If you’re looking to tinker around under the hood of your smartphone, it usually helps if the bootloader is unlocked. Over the years, OEMs have been kind of back and forth regarding unlocking bootloaders for customers, with some companies refusing to do so and saying it will void your phone’s warranty if you do so.
The good news is that if you love tinkering with your phone, you will be pleased to learn that the recently announced HTC 10 will have its bootloader unlockable, and best of all it seems that your phone’s warranty will still remain intact, or at least to a certain extent. However note that this is only for the unlocked version of the phone which is currently available for pre-order via HTC’s website.
According to HTC, “HTC is committed to assisting customers in unlocking bootloaders for HTC devices. However, certain models may not be unlockable due to operator restrictions. We continue to work with our partners on this, check back often for ongoing updates about unlockable devices.” With regard to the warranty, there is a caveat.
HTC says that “not all claims resulting or caused by the unlocking of the bootloader will be covered by the warranty.” This means there will be instances when HTC could reject your warranty should you unlock the device’s bootloader, although they did not share the specifics.