Saturday, February 4, 2017
HTC Bolt Review
HTC Bolt Review
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Introduction
Smartphones come in so many varieties of sizes, designs, and feature sets, that its enormously helpful to start grouping these handsets into a few categories: weve got our budget-priced phones, our big-screen handsets, models with incredible battery life, and of course those flagship devices that do all they can to push specs and performance to new heights.
A lot of the time, those classifications serve us well, and make it easy to compare models that are similarly equipped, and going after the same market segments. But not every phone fits quite so neatly into one of those groups, and sometimes a smartphone arrives that straddles the line between two or more, or even defies categorization altogether.
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Earlier this month, HTC announced the Bolt, a Sprint-exclusive Android handset with some interesting hardware: a very high-res 5.5-inch screen, some intriguing headphones that claim to adjust their output for your unique ears, and what the carrier highlights as an exceptionally high-speed data modem.
While thats a description that practically screams “flagship,” this isnt a replacement for the HTC 10, and some of HTCs choices with the Bolts hardware almost feel like dialing back the clock, rather than pushing forward. What exactly can you expect from this model, and is it ultimately an HTC phone worth picking up? Read on to find out.
In the box:
- HTC Bolt
- BoomSound Adaptive Audio Hi-Res earphones
- Quick Charge 2.0 charger
- USB Type-C cable
- SIM tool
- Get Started guide
- Safety/warranty booklet
Design
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HTC has found a material it loves in the form of aluminum, and for years now weve been watching the company sculpt the metal into the bodies for its most premium handsets. That trend continues with the HTC Bolt, featuring yet another aluminum construction.
Compared to the HTC 10, the Bolt is bigger (thanks to its 5.5-inch screen) and heavier, weighing 6.14 ounces – but its also slightly thinner, coming in at just over 8.1mm. But maybe the most significant thing about its build is how HTCs learned to add water-resistance to its metal-bodied handsets.
While the HTC 10 only had an IP53 rating, meaning the most severe water exposure it could handle was a gentle mist, the Bolt is an IP57 device, able to survive splashes, water jets, and even brief submersion – though HTC cautions against it. Thats all good to hear, even if we wish that rating went a little further still. But the upgrade isnt without compromise, and perhaps as a result of that extra water-resistance, HTC has elected not to give the Bolt an analog headphone jack: like the iPhone 7, or the Moto Z phones, the Bolts headphone experience is digital-only.
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So instead of the centered headphone jack up top like on HTC 10, the Bolt has a featureless top edge, populated only by a plastic strip that appears to be part of the hardwares antenna system. On the right edge we find the volume rocker and power button, the latter with the same sort of textured groves we expect from the manufacturer. Down below theres a hole for one of the phones three microphones, the USB Type-C port, and a single speaker grille. Continuing up the left side, we see HTC go with the interesting choice of separate trays for the Bolts microSD and SIM cards – on the HTC 10 they were on opposite sides of the handset, but the Bolt stacks them one on top of the other.
Around front weve got the Bolts big 5.5-inch screen, flanked by some not particularly thin bezels. Above it perches the earpiece and usual array of sensors, along with a very prominent-looking front-facing camera. Beneath the display youll find the phones home button, doubling as its fingerprint scanner; to its sides are capacitive Android back and multitask buttons.
The only action on the phones back panel is its main camera, jutting out with a modest camera bump. HTC continues to play with its flash placement, and for the Bolt, relocates the phones dual-LED flash to directly above the camera.
Unlike the HTC 10, theres no curve to the Bolts back – that camera bump notwithstanding, the backs otherwise flat. A pair of beveled edges form the transition between that panel, the phones edge, and its face, resulting in a handset thats got an exceptionally solid feel to it.
Display
A bright, high-res screen is among the Bolts most attractive features
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With the HTC Bolt, the manufacturer gives the handset a 5.5-inch, 1440 x 2560-resolution screen.
Its not the brightest display weve ever tested, but its 500-nit output is far from bad, and should treat you well during a lot of outdoor usage. Color accuracy isnt quite spot on, but its close enough not to be distracting, and software controls for white-balance adjustment let you tweak the output further.
HTC protects the Bolts screen with Gorilla Glass 5, which is always nice to see, especially with so many other recent phones (like the Google Pixel models) going with the older Gorilla Glass 4.
In a nutshell, its big, pretty bright, and nice and crisp – really, not a lot to dislike here.
Interface and Functionality
Bloat and performance issues mar otherwise enjoyable software
The HTC Bolt arrives running Android 7.0 Nougat, with HTCs Sense UI on top. That means that you get all the goodies of Googles latest system software, including split-screen app support, as well as HTC bonuses like Senses powerful theming engine and access to BlinkFeed for news and entertainment.
That largely makes for a productive, enjoyable Android experience: the HTC bits generally add useful functionality, while also managing not to get in your way with things you may not want or need. And while we had a few issues with the Bolts performance – which well discuss a bit more in just a moment – the UI as a whole is mostly smooth to interact with, and responsive to input. That said, unexpected hang-ups punctuate that otherwise pleasing performance, and over time we found ourselves beginning to notice the parts that werent working well, more than those that did.
Maybe the most objectionable part of the Bolts software is the sheer amount of bloat present – and a lot of thats a consequence of HTCs exclusive partnership with Sprint. From wallpapers featuring carrier graphics, to icons done-up in Sprint colors, to a smattering of Sprint-exclusive apps, theres no shortage of reminders in software that youre using a Sprint phone – a stark contrast to the hardware, which arrives free of Sprint branding.
Luckily, that aforementioned theming engine makes it possible to ditch that Sprint-ification and customize the Bolts interface to your liking, and the pre-installed third-party apps dont complain too much about removing them.
Processor and Memory
An odd choice of processor appears to put the Bolt at a disadvantage
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Its very tempting to get hung up on specs when evaluating phones, when its the total package of a handsets user experience that really matters. But in the case of the HTC Bolt, it really does seem that some of the concerns that immediately popped into our head when first learning of the phones silicon are warranted.
Unlike the vast majority of recent Android flagships, instead of running the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chip, the HTC Bolt is powered by an 810. Thats very much a 2015 choice for a phones processor, and the same component we found running the HTC One M9.
As a result, performance of the HTC Bolt isnt quite up to the same level as this years top-shelf handsets, instead falling somewhere between those and recent mid-rangers. And depending on the mid-range chip were talking about, the HTC Bolt could even be right on par – quite a few of our benchmark tests put the Bolt on the same level of phones like the Alcatel Idol 4S, another 5.5-inch Quad HD model, but running the Snapdragon 652. Only there, the newer Snapdragon 652 chip also displayed power savings the older 810 cant touch.
Actually using the phone, you definitely feel the impact of an aging processor. At times youll tap an app, and wait for a moment or two before the phone even responds. And things like snapping HDR-enhanced pics, which take just a second or two on modern flagships, force you to wait for what seems like an eternity. Its still just a few seconds, admittedly, but all this waiting adds up to create the impression that the Bolt is regularly overwhelmed.
The phones 3GB of RAM is sufficient, and we didnt run into any issues with memory during our tests. Storage arrives as a single 32GB option, which is nice, and the support for microSD expansion makes it easy to push beyond even that limit.
Performance benchmarks
AnTuTu HIGHER IS BETTER | 81219
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