HTC One M10 design leaked in photo

[getbretweir]

Well I think it will be next to impossible for HTC to compete or even get noticed. Producing an outstanding phone, marketing, etc. won't help either.

As for the M10 (or whatever it'll be called), I wouldn't be shocked if it receives lukewarm reviews, comes in last place in every comparison test, and if the user comments in the articles are going to be a flame fest. In the consumer market I already know it's going to be overlooked by a wide margin. I know I'm being doom and gloom, but a lot of the comments I read (from editors and users) in response to the leaks are certainly pointing in that direction.

Posted via the Android Central App

I think the pendulum has swung a bit too far in the other direction. It might not be the greatest phone ever built, but I haven't seen any indication from what we've heard so far that it'll be complete doom and gloom like you seem to think. Will they ever be the HTC as we knew it? Probably not, but I don't think the ship has already sunk. The G5 hasn't seemed to impress many people, and HTC is smart to wait a few months. That tells me they're concentrating on making the best phone they can, and realize what's at stake. And as others have eluded to, they have an opportunity to have the spotlight all to themselves.

 

[getbretweir]

Interesting tweet. Looks like the image I posted earlier with the large chamfers around the edge.

Wonder when they're going to have the event. After seeing the S7 and G5, I'm quite interested in the M10.



From my understanding, there's a good possibility that it's a fingerprint scanner that doubles as a touch home button. Not as a physical button which you press in to activate (like the iPhone/Galaxy home buttons). I believe this is how the One A9 fingerprint scanner works.

I won't mind it if the back and multi-task capactive buttons are real. Otherwise having the FPS/home button combo right below a software home button doesn't make much sense.

yeah that comment after your post about it being a case didn't really make much sense. I can't imagine it not having chamfered edges at this point.

and like I said in the post above, I think the pendulum has swung way to far the other way and people on this site are overreacting a bit too much. We already know HTC isn't gonna get back to the days of old, but I haven't read it seen anything that's led me to believe this phone won't be a great one. The people hear that say it looks like a Samsung, or an iPhone, or whatever, aren't the people that will determine this phones success. And whether it resembles them or not (I'm not saying the front didn't resemble them, it obviously does) as long as it has great hardware, a solid camera, battery life no less than 3000 mAh with a great display and the same software HTC is known for, people will like it.

It doesn't need boomsound either, but it does need high quality audio IMO. Those are definitely A LOT of ifs, but I don't think it's unrealistic. They know what's at stake. They knew it when their stock took a nosedive last year and they've had a lot of time to work in this phone.

One thing nobody seems to be talking about is the lack of getting branding. Personally it gets a lot of points for that. I despise front branding, and if it pretty much looks like a Samsung, but without the logo, it'll look great. And you know the back is gonna look nice.

I think the phone itself is gonna be great. What I question is marketing and the fact that premium flagship phones in general have struggled with the emergence of mid range phones that offer very similar quality at a much less price. So many of the high end market belongs to iPhone and Samsung, that no matter what the phone looks like it's gonna have an uphill battle.

That point I'm not arguing, that HTC as a company is in a bad spot, and have dug themselves a hole they might not get out of. That doesn't mean the M10 won't be a great phone though.

 

[Aquila]

It's stupid to have a fingerprint scanner there and not make it a home button. I really don't understand your point. What they did makes sense to me and everyone else.

They could have put the FPS on the power button or put it on the back of the device as well. Android already has a home button, it's a little circle on the bottom of the screen. It's entirely possible to have a FPS located somewhere on the device (front, side power button or back) without having it be a navigation button. There are dozens of devices that have done exactly that. What HTC did makes for poor design, both functionally and aesthetically. Worse, it is a regression to poor design choices that have been obsolete since 2011. And HTC moved away from that poor design in 2013. Now in 2015 & 2016 they've gone backwards - after a few years of people praising their hardware designs. I think I said that in the earlier post. It was a comment about the design. My first preference would have been to have the FPS somewhere not on the front - but my comment was about the earlier, better renders that showed a FPS that wasn't 1) raised 2) ugly as sin and 3) a navigation button. But thanks for making it, "stupid".

 

[Bearcats98]

Given how the "M10" is going to look; its going to have to be an absolute wow in the software department. I have been waiting to see what it will look like and I am still walking away with "meh" given the current leak pictures. I really believe the EvaLeak rendering for the M9 really spoiled my train of thought on what the phone should look like. It was a real disservice to HTC that that rendering ever came out in my opinion.

