The HTC 10 Review
by Joshua Ho on September 19, 2016 8:00 AM ESTSystem Performance
One of the major areas worth discussing when it comes to mobile devices is computing performance. As much as OEMs try to not talk about this, ultimately what distinguishes a smartphone from a featurephone or simple flip phone is dramatically improved compute. Running a web browser, running a full Linux OS with apps that require JIT or AOT compilation are all tasks that demand large amounts of system memory and compute. Similarly, any kind of 3D game is going to require quite a bit of compute power and memory in general. As mentioned in previous reviews a major focus for this year has been trying to make our benchmarks more focused on real-world performance, so we’ll be better able to show how the HTC 10 actually performs relative to other devices on the market.
In the basic browser benchmarks, we can see that the HTC 10 is pretty much on par with all other Snapdragon 820 devices. This shouldn't really come as a surprise given how much of an optimization target all of these benchmarks are for the OEMs and SoC vendors, but performance in general on Snapdragon 820 is not necessarily great for web browsing with Chrome.
PCMark is very sensitive to DVFS changes in most cases so it's interesting to see how closely it performed to the Galaxy S7 and G5. What is notable here is the poor showing in video playback, which persists even if you use HTC's CPU cheats which are still accessible from the developer settings. The average scores that PCMark records is significantly higher than what I can achieve with the HTC 10 unless I enable high CPU performance mode. Determining what this means has been left as an exercise to the reader.
Looking at the HTC 10 overall results it might be tempting to simply suggest that overall performance is comparable to the Galaxy S7 with S820 but when you look at the individual breakdown the main reason why the HTC 10 seems to be so slow is because the location provider in Maps is causing its launch time to be significantly higher than most phones I've seen before. In just about every other situation the Galaxy S7 is significantly behind the HTC 10. Overall, I think the HTC 10 performance is in line with what I'd expect for a Snapdragon 820 phone here.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
183 Comments
View All Comments
Zoomer - Thursday, September 22, 2016 - link
It's not ten times better in the way that a BMW M7 isn't ten times better than a Tata Nano. That doesn't make it vastly better than a BLU.ACM.1899 - Friday, September 23, 2016 - link
i meant if your LCD, Speakers,Buttons, antennas, Charging circuit ... maintain their quality in long term. AND how REPAIRABLE it is.or more importantly Battery.
or the Rom lasts longer before becoming laggy. or how manufacturers support the phone or developers with their custom roms.
ACM.1899 - Friday, September 23, 2016 - link
not the best example though , but i see your point..because almost everybody can afford the best smartphone and when spending a lot of money , he/she would rather not to spend anytime soon.
like you buy shoes ; you can spend 150$ (50+50+50, three new cheap shoes every year) or 150$ (good quality shoes) every 3 years.(fixed prices and incomes)
ACM.1899 - Friday, September 23, 2016 - link
and of course it depends on how you use it.if you run a lot then you need good shoes.but if you just dial and text then a nokia 3310 is more than enough for you.
techconc - Monday, September 26, 2016 - link
I have no issue with you feeling good about your $60 phone. That's great. I'm truly happy for you. That said, your claim that purchasing high end phones isn't sustainable is provably incorrect. For many people, the smartphone is the computing device that people use for the better part of the day. It shouldn't be difficult to understand that even people with lower income would choose to indulge on this particular product category.Impulses - Thursday, September 22, 2016 - link
Glad you put this review out Josh, having read it I'm a little more inclined to pick a 10 up if the Pixels disappoint me... Despite all the enthusiast belly aching, people tend to keep phones longer those days and are thus much more likely to pick up a flagship model later in it's cycle.Shoot, I went thru three phones in three years (all HTC) before finally keeping one longer than that, still clinging to my N5... Not using my phone for gaming or as my primary camera has really made things like battery life, software, general design, and unique features the biggest differentiators.
Good old N5 got at least two of those right, really starting to want something with better battery life even after a cell swap and wireless chargers all over the house... Gotten quite used to those tho, hoping the Pixel's glass back means it's back in.
nukmichael - Sunday, September 25, 2016 - link
Why NFC looks still active in the battery test ?? Shouldn't be closed?DaFireStorm - Tuesday, September 27, 2016 - link
Great review. I use an HTC 10 and have become of the WiFi woes of this device but I think this may be the only review to have picked up on the WiFi problems.Badelhas - Tuesday, October 17, 2017 - link
Hi there. I just upgraded from the M8 and the wifi is not Wi-Fi range is very weak, used to be able to watch videos on the bedroom or kitchen and now it's impossible. Am I the only one? Is there anything we can do to fix it?Cheers
axcelred - Tuesday, November 22, 2016 - link
Thank you for this review, it really helped me make a decision. I was looking at so many midrange and high end flagship phones but wanted an overall good experience and low light camera as my main point to shoot. Mainly in home or social gathering use that has mid to subtle lighting and can pick up details in the shadows with less noise. Coming from a camera on a Lumia, it's hard to let go ir find something that performed similarly. With the current Black Friday 2016 - 200 dollars off, I purchased one; everything in the price range of 399-499, didn't have great reviews for these conditions and even some of the higher end phones. It may not be the fastest or have the latest processor, but it is stable, solid, and has a great community from HTC's commitments and XDA surrounded it and that is important. Really appreciate this and the in-depth reviews this site provides.