HTC and its Vive headset are making waves for virtual reality, but after a disappointing reception for the HTC One M9, the future of its smartphone business is a little more uncertain. That's why HTC is hoping to make a splash with its next handset, which according to rumors will break with the company's previous naming scheme and will simply be called the HTC 10.
Official Announcement
Based on dates posted by HTC in a few of their recent videos, it appears that the HTC 10 will be official unveiled on April 12. While we have yet to see any from HTC as to when the phone will be available for sale, @evleaks claims the phone should hit retailers the week of May 9.
Design
A picture from @upleaks shows the HTC 10 in three different colors: gold, silver and a dark, metallic grey. The design of the phones in this picture seems to corroborate @onleaks' earlier photo which showed the HTC 10 featuring hard, chamfered edges on its back and sides.
Info about the HTC 10 was first reported by Evan Blass (@evleaks) on Twitter and then expanded upon by @onleaks, who claims to have spotted a prototype HTC 10 sporting a 5.15-inch QHD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 CPU, 4GB of RAM, 12-megapixel rear camera and a USB Type-C port.
MORE: HTC One M9 Review: A Step Backwards
Based on the pictures in @onleak’s tweet, the HTC 10 could bring back front-mounted capacitive touch buttons, a feature HTC stopped using after the HTC One M7 in 2013. Based on the shape of the home button in the middle, the HTC 10 should come with a fingerprint sensor as well. @evleaks also added that based on the date seen in the photo below, he expects the release date for the HTC 10 to be on April 19.
Shortly after @onleak’s tweet of the prototype, @evleaks responded with what looks to be a computer rendered image of the HTC 10 featuring hard, rakish angles on its back and sides, and the same pill-shaped home button on the bottom seen in @onleaks tweet.
Camera
In its latest teaser, HTC claims that its next phone will have the best smartphone camera on the market, and hinted at features such as optical image stabilization, 4K video recording and the what seems to be the revival of its Ultrapixel camera tech. This is a pretty big boast from a company that has often disappointed buyers with just mediocre camera performance, especially since the HTC 10 will be up against some stiff competition in the Samsung Galaxy S7 and LG G5.
Speakers
In a video released by HTC, the company teased that its next phone will feature both high quality audio and the best Boomsound speakers its ever made. This is encouraging news for people who lamented the lack of powerful front-facing speakers on the HTC One A9, especially since the feature has become a trademark of flagship HTC phones over the last few years.
While we can’t say for sure the HTC will go through with this rumored naming scheme, it is interesting that in a video HTC posted to YouTube on Wednesday, March 2, the company teased what it’s calling the #powerof10. This seems to imply that an official announcement for the HTC next flagship is coming soon, but without ever mentioning its “One” series of phones.
Outlook
When asked about what HTC needs to do with the HTC 10 in order to succeed, Avi Greengart, research director of Current Analysis said "If HTC's next flagship continues the company's strong design heritage and adds an extraordinary camera, it should be competitive, but HTC will still need to convince consumers to buy one instead of sticking with Apple or Samsung."
Greengart also cited poor camera performance on recent flagship phones are one of the main causes for HTC's downward trend, and with HTC’s stock price having taken a nosedive over the past 18 months, the company can’t afford any more big swings and misses.
However, if HTC can actually deliver on the majority of these rumors, the company could be in position to offer an enticing alternative to Samsung's Galaxy S7. What do you think of the leaks? Are they enough to turn around the company's smartphone division? Sound off in our smartphone forum.