The "home" button (regardless of its functionality) is still the front; like Samsung. So my big beef with Samsung is now a HTC beef. I don't want that crap on my front screen. Since its so important to have these biosecurity measures (dumb in my opinion) in place guess my next phone will have some form or fashion a button of this type.

At this point I am probably going to throw in the towel and become a Sam-Sheep I guess. S7Edge seems to address what I am looking for. Since HTC ditched Boomsound (was looking forward to that) what are they offering that makes me want to stay? I have a Droid DNA currently. Also has the original HTC Droid as well. Hardware between the S7 with TouchPuke and M10 with Sense (unseen upgrade currently) seems almost identical. HTC will embrace expandable storage but that alone wont get me to purchase the phone.

*sigh*......

 

[Aquila]

Sorry, you don't work for HTC as a designer or engineer. There is a reason why they discount your opinion. The rest of us who are going to buy it like the design. You can either go design smartphone for a living or keep being a moderator. I say don't quit your day job.

So you'd be ok if we just agree to disagree and move on?

 

[Almeuit]

New tweet from Evleaks: https://twitter.com/evleaks/status/700441970423025664

View attachment 216870

Supposedly the M10 in white. Kinda looks strange. The screen on the bottom right seems to be peeling off the device. Can't tell if this is just a render or a live shot. The screen looks weird.

Your thoughts?

In regards to this leak (been seeing other ones around) it looks like a Samsung phone to me. Or at least at first glance I instantly think of Samsung. I find it weird that they decided to add the home button after not having it for so long. I was one of the people who had the M7 for awhile. It definitely wasn't a bad phone (excluding camera). I just feel HTC is definitely struggling more than back in the day with trying to keep up with the other "big guys".

 

[Aquila]

In regards to this leak (been seeing other ones around) it looks like a Samsung phone to me. Or at least at first glance I instantly think of Samsung. I find it weird that they decided to add the home button after not having it for so long. I was one of the people who had the M7 for awhile. It definitely wasn't a bad phone (excluding camera). I just feel HTC is definitely struggling more than back in the day with trying to keep up with the other "big guys".

This was an an older leak, where the FPS is still there, but smaller and it appears to be recessed (like on the Nexus, LG phones, etc) on a smaller bezel. Losing the speaker on the front in favor of a home button is just bad. Losing this somewhat acceptable front FPS in favor of a home button is just flat out wretched.

 

[Almeuit]

http://mastersaheb.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/HTC-One-M10-leak-image.png

This was an an older leak, where the FPS is still there, but smaller and it appears to be recessed (like on the Nexus, LG phones, etc) on a smaller bezel. Losing the speaker on the front in favor of a home button is just bad. Losing this somewhat acceptable front FPS in favor of a home button is just flat out wretched.

I can agree with that. The double speakers on front are pretty awesome when watching media. I enjoy them on the 6P when I use them right now. To be honest I am shocked most companies don't do it this way since it is so nice for media (when you don't have headphones) and also I use speakerphone a lot while driving so it is nice to have the phone laying in my lap and the voice coming up at me versus having to flip the phone to hear it (like on other phones).

 

[Golfdriver97]

I don't really want to see HTC go under either. Mainly because I don't want the future of smartphone choices be I get to choose between a Samsung and an Apple. At that point, I may just go back to a flip phone.

Back on topic, from some of the leaks I've seen, I'm not too big on the design, but that's just my opinion.

 

[I Can Be Your Hero]

I don't think losing the front facing speakers is too bad. Sure it's nice, but the market clearly shows that it's not a big deal.

The M7, M8 and M9 all had front facing speakers and it doesn't look like it pulled HTC out of financial trouble. Sony have had front facing speakers on their phones for a while now, and their mobile division has been in trouble for a long while too.

Then we look at the iPhone and Galaxy phone - no one reprimands them for not having front facing speakers and as far as I can tell, they're two of the most successful smartphone manufacturers in the world.It's looking more and more like fingerprint scanners are now a staple feature in smartphones, so it's something HTC really needed to include in their M10. The decision they face is what to include and how to include it. They could have the fingerprint scanner on the back, which (as a Nexus 6P owner) is cumbersome to use when phone is on a desk. They could have it on the front, which is more accessible/functional and can double as a home button - which is something that would be comfortable and familiar with iPhone/Galaxy users who may be interested in the M10.

