For a long time HTC seemed to be dismissing the need for a mid-range device with top notch build quality and a fluid software experience. Luckily, they started to recognise the need and started the Desire series of smartphones. Not many have made it to South Africa, but the latest one has, called the Desire 626. What we wanted to see was a great smartphone experience from HTC at a fraction of the price of the great flagships HTC has produced over the last several years (the latest being the HTC One M9). We know the new HTC Desire 626 is a fraction of the price, but what is the overall experience like? Before we find out, here are some key features:

  • 2 GHz Snapdragon 410 Quad Core Processor
  • 1GB RAM
  • 5 Inch HD IPS Touch Display
  • 13MP Rear Camera With LED Flash
  • 5MP Front Facing Camera With BSI Sensor
  • 2000 MAh Battery

Design and Build htc-desire-626-review-d2 As with many other manufacturers, HTC is following a very familiar and predictable design languages on its different ranges of devices, and the HTC Desire 626 is no different. It looks and feels very much the same as previous Desire devices, which isn‘t necessarily a bad thing. Our particular unit, the marine white variant, combines a white body with a grey coloured accent, but it comes in other colour combinations that we find charming.

The design is by no means unique or original, and also like other Desires is comes with the rubbery accent adding some additional grip. That plastic back can be very slippery and is a magnet for fingerprints. htc-desire-626-review-d3 There are only two actual buttons on the Desire 626, and they’re both seated on the right of the phone. The volume rocker is at the top, with the power button seated underneath it. They’re both of a decent size, and protrude from the side just enough that you can feel them without having to go looking. Needless to say, the device is very comfortable to hold and use on an everyday basis. You might be slightly disappointed with the plastic back, but at this price point it is to be expected. htc-desire-626-review-d4

Screen

The Desire 626 has the same screen size as its predecessor (the Desire 620), but HTC have decided to go with a different panel this time around. As expected with a device in the segment of the market, it doesn‘t have the brilliant displays we found on the Samsung Galaxy S6 or die LG G4. It comes with a modest 720p display, of the IPS variety.

Neither exceptionally detailed with its 294 ppi pixel density nor polarizing with its colours saturation and brightness, the display is at the very least effective for everyday use. It‘s not my favourite display among the contemporaries of this segment, I have to admit. The HTC Desire 626 also exhibits some strange rendering patterns at times, which is concerning.

There are undoubtedly some good qualities about the screen, but there‘s just this subdued tone that prevents it from popping in the eye.

User Interface htc-desire-626-review-ui1

For a long time we have praised HTC‘s efforts in making an Android software experience their own, because they have largely succeeded where many other have failed (read Touchwiz from Samsung). Your brand new Desire 626 will come with Android 5.1 out of the box. It will have all the standard software features you‘d expect, with some marked additions.

The Home widget remains as a suggestion platform to get you the apps you need, for where you are. It includes 3 sets of apps; one for home, one for work, and another for away. You can adjust which apps show up when, and it will automatically detect which screen should be showing based off of GPS or to which WiFi you are connected to.

One of the bubbles that can’t be customized on this widget are the suggestions; filled with apps that HTC thinks you might like depending on your usage. htc-desire-626-review-ui3

If you aren‘t used to HTC devices, the BlinkFeed may also be a bit of a shock at first. There are other devices that have a similar feed, but HTC‘s seems to be the best at picking the most important parts of your various feeds to show you what is happening in the world around you and with your friends and interests. Customization is where you can get excited about the Desire 626.

It comes equipped with HTC Sense, which means you get access to themes. Instead of giving you a few themes built into the phone, Sense gives you access to hundreds of user made themes in dozens of categories. There does seem to be something for everyone, and you will defninitely find one that you like if you‘re not a fan of HTC‘s stock theme. Not that there should be many of you out there ““ we think the Sense skin is great. htc-desire-626-review-ui2

The software is certainly solid. There isn’t an egregious amount of bloatware, and the inclusion of Sense and BlinkFeed give you some real customization options to pursue.

Performance and Battery Life

With so many customisation options available, Sense 7 really makes the Desire 626 stand out from other low to mid-range handsets. It’s just a shame that HTC has chosen to give it such a low-end chipset instead of something with a little bit more punch, which is actually what we expected at this price point.

While Qualcomm’s quad-core, 1.2GHz Snapdragon 410 chip is by no means bad, its benchmark tests shows that it is completely outperformed by its direct competitor, the Moto G. We don‘t usually car too much about the performance on paper, but this time around it is translated into a slightly shoddy experience. It feels a little sluggish compared to its competition, and don‘t expect to be able to play high-end games.

This is disappointing for what’s otherwise a very attractive handset, as HTC’s new, slimmer chassis is arguably even more comfortable to hold than its predecessor.

While the 2,000 mAh battery may seem small, it performed better
than initially expected. The screen on time was over 5 hours, which is pretty good in our book. What makes it better is knowing that it‘s more than long lasting to get us through at least a solid one-day of normal, real world usage.

Camera htc-desire-review-cam2

What was quite disappointing was the camera performance on the Desire 626. Many of the images were exceedingly dark for some reason, something that we‘ve seen before on HTC devices. Unfortunately, there isn‘t much detail present in many shots we took either. Switching to HDR helped correct the exposure balance, but photos still looked overly cool and finer details on nearby buildings were practically non-existent.

htc-desire-review-cam1

Indoor photos weren‘t great either, struggling enormously in low-light conditions. When there was a bit of light, colours were rich enough, but the shots became extremely grainy much sooner than you‘d want to see from such conditions.

Conclusion

The HTC Desire 626 has quite a lot going for it. Unfortunately, with some lacklustre performance and surprisingly bad camera performance, there are better packages in this market segment that we would recommend before buying this device. This is a real shame, as I’m a big fan of HTC’s new Sense 7 interface and it’s great to see it appearing on handsets further down HTC’s Desire range, this one at around R5000. It just needs a better handset to do it justice.

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