HTC 10 vs. Samsung Galaxy S7 (and S7 edge)

For a while there, it looked like the HTC vs. Samsung smartphone rivalry had been snuffed out, after HTC's disappointing 2015 flagship fell short of being a true threat to Samsung's envelope-pushing Galaxy S6. This year is a different story, though, as the companies have the two top Smartphone of the Year candidates (so far). Read on for our hands-on comparison of the HTC 10 vs. Samsung Galaxy S7 – which also includes the larger Galaxy S7 edge.

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Even after having the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge in house for nearly three months and the HTC 10 for about two months, we're hard-pressed to find any major criticisms for any of these phenomenal phones. As always, there are minor differences that could nudge you in one direction or another, but these three gorgeous slabs of premium goodness are as close as you'll get to flawless right now.
If you put a gun to my head and made me pick one right now, I'd probably go with the HTC 10 – but only by a hair. It has a rare restraint to it – resisting the urge to rely on gimmicks, instead putting its chips in the refined quality from head to toe pot, trusting in quality without shortcuts. The HTC 10 also has the wild card of hi-fi audio support, with a built-in amplifier and 24-bit DAC (digital-analog converter) that pump amazing sound into connected headphones.

Listening to lossless Tidal (1,411 kbps) and compressed Pandora or Spotify streams (320 kbps) using Sennheiser's Momentum 2.0 Wireless headphones (connected via wire), the HTC 10's output sounds richer, warmer and more fulfilling to my ears than the S7's. The differences are much subtler when you go into wireless mode, where the DAC is no longer part of the equation, but we'd still give the slight edge there to HTC (and it's more noticeable on Tidal lossless tracks).
On the other hand, the Galaxy phones have a few wild cards of their own. You can sit in a pool, bathtub or jacuzzi and use the Galaxy S7 or S7 edge without any problems. You can't do that with the HTC 10 (or iPhones ... or many other phones, for that matter). There's also wireless charging, something HTC skipped on its 2016 flagship.

If you're eyeing the burgeoning virtual reality landscape and want to get your feet wet with mobile VR, then the Galaxy phones have another ace up their sleeve with the Samsung/Oculus Gear VR (above).
It's a little harder to get excited about the Gear now that the high-end Oculus Rift and HTC Vive are here, but the Gear is still far and away the best smartphone-based headset. You can pop either the S7 or S7 edge into the $99 headset and get an instant – pretty damn good – VR experience.
HTC does happen to make the best VR headset money can buy, but it has nothing to do with the company's latest smartphone (it's a PC-based setup). And we don't yet know if the HTC 10 will eventually support Google's upcoming Daydream platform.