This is certainly going to be an interesting year for HTC. I'm not sure what direction they're heading, but I'll assume they'll be an M10. Here's what I'd like to see, and I'll try and be realistic instead of just listing my dream phone!
1) trim down sense. hated what they did with it last year. I don't expect it to be as light as Moto, but head in that direction.
2) black bar, no excuses HTC, figure it out.
3) freshin up the design (copy evleaks version ... that was perfect)
4) 5.5" 1440p display
5) 4000 mAh battery ... this is ambitious, but it would create a lot of buzz and could be what differentiates it from the competition.
6) Snapdragon 820
7) 32GB 64GB options with expandable storage
8) 4GB RAM
9) fingerprint sensor
10) quick charge
11) USB-C
12) wireless charging
13) NFC
14) front facing speakers
15) improved camera (doesn't have to be G4 or S6 level, but I expect iPhone 6+ range
16) offer compact version
Interesting. A few things I agree with a few I don't and others don't really bother me.
The One M7 and One M8 were probably my favourite phones I've used on Android. Loved both of them.
Here's what I'd like, based off you list:
1) trim down sense. hated what they did with it last year. I don't expect it to be as light as Moto, but head in that direction.
I actually like Sense quite a bit. The One M7 and M8 were the only non-Nexus phones I owned where I didn't put a launcher on top of them. I wouldn't have an issue using Sense again and didn't feel it needed to be stripped back, simply because the M7 and M8 in my judgement were really speedy, really fast phones. Plus the camera UI on the M8 I thought was superb. Simple and really easy to use.
2) black bar, no excuses HTC, figure it out.
I agree with this. I think they need to balance the design (so the bottom doesn't have such a large bezel compared to the top) and ind doing so, disguise the bar with just the top and bottom bezels. I think the distinct bar throws people off and is easy to pick at rather than just having one uniform plate.
3) freshin up the design (copy evleaks version ... that was perfect)
If they can do that, then yeah, that would be incredible. Again that render had a more balanced design where the screen was in the centre of the phone. Loved that render and was so disappointed when it turned out to be fake.
4) 5.5" 1440p display
I prefer smaller phones, so something around 5" would suit me well. Also to me, honestly 1080p is still crazy good on a phone. I have the Galaxy S6 and had the G4. Never felt the 1440p screen was beneficial over a 1080p screen.
5) 4000 mAh battery ... this is ambitious, but it would create a lot of buzz and could be what differentiates it from the competition.
Hehe, now this one is a biiiiiig stretch. Don't see it happening. But if the screen is around 5" and they can get around 3,000mah battery, that'd be very very acceptable to me.
6) Snapdragon 820
Yes this would be fine.
7) 32GB 64GB options with expandable storage
Agreed on a 64gb base model version. I would buy that as I don't tend to bother with SD cards.
8) 4GB RAM
I'd be ok with 3gb, but if they can get 4gb, sure.
9) fingerprint sensor
No we get into the disagreements. Personally I don't care for fingerprint scanners simply because (to me) there's no really comfortable place to put it on a phone. Assuming the HTC One M10 won't have a home button on the front and will have the dual speakers, where would the FP scanner go? On the back like Huawei devices? I really don't like the look of that and having to move my hand around to scan would be more cumbersome than anything to me. So I disagree with a FP scanner with ONE caveat - they manage to put the scanner on the power button how Sony have done it. Then it's out of the way, wouldn't look ugly and (hopefully) still be very fast and functional.
10) quick charge
Yes, this is a must. Fast charge on the GS6 is awesome. Even if I put it on charge for 15 mins, it juices the phone quite a bit. Love it.
11) USB-C
I'd like to see this too.
12) wireless charging
This doesn't bother me as I'd rather a phone charged as fast as possible over convenient as possible. If Qualcomm can do that inductive wireless charging with metal-bodied phones then that'd be great.
13) NFC
I'd say this is a given seeing as previous HTC One's have had them.
14) front facing speakers
Another given due to their history of FF speakers. Really hope they don't give up on this.
15) improved camera (doesn't have to be G4 or S6 level, but I expect iPhone 6+ range
Agree here. Though I'd like them to push for something on the G4/S6 level or better. I hope they put a lot of time and effort in getting the right sensor (with OIS) and more importantly, putting a lot of effort in the image processing software. A great camera is very very important. If they can get the ultrapixel camera to a higher resolution (say around 12mp minimum) I woudn't mind if they gave that another shot as for its time, it took really excellent low light shots. So a very large UP sensor with OIS and a higher resolution could be a combo for a pretty impressive camera. Though I think ultrapixel has a reputation now as being a 'bad' camera, so they might stay away from that.
16) offer compact version
Maybe this is the version that I'd be after? A 5" model, though compact phones tend to have worse specs, which I don't want...
Otherwise a solid list you got there.
HTC have the experience and talent to make a great smartphone in all respects. I really hope they put in the effort and make something special for next year. The comments by Cher Wang sound promising to me where she commented on making 'significant improvements in innovation and design' in the next flagship. Guess we'll see.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram