired audio, expandable storage, and even its Sense overlay cool once more. Whilst you’re at it, why not carry again the HTC One’s iconic front-firing audio system, too, HTC?

Associated

Remember when Google’s Nexus 5 turned the Android world on its head?

Again in 2013, Google teamed up with LG to launch the Nexus 5 — the telephone would briefly go on to set the Android world ablaze.