After much hype and speculation, HTC has announced the release of its new HTC 10--it's not yet available in the States, but online reviews are ubiquitous. Virtually every reviewer (even those who typically ignore the audio quality of phones) have raved about its sound quality, esp. its headphone output and   "audio profile" customizability. As the phone becomes available, real users' impressions would be most appreciated.....

Yes! I was thinking of upgrading my phone and I'm torn between the HTC 10 and Galaxy S7...
Here are the merits of both to me, priority-wise:
 
Galaxy S7:
- Better display
- Water resistance
- Gear VR
- (Fast) Wireless charging
HTC 10:
- Audio experience
- Sense software
- Uh-Oh Protection
- USB-C 3.1
 
Whether the audio experience on the HTC 10 will be worth it for me over the Galaxy S7's visual experience is something I can't answer for now. The HTC 10's display is still very respectable in this regard, so it wouldn't be a deal-breaker either way...

kiloz, i'm going thru a similar analysis and auditioned the s7 edge at some length (also the g5, which i've crossed off my list). i'm not considering the regular s7, which has a smaller screen than the htc and smaller battery than the s7 edge.
much of this is speculative since we haven't actually seen the m10, but i infer the following, relative to my priorities:
1. the htc will be louder and better sounding (i was pleasantly surprised at the s7's sq, however; very clear sound and adequate headphone output, though the external speaker was kinda weak)
2. the s7e's display quality is exceptional and will likely be better than the m10. however, i'm not sold on the usefulness of the s7 edge screen, which sorta distorts the corners of the images.
3. battery life is supposed to be great on both. both support fast charging (wireless charging isn't important to me). i'm not sure about the import of usb c.
4. from past experience, i prefer htc's interface and software to samsung's
5. water resistance isn't a big factor since i'll use a protective case/screen protector, but the uh-oh is a real big plus.
6. htc's vr device is supposed to be even better than samsung's--i can't presently conceive of actually using it, but never say never
all that said, i'm likely to be swayed by the audio performace of the htc--if it's as good as advertised i'm a buyer.

Posted in different thread, look at provided link
 
https://youtu.be/wrWo8sXp1a4?t=471

kiloz said:

  ..it wouldn't be a deal-breaker either way...

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sadly for me audio quality on s7 is a deal breaker. I own a s7 edge for almost two months already but still have an option to return it, and most probably im gonna do that. Everything about this phone is actually pretty great but I just dont like its audio signature, its sounds pretty cheap and harsh..  my audiotechnica m50 started to catch dust since i switched to s7, hope thats about to change with htc 10.

I hope my 10 preorder does ship this week as Jeff Gordon (of HTC, not NASCAR) has said.  I tend to think HTC will screw it up and I won't get it till the end of May.

Oh no! Amazon, in UK have updated their shipping date to May 18th.

my carrier, sprint, has announced it will begin selling the htc10 on 5/13--it's not clear whether they'll be in stores then or simply available for preorder. if i was less compulsive, i'd wait for a bit since they'll undoubtedly start discounting and/or offering incentives, but i'll be there on the 13th--life is short....

There's a review on gsmarena.com:

The HTC 10 is yet another case of the Taiwanese company getting the audio output just right. The flagship delivered an impressive output when used with an active external amplifier, getting top marks for clarity and garnishing them with nicely high volume levels.
 
Degradation caused by headphones is minimal too with a minor hike in stereo crosstalk being the only change. Volume remained very high and clarity was still great.
 
And now here go the results so you can do your comparison:

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Here's the LG V10 chart for comparison.

found this on phone arena:

Audio output

 
 
Headphones output power (Volts)
Higher is better
Apple iPhone 6s 0.986  

HTC 10 0.95  

Samsung Galaxy S7 0.704  

Sony Xperia Z5 0.35  

LG G5 0.29  

Loudspeaker loudness (dB)
Higher is better
 
Apple iPhone 6s 69.6  

HTC 10 68  

Samsung Galaxy S7 72.7  

Sony Xperia Z5 73  

LG G5 73
 
I'm a little surprised at this data--I was led to believe the HTC10 was monstrously loud--but these are still impressive results + everyone opines that the quality through the headphone out is exceptional.

majestictwelve said:

  There's a review on gsmarena.com:

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Seems a bit disappointing in terms of dynamic range, IMD and crosstalk. HTC marketed having a 24-bit DAC but it's likely just Qualcomm's integrated DAC with their addition of a Class D amp. Usually by doing this HTC can get more out of the DAC and minimize distortion and crosstalk, but I was really expecting much better seeing the measurements for the M7 to M9. 
 
Then again GSMArena's results aren't always accurate. They said the HTC Butterfly s was loud and had no distortion, but I found that above a certain volume it starts to clip badly with bass.

oryan_dunn said:

  I hope my 10 preorder does ship this week as Jeff Gordon (of HTC, not NASCAR) has said.  I tend to think HTC will screw it up and I won't get it till the end of May.

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Would love an update from you on this, and how the quality is

I received mine on the 5th....pleasantly surprised. Sound quality is great.

subguy812 said:

I received mine on the 5th....pleasantly surprised. Sound quality is great.

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Can you elaborate? And compare it to other devices like Galaxy and LG?