HTC 10 Evo review: Hands-on with HTC’s big screen 10

If the HTC 10 Evo looks familiar, that’s because it was launched as the HTC Bolt recently as a Sprint exclusive. Well, it’s exclusive no more, as it lands in the UK under a different name.

The Evo recycles a name used by HTC in the past. There was the HTC Evo 4G, launched in 2010, which at the time was designed to push Sprint’s new WiMAX 4G network. You can see where the idea for the name came from, jumping on the HTC 10 line and presenting much the same look. 

The HTC 10, however, makes some compromises along the way, balancing some important points of progress, with some strange spec choices, resulting in a phone that’s a sub-premium fusion.

HTC 10 Evo: Metal, waterproof, solid

• 153.92 x 77.22 x 8.13mm metal unibody
• IP57 water resistance
• No 3.5mm headphone socket

Carrying HTC’s signature metal build, the Evo is every inch as solid as the HTC 10 launched in the early stages of 2016. There are the serious lines, with deep chamfers front and rear, on a body that’s all aluminium.

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That gives the 153.92 x 77.22 x 8.13mm phone a very solid build. We loved the result on the HTC 10 and that’s replicated here, with a serious feeling in the hand. It’s not as exciting as the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge, but it’s perhaps a little more interesting than the Google Pixel XL, as well as being a dab more conventional.

The big story here is that this is an IP57 rated handset, with HTC claiming it’s the first all-metal handset of this type to make that move. Exactly where that leaves the iPhone 7 we’re not sure – but this is one area that the new 10 Evo outshines the normal HTC 10.

This 10 Evo is flat across the back, rather than curved like the regular 10, with HTC telling us that this is because of the size. Now with a 5.5-inch display, the 10 Evo is a bit more of a handful and the flat back makes it easier to grip.

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Despite being a larger phone, however, weighing some 170g, it still has a camera bump on the rear. It’s a small point, but we’d rather it was flat. You’ll also find that HTC has jumped on the courage bandwagon and removed the 3.5mm headphone socket. That means you’ll be using the USB Type-C socket on the bottom, perhaps a strange play in a device that isn’t hugely skinny, like the Moto Z. 

HTC 10 Evo: Display 

• 5.5-inch, 2560 x 1440 pixels, 534ppi
• Super LCD3 panel

The biggest thing you’ll notice about the HTC 10 Evo is that display. At 5.5-inches, the Evo pushes into big phone territory, matching the likes of the SGS7 edge and Pixel XL, the devices that undoubtedly rule Android at the moment. HTC here also offers Quad HD resolution – 2560 x 1440 pixels – spread across that big display for 534ppi. That means detail across that expanse, but this isn’t a great display overall.

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HTC has opted for a Super LCD panel on the 10 Evo, rather than AMOLED as found in those other big devices we’ve just mentioned. AMOLED is known for offering more punch and vibrancy, and deeper blacks, but HTC has had some great LCD panels in the past. Unfortunately, from what we’ve seen of the HTC 10 Evo so far, this isn’t one of them. 

On the model we’ve been using for the past few days, it doesn’t have the brightness or the richness of the HTC 10, so it struggles to deliver the punch and verve you want from it. That makes the large display a little lifeless – there’s no pop to the colours, there’s a lack of excitement in the tonality. 

You can tweak the temperature of the display slightly, but it doesn’t go far enough to pull the colour tone in the right direction. This could just be a problem on the sample we have, so it’s worth reading around to get a wider opinion of the display before buying. 

HTC 10 Evo: Hardware and performance

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 810, 3GB RAM
• 32 or 64GB storage, microSD card slot

So far the story of the HTC 10 Evo’s specs has been one of a flagship-level device. That metal body, waterproofing, a huge Quad HD display. However, drill into the hardware at the core of the 10 Evo and the picture starts to change.

The HTC 10 Evo is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chipset with 3GB of RAM. That was the defacto standard for 2015’s flagships, with the quad-core SD820 powering more recent devices, and the SD821 picking up after that on even newer phones, like the OnePlus 3T.

