When comparing LG V10 vs HTC 10, the Slant community recommends HTC 10 for most people. In the question“What are the best smartphones releasing for Spring/Summer 2016?” HTC 10 is ranked 2nd while LG V10 is ranked 4th. The most important reason people chose HTC 10 is:
The aluminum uni-body design is back, this time with some improvements. The power button has distinguishing ridges, the 'HTC bar" is gone, and they removed the bottom speaker helping it achieve almost 5% higher screen-to-body ratio. On the rear is a massive chamfered edge, which catches light differently and makes holding the phone feel more comfortable.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Informative second screen
Additional smaller screen above the usual one, incredibly useful for multitasking, notifications, music controls. It also has an always on functionality with low power consumption thanks to the small size and separate backlight.
Pro Removeable battery and MicroSD slot
The rear cover can be removed to access an SD card slot and replaceable battery. This allows you to expand the storage capabilities of the device, and to swap batteries when you have no access to a charger for an extended time.
Pro High quality camera
The 16 megapixel rear camera takes photos that compete with the phones released spring 2016, despite being 6 months older. No phone camera from 2015 is superior, and only one or two can compete.
Pro 32 bit DAC
The digital audio converter on this phone is excellent, surpassing even the additional module that can be added to the LG G5 for a higher price, and it's built in. If you're an audiophile, or even just a regular Joe with really good headphones, you'll appreciate the quality of sound.
Pro IR Blaster
Control most tv's and more, easily with built in IR blaster.
Pro Wide-angle front camera
Dual front camera setup with a wide angle option for group photographs.
Pro Fingerprint scanner for security
On the rear power button is a nicely positioned fingerprint scanner that (after being updated) now is a quick and quality reader. Great for security and as an easy lock for your device.
Pro Durable construction
Steel side rails, a durable silicon/rubber back, and two layers of glass protecting the LCD display leave this phone as one of the most rugged competitors on the market, and one of very few that are certified to military drop test standards.
Pro Manual video recording controls
Fine tune your recordings with various adjustments before or during filming.
Pro Great build quality and materials
The aluminum uni-body design is back, this time with some improvements. The power button has distinguishing ridges, the 'HTC bar" is gone, and they removed the bottom speaker helping it achieve almost 5% higher screen-to-body ratio. On the rear is a massive chamfered edge, which catches light differently and makes holding the phone feel more comfortable.
Pro Clean, simple UI
HTC's Sense 8 UI borrows heavily from stock Android, making minor additions and revisions instead of a complete re-haul. Instead of including multiple apps (a gallery app from HTC and one from Google for example), they have mostly gone with Google's apps.
Some unique features are the "Freestyle" layout, which almost acts like a personalized wallpaper/homescreen hybrid. You can add stickers that fit the wallpaper's theme, and assign them to a task then touched. These aren't restricted to an app grid either. This helps keep your home screen look clean without removing any functionality.
BlinkFeed is also back, and is the best implementation of 'bite-sized' information. Samsung and others have tried copying it, however HTC continues to excel in this area. BlinkFeed is a feed of information that almost acts like a massive widget on the leftmost home screen. It can pull information from social media, news sites, and make suggestions based on contextual data (such as good places to eat near you around lunchtime).
Pro Amazing audio quality - both speakers and 3.5mm jack output
HTC is using a new strategy when it comes to speakers - they are using a front facing tweeter (focuses on high frequency) in the earpiece and a speaker in the bottom (focusing on the bass). It might not be the dual-front facing stereo speakers of yesteryear, but this provides space for a larger screen without making the body of the phone larger, and also doesn't compromise on audio quality
HTC is also using a DAC, as well as a dedicated amp for each speaker. The phone also supports Hi-Fi audio, putting this in the contest for best current audio experience on any phone.
Pro Great performance
In GFXBench 3.0 onscreen, the HTC 10 scores 52 fps on T-Rex and 29 fps on Manhattan. This is in line with the Galaxy S7, and about 50% better than the Galaxy S6 and Nexus 6P.
For the offscreen GFXBench 3.0, the HTC 10 achieved 90 fps in T-Rex and 47 fps on Manhattan. This is just a hair slower than the US Galaxy S7 variant, but ahead of the international Galaxy S7, Galaxy S6, and Nexus 6P.
In Geekbench 3: single-core, the HTC 10 is just a hair slower than the US Galaxy S7 and slower than the iPhone 6S Plus, but faster than the international Galaxy S7, S6, and Nexus 6P.
Pro Adaptable SD card storage
You can install apps on the SD card, and use it the exact same as the internal storage. Other flagship phones don't allow this - their SD cards are restricted to media (music, movies, pictures).
