I reviewed the HTC 10 this morning and when I did, I noted that it is one of the most surprising phones the world has ever seen. Sure we knew all about the phone’s design and specs leading up to the announcement, but leaks never seem to be able to paint a complete picture. They gave us no indication that the HTC 10 would feature class-leading battery life that lasts up to two days on a single charge, they couldn’t foresee that the phone’s camera would be as impressive as it is, and there was no mention at all that the HTC 10 would offer a touch experience that is faster and smoother than anything else on the market.
But most interestingly, perhaps, is the power HTC managed to get out of the HTC 10 despite specs that are in line with other top Android phones on paper. Leaks thoroughly detailed the phone’s specs ahead of its announcement, of course, but we had no idea they would come together quite like this.
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In the early days, Android vendors focused on specs and power as a means of setting themselves apart. Most handsets looked about the same and included roughly the same feature set, but each new model was more powerful than the last and that was one if its only big selling points.
Thankfully, the market has evolved quite a bit since then.
Vendors still put a tremendous amount of time and energy into making speed and performance improvements, but most leading handsets are roughly on par with each other in terms of power. So instead of flexing muscles, companies highlight new features and key improvements to important things like cameras and battery life.
Power is still important to many users though, and there’s a new sheriff in town that no one saw coming.
When Android fans think of “power,” HTC certainly isn’t the first name that comes to mind. The name might not even come to mind at all. But all that changes this year because beyond the stunning all metal and glass design, beyond the dramatically improved camera, beyond the fresh new software and beyond the terrific battery life, HTC has also managed to build the most powerful smartphone the world has ever seen… by a surprisingly big margin.
As I noted in my HTC 10 review, the phone managed an average score of 145,595 in the Antutu benchmark tests I performed. A recent leaked benchmark from a couple of days ago even ran all the way up into the 156,000 range, though the phone being tested may not have been running final software.
Even using my results which feature the lower of the two scores, the HTC 10 is the most powerful phone the world has ever seen. Antutu recently released brand new figures and the phone that comes closest to the HTC 10 is the Xiaomi Mi 5, which scored in the 136,000 range. Apple’s iPhone 6s and Samsung’s new Galaxy S7 both come in beneath that figure in the 133,000 to 136,000 range.
