HTC 10 Reviews

[markymark]

It's funny because the "bias" conversation starts when these reviewers have a differing opinion than you.

Not at all. Apparently you have a misunderstanding of the word "bias". You said reviewers should inject their own "bias" into their reviews. Nothing could be further from the truth. That is something reviewers absolutely should not do. It's not a matter of whether they agree or disagree with me. I don't have the phone so how could I even have an opinion? Intelligent people can usually tell the difference between an objective review and a biased review. It doesn't take a genius.

 

[Mdbills484]

Um, no. Reviewers should give an honest and unbiased review of the product. Bias indicates a predetermined favoritism toward a certain brand or prejudice against a certain brand. Completely different from an honest review. Sites like CNET and so forth make the bulk of their money from advertising. Samsung is a huge advertiser. They have already been caught cheating on benchmark tests and paying CNET to re-publish favorable reviews. The credibility of many of these reviews is questionable at best.

Um, reviews are opinions and opinions include bias per se. Just about every OEM has been caught cheating benchmarks and they all advertise. I wouldn't rely upon or discount any single review but there tends to be a collective wisdom if you read enough of them and the same common themes emerge.

That being said, I would proffer that most of the tech bloggers we all follow on the daily do their jobs in an echo chamber, fairly detached from what real consumers look for in a device. For example, for years reviewers were plastic shaming Samsung while the consumers voted with their paychecks that plastic was just fine.

 

[bhatech]

If there was no bias, should it be 100% super favorable?

This whole, "they don't like it" or "they're not saying it's perfect like others" so they must be "biased" mentality is quite silly to me.

It doesn't take a genius to figure if the review is objective one or the reviewer just doesn't care to take the time and do a thorough review. Not everyone has to agree to all reviews and personally what matters is my own review for myself. I know what I want so doesn't matter what the so called expert reviews say. It's more of a fun or time pass to read the reviews until we get our devices. If I don't like there is always return period.

 

[Ry]

It's highly amusing that everyone clamors for reviews but the only reliable sites are those that echo personal sentiment. Any site that doesn't is unreliable and has questionable integrity. We may need to create a safe place so people aren't scarred for life from different views.

Just publish the spec sheet. lol.

 

[anon(604250)]

If reviewers didn't inject their own biases into their reviews, we'd just be reading a spec sheet.

I'm not expecting or asking that reviewers eschew their biases. That would be naïve. Reviewers naturally have areas they will be more critical of than others, and that's fine. If they have seen, in their opinion, one product perform a funtion better than the one they are reviewing, pointing it out is just dandy. That sort of thing can bring up a point I haven't considered.

I never said that all bias is bad or useless. I get that reviews are largely subjective and I take that into account as I go along, because critical thinking is what it's all about anyway. But when a reviewer obviously has a chip on their shoulder about the subject, that's the sort of bias I have no patience for.

 

[anon(9072051)]

The average reviewer will reveal their biases clearly enough by the tone they take, and some don't even bother to hide them at all.

Which is really what you want in a reviewer. It's that whiff of Hidden Agenda (which really ought to be the name of some Axe body spray or Guy Laroche cologne by now) that should make you hold yer nose and run away. That said, of the reviews I've seen, I'd give Amadeo from Ars Technica a thumbs up for putting out an early review that is still detailed and specific. Instead of either dismissing the camera because of HTC's recent history or merely jumping on the DxOMark bandwagon, he did his own comparisons and backs up his claims with evidence.

 

[Malek J]

If there was no bias, should it be 100% super favorable?

This whole, "they don't like it" or "they're not saying it's perfect like others" so they must be "biased" mentality is quite silly to me.

Basically any review is bias and paid for if the person reading the review is already pre determined to get that phone.
It's all defensive from there

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[KSDroid01]

Too many reviewers and so-called smart phone experts also think they are business analysts or CPAs, when they are not. I really don't care what some blogger thinks the market should look like because most of the bloggers/phone "experts" know very little about financial analysis. So when The Verge or CNet start on this track, what they are really saying is: we don't see a need for HTC to exist because Samsung and Apple already do this stuff and the HTC product is only just as good as those phones. The mid range marketplace has MORE competition than the high end market. That isn't an opinion that's a statement of fact. But, these knuckle heads wouldn't have been so daft if this was a $400 phone because it's "mid range" which shows how little they know. What they should stick to is how does the phone feel, how does it work, and what is the outcome of those things.

When it comes to financial analysis most of these 20 and 30 something bloggers are all hat and no cattle.

