While Samsung is fighting off one of the biggest PR nightmares they’ve ever faced and Google is trying to figure out how to properly enter the premium phone market, a number of manufacturers are wrestling with the same old demons that they’ve faced down for years. One of those companies is HTC, who may be taking advantage of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 recall situation with their latest deal. Just as a huge number of customers may be faced with the choice to get the money they put down on a Galaxy Note 7 back or trade it for another device, HTC is outing that their flagship HTC 10 is on sale for $150 less than its normal price for a limited time.
HTC’s flagship offering is in a bit of a rut, with some carriers not even selling it anymore. That is actually quite a shame; not being able to outperform its Samsung, Apple, and LG contemporaries in sheer sales volume doesn’t make the HTC 10 any less of a great device, and the $549 that they’re asking for it while this deal is going on may be well worth it, to the right consumer; this isn’t a kitchen sink phone like what Samsung and LG have on offer, nor is it a nearly pure Android, stripped-down experience like you’ll find on the likes of the Moto Z. The HTC 10’s Sense software, running atop Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) with an upgrade to Android 7.0 (Nougat) planned for the near future, packs in a number of cool features, but doesn’t compromise the core Android experience in the process.
On the hardware side of things, users will find a chamfered unibody metal design housing a 2,560 x 1,440 display, along with a sizeable 3,000mAh battery that supports Quick Charge 3.0. The experience is brought to life by Qualcomm’s beloved and proven Snapdragon 820 processor, alongside a hefty 4GB of RAM. Users have 32GB of internal storage at their disposal, along with a MicroSD slot. A 12-megapixel camera sits on the back, decked out with features like optical image stabilization, dual flash, and Pro Mode to ensure a great shot. The selfie cam sits pretty at 5 megapixels, with many of the same perks as the back camera. The phone is normally $699 unlocked, and will be available at $549 through October 16th. Unfortunately, the lovely Camellia Red variant does not seem to be available quite yet.