HTC ’10’ leaks in full before April 12th Event

With HTC’s ‘online-only’ launch of the HTC 10 less than 24 hours away, we’re struggling to think of something that hasn’t leaked for this device yet. From the camera sensor to the material used to build the phone, there’s nothing we don’t know about this device coming out of Taiwan.

The leak that really caught everyone by surprise was a reveal video posted earlier on today by HDBlog.it, who managed to get their hands on the finer details of the phone that could finally put HTC back on the map. That isn’t to say HTC were never off the map, though. The Taiwanese company has fallen victim to dwindling quarterly sales and poorly timed device launches over the past 2 years, but it seems the #Powerof10 launch is about to revive the company with all eyes on them.

About HTC

If you aren’t familiar with HTC, they are the innovators of the first ever Android phone called the HTC Dream. In conjunction with Google and the Open Handset Alliance, HTC came up with the first commercially available Android device, which, for the most part, could be classed as the first ‘Nexus’ device since it ran a pure unadulterated version of Android. Back then, Android versions were just numbers with no codenames up until 1.5, which was later named ‘Cupcake’. The device itself was a very solid piece of hardware, with specifications that really turned technology on its side. The Dream had an AZERTY physical keyboard which was surprisingly comfortable to use during daily tasks, and you have to remember – this was back in the time where BlackBerry was very much the king of phones – with the consumer clamouring for a physical keyboard because that was the ‘cool’ thing to have.

Of course, things have changed drastically over the 8 years that Android has been alive and well. The software has matured into less of an eyesore, with material design being the culprit of everything right with Android right now. Manufacturers and smartphone technology, in general, has advanced way more than anyone could have anticipated – and of course – physical keyboards are no longer the ‘cool’ thing to have any more. Well, unless you want one then you could go ahead and buy a BlackBerry Priv…did I mention BlackBerry make primarily Android devices now? Strange 8 years for sure.

Power of 10

Now we’ve had a trip down nostalgia lane, how about getting down to the nitty-gritty?

What is the ‘Power of 10’? To cut it short, it’s a marketing term brought to life by the people at HTC to hype up their product. Tweets going as far back as the 5th April from Jeff Gordon, who is the Senior Global Online Communications Manager at HTC.

Before we go any further, here are the rumoured specifications taken from a leaked listing of the device:

• 5.2-inch Super LCD 5 Display
• Curved Gorilla Glass
• 32GB Onboard Storage
• 12MP Sony Sensor with OIS
• 5MP Front Facing camera with OIS
• MicroSD Support
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 820
• HTC BoomSound HiFi Edition
• Black, Silver & Gold Colour options

What Will The Device Look Like?

First of all, let’s get (almost) official with this leaked video of the device which will no doubt be used at the unveiling event tomorrow. The video shows how the device is crafted from one single piece of aluminium, with a slight chamfer to the back of the device for that extra ‘premium’ feel. You can also see in this video that the software buttons are no more, but on a happier note, neither is the HTC bar that haunted plenty of HTC users starting with the One M7.

To accompany the video, here are a selection of leaked images gathered from known leakers within the community all but confirming the ‘ultra premium’ design language.

My Thoughts

HTC are a company that everyone within the Android community is hoping will pull through this apparent slum they are in right now. They are an integral part of the Android universe, creating some of the best devices this industry has to offer. The HTC Desire is on my top list of many phones that I have owned, with their constant evolution in design language which could have been considered too risky in the past. HTC were the creators of the word ‘premium smartphone’, and seeing a once successful company leave us when they proved so much would be a heartbreaking story to tell.

The HTC 10 looks like it could be one of the smartphones to beat this year, with HTC creating an all-new device from the ground up and having the consumers best interests at the heart of it. Does it have some questionable changes? Sure, but you need to take risks every so often or you’ll end up in the same situation they were in this time last year. The move back to capacitive buttons is a bold move, with not many companies choosing this option anymore. But, from the looks of the leaks, the capacitive button move makes a whole lot of sense (pardon the pun) with the fingerprint scanner being at the front of the device. Another advantage to having capacitive buttons, of course, is the fact you can get more screen real estate out of the wonderfully crafted curved Gorilla Glass technology, making it almost an edge to edge display.

On the software side of things, HTC really doesn’t have to worry about changing much in terms of user experience, as everyone has become accustomed to the way HTC Sense works, and how wondrous it is to use in daily use.

If the leaks are true, would I buy the 10? Probably not, but that’s for reasons completely unrelated to how I feel about the device. No doubt this device will add a new meaning to the ‘premium’ mantra that has been steadily stacking up over the past few years. The Snapdragon 820 is proving to be a powerhouse without the overheating worries, and the camera automatically sounds good since it is using the Nexus 6P Sensor with added OIS.

The official unveiling of the HTC 10 will be presented on htc.com.

Stay tuned for more details.