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Battery life
- Battery life is about average
- Android 7.0’s standby time is impressive
The HTC Bolt is a big phone and that means a big battery, sort of. It packs in a 3,200 mAh battery that has no problem lasting through a day, but won’t get you two days of use. The reason for the average battery life is the combination of the phone’s pixel-dense screen and less efficient processor.
Standby time is truly impressive. Android 7.0 does wonders with standby time, losing only 4% when left off the charger overnight.
For most users, the battery life of the HTC Bolt is just fine. You’ll still have to charge the phone very night but it will get most users through a full day without issue. It’s disappointing HTC couldn’t include the latest Quick Charge 3.0 spec, especially when the $99 ZTE ZMax Pro has the feature.
Camera
The Bolt’s 16MP camera produces good but not great photos. The camera performs its best in good lighting, producing accurate colors and good sharpness. But even in the best light, the Bolt struggles with dynamic range. HDR mode helps a little, but images are still darker and softer than we’d like. Even worse, HDR mode is extremely laggy, taking seconds to finally capture a scene.
When the lights get dim, the Bolt’s camera struggles. You’ll have to hold steady as the camera tries to keep the shutter open longer to let in more light. This means moving subjects at night will be blurry.
HTC’s camera app is good, even if it has a few too many options. There are options for shooting video, hyperlapse, slow motion, panoramas, selfie panoramas and Zoe, which is like the iPhone’s Live Photos. Pros will be happy with the Bolt’s built-in RAW support and manual controls.
The biggest disappointment with the Bolt’s camera is its focusing speed. The camera constantly hunts for focus and tapping on your subject takes longer to focus than it should. This is especially noticeable when compared to the quick-focusing Samsung Galaxy S7 and HTC 10 cameras.
The 8MP front-facing camera is fine, though it lacks sharpness. It’s perfectly good for video calls, but can’t match the sharpness of the 16MP front shooter on the OnePlus 3T.
HTC’s camera app is good, but suffers from a few too many options. There are options for shooting video, hyperlapse, slow motion, panoramas, selfie panoramas and Zoe, which is like the iPhone’s Live Photos. Pros will be happy with the Bolt’s built-in RAW support and manual controls.
The biggest disappointment with the Bolt’s camera is its focusing speed. The camera constantly hunts for focus and tapping on your subject takes longer to focus than it should. This is especially noticeable when compared to the quick focusing of the Samsung Galaxy S7 and HTC 10.
The 8MP front facing camera is good, though it lacks sharpness. It’s perfectly good for video calls, but can’t match the sharpness of the 16MP front shooter on the OnePlus 3T.
