14 DAY TRIAL // HTC launched a trio of Android smartphones in India earlier this month, the Desire 701, 601 and 501. However, while the first two are dual-SIM handsets, the latter is only available in single-SIM version.
Fortunately, the dual-SIM version of HTC Desire 501 was only several days away, as the Taiwanese handset maker has just listed the smartphone on its official website.
The device is said to be available soon, but no additional details on Desire 501’s price tag have been unveiled yet. In comparison, the single-SIM version of the handset should be selling for Rs. 16,890 ($275 / €200) outright, but the dual-SIM variant should be priced in the same range.
Anyway, the good news is that HTC Desire 501 features dual-SIM with dual-active support, which means that users will be able to switch between lines while talking on the phone, unlike dual-standby time that doesn’t enable this capability.
Sadly, the smartphone ships with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system with HTC Sense 4.0+ on top, which is a few versions older than the latest variant of Google’s mobile platform.
Hardware-wise, the dual-SIM Desire 501 is far from being impressive. The smartphone comes with a dual-core processor clocked at 1.15 GHz, which is complemented by 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal memory.
Users will also be able to further expand storage up to 64GB via microSD memory card. The phone sports a 4.3-inch Super LCD2 WVGA capacitive touchscreen display that supports 480 x 800 pixels resolution.
On the back, HTC Desire 501 features an 8-megapixel photo snapper with autofocus, f/2.0 aperture, LED flash and HD (720p) video recording. There’s also a secondary 2.1-megapixel camera in the front.
Other highlights of the dual-SIM smartphone include HSDPA (14.4Mbps), Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 with aptX support, NFC (Near Field Communication), 2100 mAh Li-Ion battery and 3.5mm audio jack.