By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla
Often overlooked, the Desire line of mid-range smartphones offer a more affordable entry into HTC's unique design and software features and solutions to contract-free users.
The HTC Desire 626s is thin and light and features a 5-inch 720p HD display, 8 megapixel camera, a 2000mAh all-day battery, 1.5 GB of RAM, and is powered by a Snapdragon 210, quad-core, 4 x 1.1GHz processor, 16GB of storage is standard with microSD card expansion.
HTC has taken a more playful turn with the Desire 626s design. While the Bell Mobility review unit I received was the slate (grey) variant, other versions show subtle yet attractive colour combinations with interesting accents. The look is muted yet elegant, specially with a variety of textures and finishes which are unusual for mid-range smartphones.
While not as robust as the more premium HTC One M9, the Desire 626s carries many of the familiar modern HTC design touches and features while feeling similarly sturdy even if it is a lighter, thinner device.
“At HTC, we don’t think you should have to sacrifice or settle if you are looking for an affordable smartphone. That is why we are bringing the absolute best affordable smartphone to market with the HTC Desire,” said Jason Mackenzie, president of HTC America. “Our Desire 626s smartphone brings the premium experiences, performance and style of our flagship smartphone at an incredible price.”
The Desire 626s offers the full range of HTC software experiences including Android Lollipop with HTC Sense 7 overlay, this can be customized with HTC Themes, HTC BlinkFeed and HTC Sense Home applications.
The HTC Sense Home is an intelligent widget that automatically curates apps based on usage and location. It is contextually aware of location, time of day and preferred apps at home, work or on the go. While exploring a new city, HTC BlinkFeed intelligently recommends restaurants near you and recommended by friends during mealtimes.
With LTE capability and a quad-core processor, the HTC Desire 626s, offers speedy uploads and downloads while keeping up with multitasking between apps. A 2000 mAh battery and expandable memory further enhance the power of the new HTC Desire 626s.
In Canada, the HTC Desire 626s will be available in grey on Bell, Videotron, Virgin Mobile and WIND Mobile. Bell Mobility prices the HTC Desire 626s at $199 for without a contract while offering it for 'free' on two year voice plans.