HTC Bolt joins iPhone 7 in the #noheadphonejack club
Start kissing your headphone jack goodbye, Android fans, because it's the beginning of the end of the analog port.
Joining phones like the iPhone 7, Moto Z and LeEco's new devices, HTC's new Android 7.0 Nougat-powered Bolt, exclusive to Sprint, also has no headphone jack.
If you're looking at the Bolt and thinking to yourself "Gee, it looks just like an HTC 10 but without a headphone jack" you're mostly right.
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The all-metal phone with the thick beveled chamfer on the back is very reminiscent of the HTC 10 released earlier this year with a few small differences.
The Quad HD (2,560 x 1,440) screen's a little larger at 5.5 inches with fewer ppi (pixels per inch), but you'll be hard-pressed to see the difference unless you're comparing the two. That said, the Bolt's screen is very good and sharp and easily visible in sunlight. And the home button/fingerprint sensor just below the screen is just as fast as the one on the HTC 10.
Another difference you can't immediately see is water-resistance. The phone's IP57 rated to resist water, splashes and dust.
The Bolt's also got a larger 3,200 mAh battery with Quick Charge 2.0 and beefier cameras (16 megapixels with optical image stabilization on the back and 8 megapixels on the front).
The cameras are pretty good from what I could tell during my short time with the device. The cameras autofocus quickly, but the picture quality is average.
The only downside is the processor's a last-gen Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chip with 3GB of RAM instead of the new 820 processor and 4GB of RAM combo used in almost all of today's flagship Android phones.
Everyday tasks like sending messages, browsing the web and checking Facebook work fine, but the processor really starts to show its limitations when you fire up intensive 3D games. Don't worry, Pokémon Go plays fine.
I'm fine with HTC's skin of Nougat, but oh, hot damn, look at all the pre-installed bloatware on this device:
At the very least, though, the Bolt has 32GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot for expanding the storage to up to 2TB.
But if you're reading this, the lack of a headphone jack is probably the feature you care about most. And on that, I have good and bad news.
The good news: Included in the box are a pair of USB-C in-ear earbuds. The bad news: There's no USB-C-to-headphone-jack dongle in the box like there is with the Moto Z and iPhone 7; you'll need to invest in one yourself.
Carriers exclusives aren't my thing, but if you're on Sprint and looking for a big-sized phone (maybe to replace the Note7), the Bolt is a good option (if you don't mind all the bloatware). It's available starting Friday through monthly installment plans starting at $25 per month for 24 months.
Topics Android
Raymond Wong is Mashable's Senior Tech Correspondent. He reviews gadgets and tech toys and analyzes the tech industry. Raymond's also a bit of a camera geek, gamer, and fine chocolate lover. Before arriving at Mashable, he was the Deputy Editor of NBC Universal's tech publication DVICE. His writing has appeared on G4TV, BGR, Yahoo and Ubergizmo, to name a few. You can follow Raymond on Twitter @raywongy or Instagram @sourlemons.
