HTC announce the Desire 601 and Desire 300

[Guest Zarch1972]

London, 3 September 2013 – HTC, a global leader in mobile innovation and design, today announced the addition of the HTC Desire 601 and HTC Desire 300, to its popular smartphone family enabling consumers to enjoy a premium experience at any price point. Changing the face of the mid-range, the HTC Desire 601 introduces LTE speeds and innovative features from the flagship One family, including HTC ZoeTM with Video Highlights and HTC BoomSound. Setting a new standard for entrylevel smartphones, the HTC Desire 300 offers a powerful, large-screen browsing experience and HTC BlinkFeedTM

Here are the specs on the Desire 601...

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 dual core CPU at 1.4 Ghz
  
• Android 4.2.2 with BlinkFeed
  
• 4.5 inch qHD display (960 x 540)
  
• 8 GB storage, 1 GB RAM, microSD up to 64 GB supported
  
• 5 MP Auto Focus Camera: BSI sensor, Pixel size 1.4 µm, Sensor size 1/4"", HTC Image Chip, f2.0 aperture and 28 mm lens
  
• Battery: 2100 mAh Embedded rechargeable Li-polymer battery
  
• 2G/ 2.5G - GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
  
• 3G/ 3.5G - UMTS/ HSPA: EMEA: 900/1900/2100MHz with HSPA+ up to 42 Mbps
  
• 4G - LTE: EMEA: 800/900/1800/2600 MHz
  
• Size: 134.5mm x 66.7mm x 9.88mm, 130 grams
  Sounds to me like a cut down HTC One Mini, but with a larger yet poorer screen?
  
  
  

  
  
  Now for the specs on the Desire 300...
  

  • 4.3 inch WVGA (800 x 480) display
    
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core 1GHz CPU
    
  • Android 4.1.2 with BlinkFeed
    
  • 4 GB storage, 512 MB RAM, microSD with 64 GB card support
    
  • 5 MP main camera with auto focus, F/2.8 aperture and 34 mm lens, WVGA video recording, VGA front camera
    
  • Battery: 1650 mAH, removable
    
  • 2G/ 2.5G - GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
    
  • 3G/ 3.5G - UMTS/ HSPA: 900/2100 MHz with HSDPA up to 7.2 Mbps (EU/Asia/China) 850/2100 MHz with HSDPA up to 7.2 Mbps (Asia)

  This sounds very low end.

  

  After really pushing the 'One' brand with the standard One and the Mini are HTC now in danger of diluting the brand with these Desire devices? Especially as these Desire units have that 'One' look about them from the front.

  I imagine pricing is key (unavailable at this time). They would have come in significantly under the One Mini to make them appealing.

  What do you think or these new HTC Desire devices and what HTC are doing with their range?

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[Guest george109]

It all depends on the prices, they really need to be able to compete with other budget brands like Huawei for the low end, dual core one, and I can guess that they probably will have a very high price. The desire 601 is like a cheap verison of the HTC One. Otherwise, this will certainly harm the brand.

Edited September 3, 2013 by george109

[Guest The Soup Thief]

Wow! They're rubbish!

Well, maybe not rubbish, but very weak. Agree completely with the above comments - this is a smashing way to devalue the brand, assuming they price them at what they are worth. Instead they'll overprice them and will shift a disappointing number, says my crystal ball

Edited September 3, 2013 by The Soup Thief

[Guest]

1gb ram on the desire 300 is just stupid. I wish htc would die already, fed up of their overpriced underspec'd phones and often give them no android updates too.

[Guest Chrisund123]

Budget spec, but the price will be way too high. I remember I had an HTC wildfire, and much to my dismay the ZTE blade I bought my girlfriend for much less kicked its ass in every single way.

[Guest Simon O]

The Desire 500 is about £240 I believe so the 601 will be higher. It won't be able to compete against other, better, cheaper devices really.

[Guest The Soup Thief]

This really is worlds away from the turnaround strategy HTC needs. Everyone reckons they're on their knees - they're gonna help that not one bit by churning out this bland "me too" junk. They need to take bigger risks and innovate, like they kinda did with the One or give up (or else sell out to the Chinese government, as I read one of their execs was accused of having done)