HTC has released a HTC Desire-branded, mid-range device into the Taiwan market, the HTC Desire 650. This device uses a new design arrangement, whereby the rear of the device consists of half a plain rubber material and the other hand a “sculptured design” in HTC language. HTC’s website explains that this “double back” selection of materials makes the device easier to grip for customers. This represents something of a departure for many of HTC’s mid-range and flagship devices and although it may mark the device out to be a lower to mid-range handset, it should make for a practical real world experience.
Otherwise, on the face of it the new Desire 650 has a typical mid-range specification. It’s powered by an unnamed quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset and this comes with support for Category 4 LTE networking. The chipset is backed up by 2GB of RAM and the device comes with 16GB of local storage plus a MicroSD card slot that’s compatible with cards of up to 2TB in size. HTC have provided a 5.0-inch, 720p resolution display, protected by Corning Gorilla glass. Around the back, there’s a 13-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel unit on the front for video calling and selfies. The operating system is Android 6.0 Marshmallow under HTC’s Sense user interface, and the battery is slightly small sounding at 2,200mAh, but HTC’s benchmark states that a full charge can provide up to 17.5 hours of talk time over a 3G network. For the audio lovers out there, the Desire 650 has been certified for high-resolution sound. However, there’s no sign of the device being hardened to the elements with dust and waterproofing to go with the “double back” design.
However, HTC are making something of the software features of the device, which includes a “night mode” for using the device in the evening. This “night mode” adjusts the colors of the screen to warm the tone, which is easier on the eyes and reduces fatigue. The Desire 650 also comes with HTC’s theming software, introduced a couple of years ago and allows customers to quickly and easily change the arrangement and layout of their device. And finally, the HTC Desire 650’s software includes HTC’s memory boosting technology, Boost+ and Smart Boost. These features are designed to remove and reduce junk files from internal storage and “significant improve system performance.” At this time we don’t know when the device may be released elsewhere or the likely price, but we will keep you updated.