I love HTC's products, and owned 3 in a row up to the M7 but I think these reviewers are making a relevant point. HTC has been hemorrhaging money, and their mind share and market share has shrunk to ridiculous lows. It didn't take a financial analyst to see that they have to do something extraordinary to dig out of that hole. Their pre-release teaser program was excellent, and they have produced an extraordinary phone... but that's not enough. Pricing it at or above the competition's price point will hurt them... they need to go the extra mile to convince consumers to take a chance on them again: price this phone slightly below the market, include their HD earbuds with the phone, convince AT&T to get on board, speed up their time to market, promise fast updates based on their newly-lightened skin, and market the heck out of it.

Posted via Turbo

 

[KennyJohnson]

I love HTC's products, and owned 3 in a row up to the M7 but I think these reviewers are making a relevant point. HTC has been hemorrhaging money, and their mind share and market share has shrunk to ridiculous lows. It didn't take a financial analyst to see that they have to do something extraordinary to dig out of that hole. Their pre-release teaser program was excellent, and they have produced an extraordinary phone... but that's not enough. Pricing it at or above the competition's price point will hurt them... they need to go the extra mile to convince consumers to take a chance on them again: price this phone slightly below the market, include their HD earbuds with the phone, convince AT&T to get on board, speed up their time to market, promise fast updates based on their newly-lightened skin, and market the heck out of it.

Posted via Turbo

This is what I'm talking about. We don't know their margin on the 10. It's fine to say HTC hasn't been doing well and they need to release a product that will do well but when we start throwing out what they should do, like you did above, it isn't that simple. I know a lot about this stuff and these decisions are complex and going with razor thin margins because you're giving it all away just sets us up for next year when some mellenial blogger with a humanities or liberal arts degree hits them for giving away the head phones and pricing a flagship level device at mid range or just a little above mid range prices in 2016 and changing I. 2017.

 

[KSDroid01]

This is what I'm talking about. We don't know their margin on the 10. It's fine to say HTC hasn't been doing well and they need to release a product that will do well but when we start throwing out what they should do, like you did above, it isn't that simple. I know a lot about this stuff and these decisions are complex and going with razor thin margins because you're giving it all away just sets us up for next year when some mellenial blogger with a humanities or liberal arts degree hits them for giving away the head phones and pricing a flagship level device at mid range or just a little above mid range prices in 2016 and changing I. 2017.

My suggestion is not a universal solution, HTC is in a serious situation, and I'm not talking about about strategically and deliberately undercutting the competition to increase market share. When a patient is hemorrhaging blood, the first priority is to immediately stop the bleeding. If it takes barely covering costs to improve cash flow and get a superior product into as many people's hands as possible, in the hopes that this can convince the the market that they are a going concern again, I think that is what they need. Trying to sell a $700 phone, as good as it is, and against some intensely good competition, without any extras to sweeten the pot, reeks of a a misperception of market strength. I'm not advocating mid-range or just & above mid-range pricing, but $700 is at the very high end of the 5"+/- premium market. $600 with the earbuds would slightly undercut that market, provide a lot more people with the incentive to take a chance on HTC, and I think dramatically increase their sales. This is coming from someone who loved HTC for over 3 years and until recently was intensely loyal to them... if that's what it would take to get me on board, I suspect that will be true for a LOT of other people. If HTC can't break even or make any profit at or slightly above that point, then I think they are in trouble...still.

Posted via Turbo

 

[DizWhiz]

I said it elsewhere but Verge gave it an 8. An 8 is not bad it just means it isn't better than what is already out there but it's totally capable.

Also neither Samsung or Apple need to prove to the world they are still relevant, HTC does. Their last two flagships sold poorly, they've lost their brand recognition, and they have to overcome the huge hole which is the lack of AT&T in-store sales which make up the vast majority of phone sales.

Make it so.

 

[KennyJohnson]

My suggestion is not a universal solution, HTC is in a serious situation, and I'm not talking about about strategically and deliberately undercutting the competition to increase market share. When a patient is hemorrhaging blood, the first priority is to immediately stop the bleeding. If it takes barely covering costs to improve cash flow and get a superior product into as many people's hands as possible, in the hopes that this can convince the the market that they are a going concern again, I think that is what they need. Trying to sell a $700 phone, as good as it is, and against some intensely good competition, without any extras to sweeten the pot, reeks of a a misperception of market strength. I'm not advocating mid-range or just & above mid-range pricing, but $700 is at the very high end of the 5"+/- premium market. $600 with the earbuds would slightly undercut that market, provide a lot more people with the incentive to take a chance on HTC, and I think dramatically increase their sales. This is coming from someone who loved HTC for over 3 years and until recently was intensely loyal to them... if that's what it would take to get me on board, I suspect that will be true for a LOT of other people. If HTC can't break even or make any profit at or slightly above that point, then I think they are in trouble...still.

