Solvothermal synthesis has advanced significantly over the past decades and became a versatile approach to achieve the morphology control of well-defined metal nanostructures. This review covers the most recent progress on the solvothermal syntheses and applications of metal nanocrystals. Key synthetic factors are summarized, including temperature, reaction time, solvent effects, ligand effects, facet-specific capping agent effects, and reductant effects. The synthetic strategies, growth mechanism, and enhanced properties of metallic nanocrystals and multimetallic nanocrystals are introduced. The perspectives in the solvothernnal syntheses and applications of metal nanocrystals are discussed. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.