Pro Good camera
HTC has tweaked their 'ultrapixel' idea - this time they've gone with a 12MP sensor with large pixels (although they aren't as large at the 4MP camera in the M7 and M8, but considerably larger than the M9's 20MP shooter).
Colors can be muted in daylight shots, but the HTC 10 nails lowlight shots. No doubt the OIS and laser-assisted focusing helps here.
Pro Great multitasking performance
With 4GB of RAM, the HTC 10 can store many apps in the DDR4 RAM without needing to re-load them. This saves a bit of battery life (the processor doesn't need to work hard loading the app back up from scratch), but the more significant benefit is the speed at which users can switch between apps.
Pro Really good screen quality
HTC uses the newest IPS LCD 5 display, which can produce very similar saturated colors that you'd find on Amoled panels, or in the settings you can change it to be more realistic looking - like a traditional LCD panel. The screen also responds faster than any other display out there, however this has never been a problem before.
Pro Lots of storage available
The HTC 10 starts at 32GB of storage and some markets have a 64GB version available - there is no 16GB model. This storage can be expanded through a SD card, adding an additional 256GB. This SD storage can be used for anything including apps - not just media like most Android phones.
Pro Future-ready charging port
USB Type C is the new charging/data transfer standard that has just begun rolling out in 2015. It offers faster data transfer speeds, and a reversible port as well as a more durable connector. It should stick around for the next 5-10 years.
Pro Fast charge times
The HTC 10 is Qualcomm QuickCharge 3 compliant, and comes with a QuickCharge charger in the box. This helps it charge very quickly when the battery is almost dead, however the charging speed decreases the closer it gets to full.
Pro Narrow bezels
The bezels on the HTC 10 are small, which helps it achieve a screen-to-body ratio just over 71%. This helps maximize the screen space, while not increasing the physical body of the phone much.
Pro Fast updates
Pro Great price
Pro Beautiful finish
HTC was one of the first manufacturers (other than Apple) to put effort into making their phones look great - starting 4 years ago with the HTC One M7. This trend has continued with the HTC 10. The aluminum body is only broken by 2 flat antenna lines on the back, and the whole rear edge has a massive chamfered edge which catches light and reflects it. It's a beautifully elegant looking phone.
Pro Great fingerprint scanner
The fingerprint scanner doubles as the home button, and is located centrally on the bottom chin. It doesn't click - it's just a touch-capacitive pad. Fingerprints are read quickly and extremely accurately, and the button is located on the front where you can press it while it's sitting down on a desk or table.
Pro Great front camera for low light.
The front camera has a large f/1.8 aperture, large 1.34 µm pixels and ois which contribute to a better low light performance than competition. It is also good for vloggers as it is the only flagship device to include ois on the front camera.
Pro Well balanced
Cons
Con Battery life is average at best
For heavier users, this phone will struggle to last you through the day. It does help however, that the battery can be replaced at any time, unlike most competitors nowadays. Of course adding an extra battery will be at an extra cost to the user.
Con Large build
This phone is big. It has a 5.7" screen, then another 2.1" screen, then two lips. It has steel rail sides. It's big, and if you aren't sure, go to a store and hold it in your hand to get a feel before you buy.
Con Lack of exciting features
While the LG G5 has it's modular bottom, the Galaxy S7 Edge has that edge with software to enhance it, and the Nexus 6P has pure stock Android and will get the fastest updates. The HTC 10 lacks a single headlining feature, and even the design is a small evolution of the M7's original design 3 years ago.
Con Paintwork on black HTC 10 makes small chips obvious
Black paintwork contrasts with the silver body so the little chips look more obvious than on the silver model
Con Too expensive
You can find cheaper phones with similar specs to this e.g. the galaxy s7
Con New charging port
Old micro USB cables will not work with this device, meaning if you lose or break your cable you will need to buy a new one instead of using an old cable you had lying around. If you need to top up your phone away from home, it will be much harder to find a suitable cable initially.
Con In bright light, the camera can turn colors grey
In very bright settings, the camera mutes colors, turning them grey. With any luck, this can be fixed through a future software update.
Con Screen brightness has limited range
In bright daylight, it can be hard to clearly see the screen. At night (or in dark rooms), the screen is a bit too bright. Other phones offer more range with their brightness than the HTC 10.
Con Unpredictable battery life
A 90 minute full HD video on 100% brightness drained the battery by 22% - a poor result - which is much higher than the ~16% we typically see. However, while web browsing over WiFi it scored 8 hours - a very good result - beating out the Galaxy S7 (7.6 hours), iPhone 6s (7.45 hours), and the Nexus 6P (5.65 hours). This is a new phone, so perhaps a software update can stabilize the battery life.