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Let’s not mess around here: the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 is a powerful chipset, more than capable of running the latest apps and games and it was perfectly good for the last generation of flagships. But it was also a chipset that was mired in controversy around its thermal management. 

That’s something you immediately notice with the HTC 10 Evo compared to the HTC 10: it runs hotter, it plays hotter, it gets hotter when it charges, which the HTC 10 doesn’t, side by side, the HTC 10 feels like the better device as a result, seeing the 10 Evo slip into that slightly sub-flagship position.

That’s likely to be reflected in the price, although HTC has yet to disclose exactly what that’s going to be. It will only be available through HTC.com as an unlocked device, rather than from a network, so price will very much be key.

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We’re still testing various aspects of the performance and will update once we’ve spent longer with the phone, but a short session playing Real Racing 3 sees the phone warming to the touch, although the performance is perfectly smooth, not something we’d complain about. Day-to-day use has been smooth too. 

One of the advantages you have over some devices is the inclusion of a microSD card slot, with full support for Android’s adoptable storage feature, meaning you should opt for the 32GB model, buy a large card and integrate that storage too, so you have plenty of space.

There’s a fingerprint scanner on the front, flanked by capacitive backlit control buttons. The scanner is nice and fast when unlocking the phone, as well as doubling up as a tap button to take you home.

HTC 10 Evo: Battery performance

• 3200mAh battery
• Quick Charge 2 charger included

We’ve not had the 10 Evo under review for a very long time, so we can’t call out a definitive position on the battery just yet, but with a 3200mAh battery and Quick Charge 2 support, it’s off to a good start.

That’s not the largest battery capacity at this size – the OnePlus 3T is 3400, the Pixel XL is 3450 – but we’ve been impressed with the performance so far. Quick Charge support means it will be juiced up in no time at all and there’s power saving modes that we know are effective from using on other HTC devices.

So far we’ve seen day long performance from this battery, so we’re confident that it’s going to be one of the better handsets out there – but we’ll update as soon as we’ve been using the phone for long enough for a full picture.

HTC 10 Evo: Sweet Nougat software

• Android 7.0 Nougat from the box
• HTC Sense tweaks 

One of the areas where HTC is likely to be praised is in offering an Android 7.0 Nougat device, bettering some rivals who are launching on Marshmallow still. Launching on the latest version of Android’s software, it has been lightly tweaked by HTC Sense.

HTC has been changing less and less of Android in recent times and the result is that the HTC 10 Evo feels like a Nougat phone. There’s still HTC’s BlinkFeed launcher – although you can switch off BlinkFeed if you don’t like it. There’s still a full set of HTC Themes available to customise your device, and the preloading of some key social apps from Facebook, but apart from that, it’s Google’s core apps for most things.

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There’s a range of options to tweak the device, including the ability to opt for large or small display. This will let you have big or smaller icons, the latter meaning you can get more on a screen – we also saw this in the Pixel XL and we really like it.

There’s one area that doesn’t quite work and that’s in the apps drawer. Here you’ll see all your apps, with the option to change the grid size. But even on the denser grid size, there’s so much wasted space if you’ve opted for the “small” display option. The 3 x 4 apps grid is a joke on a phone this size, the 4 x 5 is a little unambitious – you could have an extra row of apps on each screen, for example. Stick to the normal sizing and it all looks fine, but it seems that these two options don’t quite work together yet.

Importantly, things run nice and swiftly around the Evo. This might not be the latest hardware, but there’s a feeling that the software that HTC has put in place, combined with a chipset that’s familiar results in good performance.

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As we’ve said, we’ve not been using the 10 Evo long enough to write definitively about the performance, or to fully test and investigate all aspects of the software, but it’s clear that what you find on the HTC 10 Evo will be what the HTC 10 gets with the update to Nougat soon. 

If you’re an Android fan, it’s a great dab of customisation on the top of Android, it’s not wrenched away visually like Samsung, LG or Huawei, so it maintains a purity, with the launcher being the biggest change. If you don’t like that, you’ve got plenty of options to switch that out for a different experience. 