So now they need to look at what they will do with the front facing speakers. Maybe putting both the front speakers and fingerprint scanner on the front isn't possible unless they throw in a black bar again - which they have been heavily criticised for in the past. Maybe the decision for them was what's more important - the fingerprint scanner or the speakers. In my opinion, it makes sense for HTC to ditch the speakers in favour of the fingerprint scanner. Would I have liked dual front facing speakers? Sure. But given that they are going to stick a fingerprint scanner on there (which I personally believe on the front is better than on the back), I think they've made the right decision.

IMO finger print scanner is more important and useful than dual speakers. It's used for security, waking up/unlocking the phone and will be used as security pass instead of 4 digit codes or passwords. Where are front facing speakers going? Nowhere. They're just going to be used when you decide to play content without headphones (which is hopefully not in a public place like on a train or bus or something....). It's usefulness is limited at the best of times, and yes while I do like it, I rarely used the front facing speakers when I had the M7 and M8.

So weighing up the features I can see why HTC are going the direction they look to be going. I think it's the right decision and I don't think the success or failure of the M10 is contingent on front facing speakers.

 

[Aquila]

I don't think losing the front facing speakers is too bad. Sure it's nice, but the market clearly shows that it's not a big deal.

The M7, M8 and M9 all had front facing speakers and it doesn't look like it pulled HTC out of financial trouble. Sony have had front facing speakers on their phones for a while now, and their mobile division has been in trouble for a long while too.

Then we look at the iPhone and Galaxy phone - no one reprimands them for not having front facing speakers and it looks like fingerprint scanners are now a staple features in smartphones, so in my opinion, it makes sense for HTC to ditch the speakers in favour of the fingerprint scanner. Would I have liked dual front facing speakers? Sure. But given that they are going to stick a fingerprint scanner on there (which I personally believe on the front is better than on the back), I think they've made the right decision.

IMO finger print scanner is more important and useful than dual speakers. It's used for security, waking up/unlocking the phone and will be used as security pass instead of 4 digit codes or passwords. Where are front facing speakers going? Nowhere. They're just going to be used when you decide to play content without headphones (which is hopefully not in a public place like on a train or bus or something....). It's usefulness is limited at the best of times, and yes while I do like it, I rarely used the front facing speakers when I had the M7 and M8.

So weighing up the features I can see why HTC are going the direction they look to be going. I think it's the right decision and I don't think the success or failure of the M10 is contingent on front facing speakers.

I don't think you can draw a correlation between front facing speakers and sales like that. Several devices have both front facing speakers and fingerprint scanners - they just all put the FPS in a smarter place. HTC didn't have to choose between features, they did this intentionally. As indicated earlier, they have every right to design whatever phone they want to make - but the loss of the speaker, misplaced FPS and addition of the archaic home button in some strange homage to Samsung are all blunders that don't have to exist. As Almeuit pointed out, the Nexus 6P got all three of these things right - and I'd point out that getting those three things right, when coupled with a fantastic camera, battery life, one of the best screens out there and much better software - one gets a much better designed device that shows care and thoughtfulness. Now I do NOT want every device to be a Nexus clone, but certain design principles were abandoned by HTC - and it sucks because they were one of the leaders in instituting the very same principles. My comments are a lament, not criticism of their strategy.

 

[Ry]

I don't think you can draw a correlation between front facing speakers and sales like that. Several devices have both front facing speakers and fingerprint scanners - they just all put the FPS in a smarter place. HTC didn't have to choose between features, they did this intentionally. As indicated earlier, they have every right to design whatever phone they want to make - but the loss of the speaker, misplaced FPS and addition of the archaic home button in some strange homage to Samsung are all blunders that don't have to exist. As Almeuit pointed out, the Nexus 6P got all three of these things right - and I'd point out that getting those three things right, when coupled with a fantastic camera, battery life, one of the best screens out there and much better software - one gets a much better designed device that shows care and thoughtfulness. Now I do NOT want every device to be a Nexus clone, but certain design principles were abandoned by HTC - and it sucks because they were one of the leaders in instituting the very same principles. My comments are a lament, not criticism of their strategy.

As someone who places their devices face up on a desk at work, I can see the appeal of the FPS being on the front face of the device. Saying the Nexus 6P got it right by putting the FPS on the back is hardly "smarter".

