Interface, Audio & General Usage
The HTC 10 makes use of the latest Sense 8 interface, which is built on top of Android Marshmallow. To me it is much easier to navigate than other Android interfaces that I’ve used in the past. There are plenty of customization options to make the interface yours.
There is the BlinkFeed home screen which integrates social media feeds, news, and other feeds in one. It works pretty flawlessly. All of the notifications are really easy to view and navigate through. The main settings are also easy to find and all of the options are clearly laid out.
Audio was one of the big things many people were really excited for with this phone. The phone makes use of HTC’s BoomSound external speakers. This do sound quite good for smartphone speakers, but are not the best I’ve heard.
I listened to the HTC 10’s speakers while writing this entire review. Again as I said the speakers are good, but I would rather have been using headphones, sadly they were not included with the Verizon version of the phone. You do have the ability to switch between Music Mode and Theater Mode.
Using the HTC as my main phone for a few weeks was a little interesting, again coming from using an iPhone. After a few days I was quite used to it though. Call quality is really good and there was never a time where I lost connection or couldn’t hear someone on the other end of a call. Also people on the other end of a call said I sounded good and they could hear me clearly.
When it comes to connectivity the HTC is compatible with pretty much every WiFi, Bluetooth, and NFC wireless standards out there. When it comes to speeds we did a direct comparison with our iPhone 6s at different locations and on WiFi. Keep in mind our iPhone is on AT&T and the HTC 10 is on Verizon so you have different networks and different coverage where we tested. The WiFi tests should be the most relevant.
