HTC Desire 10 Pro First Impressions: Is it the Best Mid-Range Android Smartphone?

The HTC Desire 10 Pro is priced at Rs. 26,490 and will start selling from December 15 in the Indian market.

By Rohit
|

Taiwanese tech giant HTC has once again expanded its Desire portfolio with the launch of HTC Desire 10 Pro smartphone. Claimed as the best Desire phone yet, the handset is priced at Rs. 26,490 and will go on sale by December 15 on e-commerce platforms and retail stores.

HTC Desire 10 Pro First Impressions

The company also showcased the mighty HTC 10 Evo, a typical HTC high-end handset with all the elements (Quad HD display, HTC BoomSound, etc.) of being called a flagship, but did not disclose its price and availability.

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This brings us to the more accessible and affordable HTC Desire 10 Pro, which also looks quite decent on papers. With whatever little time I spent with the handset, I didn't find it to be difficult to settle with HTC's claims that the new Desire smartphone is all about usability and not about specifications. But you still cannot ignore the specifications war in today's time and the stakes are even higher when a company has over 10 years of experience in the Indian market.

That said, let's find out what makes HTC introduce the Desire10 Pro smartphone in the Indian market.

HTC Desire 10 Pro First Impressions

A pleasing Design that maintains HTC's Desire Series' Tradition

HTC has always showcased a deep understanding and focus on the design part of its products. And this seems quite clear when you take the Desire 10 Pro in hands. The smartphone comes with a polycarbonate finish and has Gold metallic lines running across the chamfered edges. These Gold lines can also be seen on the rear side and also circles the camera ring. The rear panel has a seven layer coating and the round edges have been achieved through laser cutting.

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Unlike most of the handsets that offer dual colours- mostly Black/White on front and Grey/Gold on rear, Desire 10 Pro maintains a colour symmetry, which is something HTC is known for.

Talking about the aesthetics, Desire 10 Pro feels quite light in hands but has a large form-factor. I have tested several 5.5-inchers and Desire 10 Pro is certainly not the most compact of all of them. Thankfully, the ergonomic fingerprint sensor and button placement makes it easy to use with one hand.

HTC Desire 10 Pro will be available in four colours- Stone Black, Polar White, Royal Blue and Valentine Lux. The names do sound fancy.

HTC Desire 10 Pro First Impressions

Display- Good contrast levels but not the brightest screen around

I used the handset in bright sunlight and in in-door lighting, and while the 5.5-inch screen with full HD (1080p) resolution is not disappointing, it's not something exceptional as well. It is crisp, offers good contrast levels and natural colours but the feels a bit dim even brightness level set to maximum. This makes it a bit tricky to use the handset in out-door conditions.

The display comes with Corning Gorilla Glass protection.

HTC Desire 10 Pro First Impressions

Camera- Satisfactory 20MP Rear and 13MP Front Camera

As per HTC, the Desire 10 Pro has the best camera in Desire series of handsets. The rear has a 20MP camera with F2.2 Aperture. The camera also has Laser Autofocus, Auto HDR, Panorama and Continuous mode. I took a couple of shots in outdoor and in-door lighting and the results were satisfactory. However, the complete camera performance will be evaluated in our detailed review.

The front has a 13MP Camera that also has a F2.2 Aperture. The front camera also has a variety of modes including Voice Selfie, Live Makeup, Selfie Panorama with 150-degree wide-angle view.

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HTC Desire 10 Pro First Impressions

Processor and RAM- Combination of Good and Average

The HTC Desire 10 Pro is powered by MediaTek's 64-bit Helio P10 octa-core processor paired with 4GB of RAM. The choice of processor can make the handset lose war to its competitors as you have the option of buying smartphones with Snapdragon 820 in the same price-point, and even in sub Rs. 20,000 segment in the form of Lenovo Z2 Plus.

But HTC says that it is not about the specifications but usability that makes the smartphone stand out. We will evaluate such claims in our detailed review. The smartphone has 4GB of RAM to take care of multitasking.

HTC Desire 10 Pro First Impressions

Storage- Never run out of Memory

You don't need to worry about storage as the smartphone has 64GB of onboard storage and also comes with support for microSD card for storage expansion by up to 2TB.

HTC Desire 10 Pro First Impressions

Software- Android 6.0 with HTC Sense UI is buttery smooth

HTC Desire 10 Pro runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow with HTC's Sense UI. With whatever time I spent with the handset, there was no lags and the overall software performance was flawless.

However, it's hard to comment on the software part in such a short time and the final verdict will be given in our detailed review.

HTC Desire 10 Pro First Impressions

Audio- HTC's signature BoomSound Audio

HTC Desire 10 Pro is also getting the company's signature BoomSound audio technology. The handset has 24-bit Hi-Res audio and Dolby-enhanced BoomSound speakers. The package includes BoomSound headset dual microphone with noise cancellation.

HTC Desire 10 Pro First Impressions

Battery and Connectivity

Talking about the battery, the smartphone is backed by a 3,000 mAh battery unit with fast charging capabilities. As per HTC, the smartphone can last for 8 hours on Wi-Fi usage offers a talktime of up to 19 hours on 3G. Stay tuned for its actual performance.

As far as connectivity goes, the smartphone supports dual SIM, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11n, Bluetooth 4.2 and GPS.

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