HTC have released their latest lower mid-range model, the Desire 530, into the North American market. The Sprinkle White version is available from HTC’s website where it’s on sale for $179; this chassis design is sparkly and pretty but under the skin, the device is largely as expected from a low-end to mid-range HTC Desire. It uses a 5.0-inch, 720p resolution (that is, 1,280 by 720 pixels) SuperLCD panel. HTC have used Qualcomm’s entry level chipset, the Snapdragon 210. This features is a 32-bit, quad core, 1.1 GHz application processor and the Adreno 304 GPU. HTC have given the Desire 530 1.5 GB of RAM, which should help the device perform compared with a typical 1 GB of RAM for an entry level device. There’s 16 GB of internal storage plus a MicroSD card slot, which will take up to a 256 GB card. The Desire 530 also supports Android Marshmallow’s flex storage mode, which means a MicroSD card may be used to expand the internal storage of the device – this technology works better with a high performance MicroSD card. As far as cameras go, the Desire 530 comes with an 8MP rear camera and a 5MP front facer. There’s a 2,200 mAh internal rechargeable battery.
These specifications are hardly exciting but the device ships with some of HTC’s “special sauce.” This includes running HTC’s proprietary user interface, HTC Sense, over Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. It also has HTC’s trademark BoomSound dual stereo speaker and separate amplifier set up, plus the BoomSound headphone profile to enhance the volume and clarity of music. Other features built into HTC Sense include pocket mode (whereby the handset rings louder when it’s being kept in a pocket or purse), flip to mute (silence a ringing device by flipping it over onto its face) and the ability to quieten the ring when the device is picked up. There’s Bluetooth 4.1, Category 4 LTE, 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi (sadly no 5.0 GHz Wi-Fi here).
Also missing for the US version is NFC, so if you are looking to pick up the Desire 530 and use it with Android Pay sadly you are out of luck here. The HTC Desire 530 is already available in other select markets over the world and is sure to attract attention with the color and effect of the case. In other respects the device is a typical entry level smartphone that benefits from HTC’s own features.