Should you buy the HTC Desire 10 Pro?

HTC's new offering gets the basics of a premium smartphone just right and if you're not too picky or flashy, this phone is for you, says Kakoli Chakraborty.

With three or four players ruling the roost, smartphone makers have been on their toes to climb the rungs, and HTC seems to be doing just that.

With its Desire 10 Pro, HTC hopes to compete against the likes of Moto Z Play and OnePlus 3.

HTC is known for its superior build quality, and the Desire 10 Pro justifies that. With a metal body and gold accents on the sides, the phone looks premium and stylish.

The textured back cover, though, is prone to scratches.

It comes with a 5.5-inch full HD display that provides for vivid colours and sharp images. Staying true to its previous designs, this phone, too, has capacitive buttons.

Much like various mid-range and flagship smartphones, the Desire 10 Pro features a fingerprint sensor. The sensor, located at the back of the phone, is quick to register prints and is highly responsive.

The Desire 10 Pro houses an octa-core MediaTek Helio P10 with 4 GB of RAM.

The phone performs well without any hiccups. I subjected it to RAM-heavy games and didn't face any lag.

Of course, the P10 isn't one of the best processors around, but if you're not too picky about having the perfect "everything", you won't be disappointed.

The phone runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow with HTC Sense on top. It comes with pre-installed third-party apps, which luckily can be uninstalled.

The HTC Desire 10 Pro sports a 20-megapixel (MP) primary and a 13MP secondary camera.

The resulting pictures from these have sharper colours and considerably less noise compared to other phone cameras. Even in low-light conditions, the phone outperforms others.

The camera app though leaves a bit to be desired.

With a non-removable 3,000 mAh battery, the phone easily lasts for a day on moderate use. It doesn't come with a USB Type-C adapter, but supports fast charging.

At Rs 26,470, the HTC Desire 10 Pro doesn't give you a reason to turn away. Of course, there are better smartphones available, but this phone holds its own.

If you're not too picky or flashy, this phone is for you.