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The 11 most bizarre, cringey, and weird smartphone commercials of all time
From the 'ouch' to the 'eww' to the 'can't unsee this'
It can be hard for something as anonymous looking as a smartphone to stand out in the world. So, when coming up with ways to advertise and market their wares, manufacturers of these products often try to get... creative. Sometimes, they get far, far too creative, and hilarity ensues. While some of their biggest snafus may be indefinitely lost, we have 11 smartphones commercials and promo videos that we think are the absolutely cringiest, most bizarre, and generally weird ever to be created (and, frequently, the targets of later attempted destruction by their creators — so, thanks, random YouTube re-uploaders).
The LineageOS custom ROM used to support just about every phone imaginable, but lately the project has been going for quality over quantity. Oreo (15.1) builds have to fulfill stricter requirements to receive official status, and now Lineage is dropping support for 30 unmaintained phones and tablets.
Back in February, HTC claimed that it had released the Android 8.0 Oreo update for the HTC 10 Sprint, but when we checked, no one had received it yet. It wasn't until a couple of weeks later that users started getting it, but if for some reason your device didn't get the OTA, you can now finally install it manually.
HTC might not have seen the greatest sales from the HTC 10 when it launched back in 2016, but you have to hand it to the company for maintaining support. The 10 went from Marshmallow, to Nougat, and now to Oreo. The Verizon variant is the latest version to get the update, but it might take some time to hit all devices.
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- HTC has pulled the HTC 10's Oreo RUU download and the update page for unknown reasons, and it doesn't seem like any HTC 10 owners actually received the update over-the-air. Apparently, the update caused a lot of confusion on forums, as the only people who could even install the RUU were those who had paid for Sunshine S-OFF, extracted the firmware from the RUU, and flashed the firmware itself. Thanks go out to Kevin for letting us know.
Back in August, HTC promised that Oreo would come to the U11, U Ultra, and 10. The U11 (and U11 life) have both received their Oreo updates, and the 10 is next in line. The Android 8.0 Oreo OTA is now rolling out to this 2016 flagship, and if you're on the impatient side, you can download the RUU instead.
Soon after Android 8.0 Oreo was released, HTC promised the update would come to its 2016 flagship, the HTC 10. Oreo for the unlocked model finally arrived earlier this month, but started causing issues for owners, and it was later pulled and replaced with a new build. The Sprint carrier model is supposedly next to get the update, but no one actually has it.
Google has made Android 8.0 Oreo official, and some Pixel and Nexus phones have already gotten the OTA. So, the time has come for OEMs to make vague promises about updating their existing hardware to Android 8.0. First up is HTC, which has said on Twitter the Android 8.0 update is coming to the HTC U11, HTC U Ultra, and HTC 10.
HTC published Android 7.0 Nougat kernel source code for the HTC 10 at the tail end of last year. It was only available for the unlocked version at the time, but now the company has updated the page with the code for the T-Mobile, Telstra, and Verizon versions of the phone, too. Furthermore, the HTC One A9 has had its code published for the first time, with a great deal more variants available.
One of the biggest criticisms about HTC smartphones as of late has been about their prices. For instance, $749 is kind of a lot for a U Ultra when you can get a Galaxy S8 for less. But with HTC's Summer Sunset Sale, you can chop a couple hundred bucks off the MSRPs of the U Ultra, the 10, the Under Armour HealthBox, and more.
The HTC 10 was never the most popular phone on the block. In our review, we found that its many talking points were ultimately overshadowed by its rather hefty $700 MSRP. Fast forward to today, and even though the 10 has aged a bit, it's still a solid choice. Sprint has just lowered the regular price of this 2016 flagship to just $240, and you don't have to be a Sprint customer to pick one up.
The U Ultra is HTC's first flagship phone for 2017, and it didn't get great reviews. It's expensive, has poor battery life, lacks waterproofing and a headphone jack, and the US model only supports GSM networks. If you really wanted one for some reason, the U Ultra is now $150 off at HTC's website, along with several other phones.
HTC isn't too bad when it comes to updates - most of the time. The company started pushing Android 7.0 Nougat to the unlocked US HTC 10 back in December, and over the past few months, has updated more variants in more countries. Now it's time for the Verizon HTC 10 to join the fun.
LineageOS, the successor to the ill-fated CyanogenMod, is off to a great start. The ROM has already passed 600,000 active installs, and has steadily added support for more devices since launch. Now official LineageOS builds have expanded to several more phones and tablets.
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- Graham Wheeler has posted a few updates on Twitter to celebrate that "Nougat has rolled out to HTC 10 devices in the UK, Russia, the Middle East and Turkey," but unfortunately he also said that the update has been paused in mainland Europe due to a technical issue that HTC is looking into and trying to correct, and that he expects the roll-out to continue in February.
About a week ago, we learned that the Android 7.0 Nougat would be released for the HTC 10 in Europe within 2 weeks. And right in the middle of that timeframe, the roll out has started.
We've seen several carriers update their HTC 10 models to Android 7.0 Nougat over the past few months, including T-Mobile and various European providers. Now Sprint has finally pushed the Nougat OTA to the HTC 10 on its network.
About two weeks ago, HTC began rolling out Nougat to the HTC 10, 10 Lifestyle, and One M9 in Europe. However, the rollout for the HTC 10 was paused due to an unforeseen technical issue, with the company estimating a fix due in February.
The HTC 10 was released early last year to mostly positive reviews, minus the high price tag, and caused us to give HTC the "Most Improved OEM" award for 2016. The Nougat rollout for the unlocked HTC 10 in the US started last month, but users across the pond will have to wait a little longer. Graham Wheeler, Product and Service Director for HTC EMEA, announced that the unlocked HTC 10 and One M9 in Europe will receive Nougat in the next two weeks.
During my briefing for the new HTC U Play and U Ultra last week, a point of discussion around "flagships" came up during the presentation. HTC wants to send the message that U is now the premiere brand for the company, and that U is where HTC's premiere products will be found.
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- HTC's own support page for the T-Mobile 10 has been updated with Nougat info as well as the full ~2GB RUU.
While everyone is busy paying attention to the happenings at CES, T-Mobile has dropped a few big OTA updates. Android 7.0 Nougat is coming to the HTC 10 and LG G Pad X 8.0. If you have one of these devices, now is the time to start mashing the update button. Okay, don't actually do that, but an update will arrive soon.
The HTC 10 is really quite a nice phone, and it was such an improvement over its predecessor, the One M9, that we recently gave HTC Android Police's Most-Improved OEM of 2016 award. Arguably the largest issue was its price; at $699, it was a tad out of reach for some. However, HTC's latest Hot Deals sale discounts the 10 to just $499, a $200 reduction, and a free pair of wireless headphones. Not bad.While the 10's direct competitor, the Galaxy S7, outsells it significantly, the HTC 10 is still an excellent phone. It pretty much gets everything right, aside from small quibbles such as a non-AMOLED screen and a lack of water resistance. As a recap, it's packing a 5.2-inch 1440p display, a still-powerful Snapdragon 820, 4GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage and a microSD slot, a 12MP camera (the same one as the Nexus 5X and 6P's), OIS on both front and rear cameras, a fantastic audio system, and a 3000mAh battery.All models of the 10 (unlocked, T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint) are eligible for the promo, although only the unlocked model gets the cool gold and red colors. The wireless headphones that HTC is throwing in are the Jabra Move, which go for $60 and are pretty well-rated on Amazon. Orders are limited to four HTC 10s and one pair of free headphones. This deal will expire on December 20th, and the headphones will cease to be included once HTC runs out of them, so don't hesitate if you want a 10.Source: HTC