HTC are an interesting device manufacturer. Their premium devices – currently the HTC One A9 and HTC One M9 – are beautifully designed devices using one of the more elegant Android skins, but fall short in terms of specification compared with much of the competition. However, rather than try to out-spec the Samsungs of this world, HTC have instead used their design skills and some cleverly thought out hardware features in order to try to compete. It’s a strategy that has polarized opinion: HTC’s BoomSound dual stereo front facing speaker set up is one example, whereby the speakers add height to a given handset, but provide the device with an impressively rich and detailed speaker experience. The One A9 was billed as HTC’s “hero device,” meaning the elegant design and functionality placed over and above raw specifications. At the other end of the cost spectrum, HTC’s cheaper devices substitute plastic or polycarbonate shells in place of aluminum, but still stick with the HTC Sense overlay. Some devices come with features such as BoomSound but use a lesser processor or screen.
We’ve news today of a new lower to perhaps mid-range HTC Desire handset as Dutch retailer Central Point has seemingly inadvertently revealed the Desire 530. The website reveals that the handset will be released on the 23 February and whilst there is a price attached – €190 – we do not have any information as to the specification of the new Desire 530. Given the release date, we suspect that the handset will be unveiled at the Mobile World Congress (as it’s in the middle of the show) and given the model designation seems set to be a new lower or entry level Desire handset.
HTC’s model designations typically use a letter behind the model number to signify that the particular device has a different chipset under the skin, typically substituting a MediaTek System-on-Chip in place of the Qualcomm processor. However, in this case it does not appear to be happening in this case and instead the Desire 530 may represent an upgrade over the HTC Desire 526, which was launched in August 2015. The Desire 526 is based around a 4.7-inch, qHD (that being, 960 by 540 pixel resolution) display and a 32-bit, quad core, 1.1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 System-on-Chip. The Desire 530 may have a slightly polished hardware specification. The only other information that we have seen from the Central Point website is that the handset will be available in two colors: “White Stratus” and “Graphite Gray.” We have three weeks to wait until the device is officially unveiled, if the Central Point site is accurate.