HTC Bolt Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

The HTC Bolt won’t electrify you

But it’s got a large screen and Android 7, and it costs less than the Google Pixel XL.

by Jessica Dolcourt

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Right now the HTC Bolt is a Sprint exclusive that sells for $600. So for that chunk of change, you’re expecting something with a great screen, great camera, fast processor…right? Well on paper, it looks pretty good. It’s got a big 5.5-inch display and Android Nougat 7.0. The camera takes RAW photos if you want them and has a pro mode if you wanna get fancy. Enhanced audio sounds great out of the included earbuds, and you can add a new profile if you use a different set of headphones. The Bolt is also water-resistant (IP57) and runs on Sprint’s new and improved LTE network (LTE-A) — upload speeds are on fire. Download speeds in my area, San Francisco, ranged from the lower end of average to pretty darn fast, but that will fluctuate depending on where you live.

So far, so good. But there are some things you should be wary of if you’re thinking about getting this phone. HTC is usually awesome at design but I just don’t love this one. It feels like an angular shingle: flat, wide and pokey. But you can always buy a case, so there’s that. The back also heats up when the phone charges or the processor works hard, and after Samsung’s exploding Note 7 debacle, the mere suggestion of an overheating phone could put people on edge.

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The cameras take decent photos that you’ll be able to use anywhere and everywhere, but there is a noticeable blue cast to some of them and some selfies came out looking a little greyer than they should. HTC got rid of the awesome set of audio speakers that once upon a time graced the top and bottom of the phone face in favor of a static home button/fingerprint reader, and I miss that booming, party-starting bass.

I also made a lot of mistakes typing on the keyboard; the quick-charging technology isn’t the fastest it could be; and the processor — while still fast — isn’t the modern one everyone else is using on their flagship phones (it’s a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 rather than the 821 in the Google Pixel).

I really like the camera controls. The swipe-down menu makes picking modes super convenient.

Josh Miller/CNET

One other thing to note is that HTC is following the iPhone 7-led trend of ripping out the audio jack and giving you headphones with a USB-C attachment instead. That means you won’t be able to charge your phone while also listening to podcasts, and it means you won’t be able to use your favorite non-USB-C headphones without an adaptor. If you use wireless headphones anyway, you probably won’t care.

I know I’ve just spent the last few minutes nitpicking the Bolt, but from my experience with it so far, it’s absolutely not an awful phone. It’s a pretty good one. But it also feels a little pricey for what it is, and I know that HTC can do better — I’ve seen it.

I’ll be spending more time with the Bolt and doing much more testing (like battery drain tests) before assigning a final review assessment. But here’s what I think so far: If you don’t care about a larger screen, the 4.7-inch iPhone 7 and 5-inch Google Pixel are cutting edge phones that cost only $50 more. Or, you can get some good-and-cheap phones like the OnePlus 3 and Huawei Honor 8 for $400 each, which is quite a bit less. If you’re with Sprint and the Bolt hits your sweet spot on price, you’ll probably be happy enough with it. But it’s hard to recommend it when there are so many other phones out there that have fewer marks against them.