 

[Aquila]

As someone who places their devices face up on a desk at work, I can see the appeal of the FPS being on the front face of the device. Saying the Nexus 6P got it right by putting the FPS on the back is hardly "smarter".

I definitely am not discounting that usage case and you may have heard elsewhere that my preference is for it to be on the power button on the right side of the device. But if that isn't an option, my preference is then to put it on the back and third place is to put it on the front, either recessed or invisible. My statement that the nexus got it right wasn't necessarily referring to placement, but the fact that it is recessed into the device and not protruding.

There are drawbacks of each placement. On the front, it is ugly, protruding and requires a very strange grip to be able to touch the lower bezel. On the back, cases have to be cut for it and it's not accessible when it lays upon a desk (although for some cases this is solvable by smart unlock, some devices have admin policies that preclude using that). On the side, cases have to be cut so that it is still accessible and it is more open to possible impact when caseless.

To me, where it is becomes less of a problem then how it is - in this case the resurrection of the home button with a glaringly ugly FPS on the front while losing a better feature that ought to take up that space is the problem. It was less of a problem in the picture that I linked earlier from Evan that showed a subdued, well designed FPS recessed into the lower bezel - though that still had the same problem of losing the front facing speaker.

As someone who places their devices face up on a desk at work, I can see the appeal of the FPS being on the front face of the device. Saying the Nexus 6P got it right by putting the FPS on the back is hardly "smarter".

 

[I Can Be Your Hero]

I don't think you can draw a correlation between front facing speakers and sales like that. Several devices have both front facing speakers and fingerprint scanners - they just all put the FPS in a smarter place. HTC didn't have to choose between features, they did this intentionally. As indicated earlier, they have every right to design whatever phone they want to make - but the loss of the speaker, misplaced FPS and addition of the archaic home button in some strange homage to Samsung are all blunders that don't have to exist. As Almeuit pointed out, the Nexus 6P got all three of these things right - and I'd point out that getting those three things right, when coupled with a fantastic camera, battery life, one of the best screens out there and much better software - one gets a much better designed device that shows care and thoughtfulness. Now I do NOT want every device to be a Nexus clone, but certain design principles were abandoned by HTC - and it sucks because they were one of the leaders in instituting the very same principles. My comments are a lament, not criticism of their strategy.

That was my point - to show there's no correlation for the speakers to sales and to show how unimportant they are in the market, yet people keep going on and on about front facing speakers, as if they're some incredibly important feature - they're really not.

I believe the best overall position for a fingerprint scanner would be on the front below the screen. That is the most convenient for people to use to wakeup/unlock their phone from resting position. I haven't seen a phone with a FPS on the front and dual front facing speakers. I don't think the FPS is misplaced, I think at the front is where it is best placed. I currently own a Nexus 6P and while it has an excellent FPS, it's in a position which I have grown to become tired of, to the point where I just use my swipe pattern. Sure not everyone would agree with me and some may still prefer the FPS on the back, and that's fine.

Second, if the FPS is going to be on the front, it makes sense to pair it with the home button as well, otherwise you run into that awkward situation with the A9 where it has a FPS on the front (which doubles as a home button) but then a software home button directly above that. While I like software on-screen buttons, I don't think they're the best solution. I recently moved my mum to a Nexus device, she's constantly lost when the nav buttons disappears and she never knows when they'll appear or when they'll disappear, or how to bring them back. For us who are into phones and know the ins and outs of them - it makes sense to use, but for people who aren't into tech and just want to use a phone, I don't think disappearing nav buttons are a good thing and having to explain to someone how to get to the home screen is not intuitive design. I have a Pixel C and iPad, and honestly, having a dedicated home button that is always there and doesn't vanish is handy to have. Sure a physical home button goes against Google's direction, but I think Google needs a redirection of Android.

But at the end of the day these are just opinions. I may find A, B and C things annoying others may find them great choices. Every company has to weigh up what's useful, what's not so useful and what will provide the most benefits for most users. Unfortunately, it seems that front facing speakers have fallen to the wayside.

 

[Aquila]

That was my point - to show there's no correlation for the speakers to sales and to show how unimportant they are in the market, yet people keep going on and on about front facing speakers, as if they're some incredibly important feature - they're really not.

