My favourite retro HTC telephone marks the top of ...

There are a selection of wonderful smartphones that have won over my heart all through the years, however one handset particularly stands above the remaining: 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 light from the general public consciousness, which I feel is a disgrace.

In some ways, the HTC 10 might 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 12 months prior.

With the ten, HTC got here weapons blazing: the telephone included all of the high-end specs accessible for the time, a refined software program expertise that revered the person, and an exterior {hardware} package deal that appears each bit as good-looking at present because it did practically a decade in the past. So much has modified within the client 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 little thing the fashionable telephone trade is not

When selecting 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 digicam module. Externally, the ten holds up superbly. Its rounded, unibody metallic construct, its weighted mass, and its distinctive beveled edge all come collectively in a satisfying method that makes the system appear and feel extremely luxurious.

Philosophically, the HTC 10 is the literal antithesis of contemporary high-end telephone design. Other than the apparent lack of a glass rear panel, the telephone presents 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 digicam with optical picture stabilization, and a capacitive fingerprint sensor. I recognize the smaller dimension of the system (its 5.2-inch display appeared huge for the time, however feels compact on reflection), and the clicky, ribbed energy button continues to be essentially the most satisfying button I’ve ever pressed on a telephone.

That is to not say that the ten was excellent: for its time, the system lacked a number of options that have been turning into more and more commonplace amongst competing flagships. This features a extra strong 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 one of the best pores and skin within the sport

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 person expertise. Sense was completely different — it was enticing and but restrained, it prevented 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 means of Android 8.0 Oreo. Its Sense UI stays pleasing to at the present time, although its look has naturally fallen out of visible trend as time has marched onward. Different Android telephone makers have since stepped up their software program sport fairly significantly, however for my part, 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 without doubt one of the most iconic slider-style smartphones of all time – here is what it is like utilizing the system within the 12 months 2025.

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

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

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 offered an end-user expertise that I feel 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 12 months after. These gadgets, which might find yourself being the ultimate flagship HTC choices on a aggressive scale, would succumb to varied 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 sequence a form of successor line to a point. Early Pixels, together with the first-generation mannequin, have been the truth is constructed by HTC. Even with its lowered trade prominence in 2025, I would like to see a real religious successor to the ten make its method 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. When you’re at it, why not convey 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.