HTC launches Desire 601

HTC decided to launch both the Desire 300 and the Desire 601 together, and these two models have different markets, because while the Desire 300 is an entry-level smartphone, the 601 outdoes it, being a mid-range one. However, they are both being described as value smartphones, although we guess that the 300 will have a tough time making its mark.

The HTC Desire 601 has LTE support for wireless networking and it also includes some of the features you would normally see on the HTC One, like BlinkFeed (Also included by HTC Desire 300), Zoe and BoomSound, which enhances greatly your music experience, thanks to the dual frontal stereo speakers. We should really talk about the LTE inclusion, and we salute HTC for incorporating it into their Desire 601.

A quick look at the specs shows us that the phone weighs 130 g and features a 4.5-inch qHD display at a 960 x 540 resolution. It has a decent processor – dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 running at 1.4GHz. We guess that the Snapdragon 600 is out of reach for a mid-range smartphone, so we’ll take this as well. Continuing with the specs, we also have 1GB RAM, which is twice as more as the Desire 300 and 8GB storage, although because of the pre-apps, you’ll technically get only 4.5GB, but don’t worry, the microSD card will come in handy, since it can be up to 64GB.

The rear camera has 5-megapixels, featuring 28mm lens, BSI sensor, f2.0 and HTC Image Chip, with the shooter at the front being a standard VGA. We would have hoped for the Desire 601 to have the UltraPixel camera, but we’ll take this one as well, especially since they seem to compensate the lack through the HTC Zoe camera function, which clusters several pics and creates motion. Through the video highlights feature, you can create a mini movie of 30-second, solely with the pictures you took of an event, without any extra software.

As for connectivity, kudos to the manufacturer for the 4G LTE, Bluetooth 4.0, DLNA support, GPS, AGPS, GLONASS and of course Wi-Fi 802.11.  The 2100mAh battery has less standby time than the Desire 300, which isn’t all in all that surprising, since entry-level batteries normally last longer, although the talk time at 13 hours is pretty much the same.

Sales for the HTC Desire 601 will start in October 2013, in the African, Middle Eastern and European markets – nothing has been said yet about the North American market. It will be available in red, white and black and price has yet to be announced. We imagine this phone to compete with Nokia’s Lumia 625 and at this stage, it’s a tough call, since HTC Desire 601 seems to be a toned-down HTC One – it’s basically a phone for those who want a HTC badly, but don’t feel like spending a lot of money on a high-end one. Of course, this assuming that it won’t come with a ridiculous price tag, since the specs do scream “affordable”. At the end of the day, it might not be their very best, but the Desire 601 is still HTC and this speaks volumes about its quality. 

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