As the IFA trade show is set to get underway in Berlin this week, smart phone leader HTC is hitting the ground running with an expansive announcement that broadens its mobile device lineup, particularly extending its reach into the midrange phone market.
The new additions to HTC’s lineup are the Desire 300 and Desire 601 handsets. Both are designed to bring ample, portable power to a phone with a more modest price than the HTC One line.
The Desire 300 is the more basic of the two models, but it still packs plenty of power. Primary features include a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, 512MB of RAM, and a 4.3-inch screen with resolution at 800 x 480 pixels. There’s 4GB of storage space, plus you get room for up to 64GB of additional storage capacity via a microSD expansion slot. Shutterbugs will find a single rear-facing camera, with a 5-megapixel lens, available for photo needs. Under the hood, the Desire 300 runs the Android 4.1.2 operating system.
The Desire 601 upgrades these specs by offering a 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 8GB of built-in storage (plus a 64GB-max microSD slot), and a full 1GB of RAM. The screen bumps things up a bit to a 4.5-inch display with HD-quality resolution of 960 x 540 pixels. As well, the Desire 601 upgrades its camera with a second, front-facing lens that offers 1.4 megapixels of resolution. Android 4.2.2 powers the handset.
With these phones, HTC is extending its specific focus on entertainment and social media through a couple of key upgrades. On the Desire 601, HTC BoomSound stereo speakers provide high-fidelity audio output that few phones can match. With rich and authentic sound quality, BoomSound combines with the phone’s spacious screen to give users a true “home theater on the go” experience.
On both the Desire 601 and 300, the HTC BlinkFeed system puts all of your content front and center where you want it the most: on your phone’s home screen. Add social media feeds and news sources to BlinkFeed, and every time you check your phone, you’ll find it updated with the latest information from all of these outlets. No need to check a dozen different sites for news and status updates; BlinkFeed puts everything in one place.
Both phones are set to launch in October of this year. Pricing has not yet been announced (except that they’ll be cheaper than the One line). All in all, this is good news for phone shoppers who have been enamored with HTC’s design aesthetic and its unique features (like BlinkFeed), but who have found the HTC One line to be a bit too expensive.
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