14 DAY TRIAL // Although HTC has confirmed that its next flagship smartphone will be announced on March 25, the Taiwanese company did not let this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2014 trade fair go through without launching a new device.
The HTC Desire 816 is the company’s new “flagship” mid-range smartphone meant to offer a solid range of features at an affordable price tag.
Speaking of price, HTC has announced that the Desire 816 will go on sale next month in China and will reach other markets beginning April, though no price tag has been confirmed yet.
The Desire 816 will ship with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean operating system out of the box and HTC Sense 5.5 UI on top. No KitKat upgrades are on track for the Desire 816 yet, but anything is possible.
On the inside, the mid-range handset comes equipped with a 1.6GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, 1.5GB of RAM and 8GB of internal memory.
Users will be able to further expand storage up to 64GB via microSD memory card. Another strong point of the HTC Desire 816 would be the large 5.5-inch Super LCD2 capacitive touchscreen display that supports HD (720p) resolution and 267ppi (pixel density).
The Desire 816 boasts an impressive 13-megapixel photo snapper on the back, which features autofocus, LED flash and full HD (1080p) video recording, while in the front there’s a no less impressive 5-megapixel camera with HD (720p) video recording.
Other highlights of the smartphone include: LTE and HSPA connectivity, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi, GPS with A-GPS, NFC (Near Field Communication) and 2600 mAh Li-Polymer non-removable battery.
“The HTC Desire 816 marks the beginning of an exciting new era for the mid-tier. Incomparably beautiful to look at and hold with the technology and software to match, the HTC Desire 816 challenges everything that people expect from lower cost smartphones.
It is bringing genuine choice to the category by delivering stunning design and high-end performance at unbelievable value,” said Peter Chou, CEO of HTC.