HTC 10 Evo: Audio prowess

• Hi-Res audio support
• Hi-Res headphones included
• Adaptive audio
• No 3.5mm headphone socket

HTC has been making a lot of noise about audio recently. Some of this comes about as a way of offsetting the move on from the front firing speakers. On the HTC 10, this resulted in BoomSound HiFi, which used the bottom speaker and the ear speaker to create that stereo effect. 

On the HTC 10 Evo you don’t get that feature, audio only plays through the bottom speaker. It isn’t as accomplished as the HTC 10 in that respect and when you’re playing games or watching YouTube, the sound is thinner, less defined and less bassy.

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However, HTC 10 Evo is an accomplished audio device as soon as you plug in the Hi-Res headset that comes in the box. Offering the same design as the HTC 10’s wonderful headset, only using USB Type-C rather than 3.5mm, it offers great in ear performance, and customised to you.

Previous HTC devices have allowed you to tune the headset to your hearing, not using an equaliser, but through a serious of tones and taps so that it knows what you can hear and what might need boosting. On the HTC 10 Evo, this is now automatic. 

This is called “adaptive audio” and you’ll need to use HTC’s headset to make this work. You simply plug it into the phone and your ears, press the button and it tests and sets the levels based on your ears, giving you a personal profile. This can also be updated in different locations to help reduce outside noise, so if you’re on a train or plane, for example, you simply swipe down the notifications and tap to update, which happens in a few seconds.

It’s very clever, meaning that there’s really no compromise. Except, of course, that you don’t have 3.5mm headphones anymore, which might be a problem for some.

With many devices sticking to conventional 3.5mm connections, making the jump to one without might be a barrier. HTC’s bundled in-ear headphones are very good, but if you want to stick to your existing headphones, you’ll either need a new cable or an adapter.

• Best Bluetooth headphones 2016: 10 of the best on/over-ears for wireless listening

HTC 10 Evo: Cameras

• 16MP, f/2.0, PDAF rear camera
• 8MP with panoramic selfie front camera

The HTC 10 Evo has a 16-megapixzel camera on the rear, offering optical image stabilisation, f/2.0 aperture and phase detection autofocus. There’s dual-tone flash, RAW capture is offered through a Pro mode and you get 4K video capture too.

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The regular camera will offer auto HDR, helping level out tricky shots and we’ve found this to be pretty good in the past. The Pro mode gives control over a full range of settings – ISO, shutter speed and focus are useful for deliberately composed photos, for example lower light, where there’s the option to select a 16-second exposure for light trails in the dark and so on. 

There’s also a quick selection option in the Pro mode so you can jump to settings for macro, sport or night with one tap – and tweak as you need it. 

The front camera is an 8-megapixel sensor offering selfie flash and a range of modes for selfies, including panorama and the option for make-up style smearing. 

Both cameras have been fast enough to launch and easy enough to use, but we’re yet to fully assess their performance. We’re still testing this camera combo and we’ll update as soon as we have finished our investigation into its performance. 

First Impressions

The HTC 10 Evo presents a strange combination of specs. On the noe side there’s stellar audio performance, hampered by the lack of a conventional 3.5mm headphone socket, there’s great performance, but with and older chipset that does still seem to get a little warm.

Then you have a big display, packed with detail, but not really very well balanced when it comes to colours, which sells this phone a little short. 

Undoubtedly the HTC 10 Evo is one of the most solidly built handsets on the market. We like that design, as we liked the HTC 10 and the IP57 water resistance brings this handset into competition, taking away that worry about using it in the rain. 

We’re still testing the battery and the camera and we’re still awaiting the price on which so much hangs. The HTC 10 Evo faces tough competition at this size – Samsung, Google, OnePlus – and all these rivals offer advantages – design, performance, price – which the HTC 10 Evo has to overcome to be in contention. 

We’ll update this review once we’ve spent a little more time with this new handset.