They definitely do not seem important from a company's perspective, which is driven by the bottom line. But I would argue that they could be important to the consumers and their overall enjoyment of the device. There are more factors than any single feature or lack thereof that go into a purchase decision, and most of them are based on marketing perceptions - not analysis. And several examples could be listed of features that are discovered after the purchase that are just barely not disappointing enough to warrant the consumer going through the hassle of a return. Companies could very well be doing the right thing by adding this or that feature from the perspective of the user's experiences and there are numerous ways that could never impact the company's profitability in any short-term sense. The overall experience surely does impact the retention rate from one purchase to the next, but probably not as much as things such as marketing, brand recognition and other things like price and timing.

Every company has to weigh up what's useful, what's not so useful and what will provide the most benefits for most users. Unfortunately, it seems that front facing speakers have fallen to the wayside.

Companies are definitely not making these decisions in a vacuum but they are making these decisions based on criteria other than "what is ideal". There are definitely going to be considerations, such as cost and engineering constraints. But here's the position that I find HTC in:

Premise: We want to add a Fingerprint Scanner
Setting: Our sales have sucked more than they've ever sucked before. We laid off most of our design team and about a quarter of our engineers. Deadline is approaching, we need to put something out. Everyone hated our last two original designs. Let's look at what the leader's are doing.
Observation: The two companies with the largest sales have the FPS on the front and on a home button.
Subconscious observation: We cannot design our way out of a wet paper bag, we better copy the leaders - and we've heard that Moto is going to put it on the front too.
Methodology: Copy, copy, copy
Observation: Oh shoot, where are we going to put the speaker? Oh well, put it somewhere else. The two companies with the largest sales have the speakers pointing down. Let's do that.
Methodology: Copy, copy, copy

Future observation: Wait, our phone was EXACTLY like theirs. Why didn't we sell any?
Subconscious observation: WHY DON'T THEY LIKE US!?

 

[TBoltJ]

LOL, so far Im still sticking with my M7 which is already paid for. Next try...

 

[getbretweir]

Given how the "M10" is going to look; its going to have to be an absolute wow in the software department. I have been waiting to see what it will look like and I am still walking away with "meh" given the current leak pictures. I really believe the EvaLeak rendering for the M9 really spoiled my train of thought on what the phone should look like. It was a real disservice to HTC that that rendering ever came out in my opinion.

The "home" button (regardless of its functionality) is still the front; like Samsung. So my big beef with Samsung is now a HTC beef. I don't want that crap on my front screen. Since its so important to have these biosecurity measures (dumb in my opinion) in place guess my next phone will have some form or fashion a button of this type.

At this point I am probably going to throw in the towel and become a Sam-Sheep I guess. S7Edge seems to address what I am looking for. Since HTC ditched Boomsound (was looking forward to that) what are they offering that makes me want to stay? I have a Droid DNA currently. Also has the original HTC Droid as well. Hardware between the S7 with TouchPuke and M10 with Sense (unseen upgrade currently) seems almost identical. HTC will embrace expandable storage but that alone wont get me to purchase the phone.

*sigh*......

dude I hear ya ... I've said so many times that the @evleaks render was the nicest looking phone I've ever seen.

no clue why an OEM hasn't copied it yet. I mean, it wasn't unrealistic like a lot of renders, so I'm sure it could've been easily engineered.

 

[getbretweir]

http://mastersaheb.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/HTC-One-M10-leak-image.png

This was an an older leak, where the FPS is still there, but smaller and it appears to be recessed (like on the Nexus, LG phones, etc) on a smaller bezel. Losing the speaker on the front in favor of a home button is just bad. Losing this somewhat acceptable front FPS in favor of a home button is just flat out wretched.

No branding, all black ... what do people want to see esthetically? Pink sparkles?

 

[getbretweir]

Sorry, you don't work for HTC as a designer or engineer. There is a reason why they discount your opinion. The rest of us who are going to buy it like the design. You can either go design smartphones for a living or keep being a moderator. I say don't quit your day job.

well that want very nice ... and are we only allowed to comment on phones we purchase? wouldn't be much of a forum if we couldn't disagree.

 

[Bearcats98]

I am now thinking S7 Edge...:-\ I like the options and stuff. Played with it at the store; it didn't wow me. Wish the Edge did more useful/functional stuff. Verizon you can get a Gear2, 100 off and other things for preordering. Kinda curious if HTC will pull anything customer oriented like that?