Posted via Turbo

Well, I purchased my device for $600. I think they should have included the earbuds because the earbuds are inexpensive to manufacture and incredibly high margin. I don't think you go to all the engineering effort to have a device that can produce such great sound and not give the users the ability to enjoy said sound.

$700 puts them in line with the iPhone and Galaxy S7 which is where they should be for this device. But, they cannot come in and forget all common sense in order to compete because then if they fail it's that much more of a failure. The earbuds thing really bothers me because I know first hand how much the manufacturing costs on those are and they could include those and not take a huge hit OR at least include them for a limited time. I don't think they are done. The biggest problem I think HTC has had is just marketing. They don't know how to market their devices. They never have known how tell their story.

 

[DuoWing]

I stopped listening to The Verge when the Lumia 920 was basically a review crying about it being so heavy that it was a chore to use, and then at the end said that they can't recommend the 920 because it was too heavy. Then they proceed to write reviews about phones not feeling solid, too lightweight, and that they feel like a cheap toy. I used my 920 for over a year and never once did the heft of it in any way make me feel like it was hard to use my phone. Maybe I just have super human strength...

 

[Habiib]

Just for craps and giggles, I find it funny how -CNET pulled a ninja edit and changed the title of their HTC 10 review. At first it was "Get the HTC 10 if you want a phone that delivers great audio. For all your other needs, look elsewhere.", and now it says "HTC 10 brings the noise, but it's not a Galaxy killer". To make things even more humorous, they completely removed a hands on article written by another editor which started off with the same snarky and condescending tone. I shan't claim an agenda is in play or that greasing has occurred, but these actions along with the comments in the article make for a good chuckle.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[KennyJohnson]

I stopped listening to The Verge when the Lumia 920 was basically a review crying about it being so heavy that it was a chore to use, and then at the end said that they can't recommend the 920 because it was too heavy. Then they proceed to write reviews about phones not feeling solid, too lightweight, and that they feel like a cheap toy. I used my 920 for over a year and never once did the heft of it in any way make me feel like it was hard to use my phone. Maybe I just have super human strength...

My problem with the Verge is that they are an iPhone shop. They only use other platforms when performing a review and then back to the iPhone. So they immediately default to how the iPhone does something.

 

[morphodone]

Just for craps and giggles, I find it funny how -CNET pulled a ninja edit and changed the title of their HTC 10 review. At first it was "Get the HTC 10 if you want a phone that delivers great audio. For all your other needs, look elsewhere.", and now it says "HTC 10 brings the noise, but it's not a Galaxy killer". To make things even more humorous, they completely removed a hands on article written by another editor which started off with the same snarky and condescending tone. I shan't claim an agenda is in play or that greasing has occurred, but these actions along with the comments in the article make for a good chuckle.

Posted via the Android Central App

It's there under "The bottom line."

That would be an awfully long title for an article.

 

[jayzero76]

If the price in Canada would be a bit lower I would buy it. Is the bootloader unlocked ?

For me is a go

 

[Camaihofer]

Same here... Jack o the bottom... So when I pull phone out of pocket it's orientatated right

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Michael Pidani]

For those that are familiar with the writers at BGR (who tend to favor ANYTHING Apple), this is a very unbiased comparison of the HTC 10 and the S7. BGR's assessment: HTC wins when it comes to performance and battery life, and Samsung edges out (pun intended) the 10 when it comes to camera, display, and design (which is subjective). Their full review on the HTC 10 is great as well. In sum, the 10 doesn't look like the flop everyone seems to think it is. And who knows, maybe a software update will address the nit-picky issues people are having with the camera.

All phones are great, and each has its areas where it outperforms the competition. At the end of the day it all comes down to the preference of the end-user. I personally will NEVER own a Samsung product because of touch-wiz, regardless of how amazing the camera and display are. For whatever reason I find touch-wiz to be offensive to the eyes and clunky. I was the biggest HTC homer ever until I got my hands on the Moto X back in 2014. Moto's almost vanilla version of android, active display, and Moto maker really won me over. Unfortunately, the battery life on my Moto X Pure is horrific! If the battery life advertised for the 10 holds true I think I might have to jump ship once again now that HTC has taken a similar approach as Motorola with respect to their UI. Heck, I might just wait to see what the next Nexus looks like. If the 10 is any indicator of what HTC and Google have in store for us, I think the next Nexus is going to be amazing!

 

[radgatt]

When it comes to reviews for any Android phone if the review isn't from an Android dedicated website then I can't take it seriously. So I'm not even entertaining CNET, BGR, Engadget, or The Verge, just to name a few. If the name of the site doesn't have Android or Droid in it's name then I can't read their reviews seriously. Just my opinion.

Posted via the X '15