HTC Desire 616 Hands-On And First Look: Appealing Hardware, But More Work Needed on Design

By Anuj Bhatia

| Updated: Saturday, July 12, 2014, 13:09 [IST]

Rating:

3.5/5

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PROS

Fast Processor
Dual-SIM
Decent Display
Affordable Price

CONS

Underwhelming Design
Build quality
Poor Camera
Dated Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
Battery

Mid-range handset market in India continues to grow by leaps and bounds. There are a couple of smart phone makers that recently jumped into the mid-end of the handset market over the past few months. With players like Motorola, Lenovo and Gionee already managing to create an aura in the mid-segment range; many more handset manufacturers are planning to start producing phones sub Rs. 17,000.

The latest entrant in the mid-range segment is none other than HTC. Already a successful player in the high-end range, Taiwanese giant now aims to be a trend setter with an introduction of its Desire 616 smart phone. Priced at Rs. 16,990, the Desire 616 has a 5-inch 720p HD display, and is powered by a powerful Octa-Core CPU.

Now that HTC has confirmed that Desire 616 will start retailing by next week, it will battle against the supposed giants in the smartphone market - the Xiaomi Mi 3 (expected to get launched on July 15) and the Micromax Canvas Knight A350. Yes indeed, the competition in this price bracket is bloody tough and full of obstacles. Can HTC Desire 616 stand a chance to win against the who's who in the mid-range segment? Here is a detailed first look of the HTC Desire 616.

HTC Desire 616 - Form Factor, Design and Operating System

The Desire 616 seems to be a replica of the original HTC One M7 in terms of finishing and looks. However, the new mid-range handset is made out of bendable polycarbonate plastic. The HTC Desire 616 design shuns the option of a premium, brushed metal or unibody design in favour of a largely plastic body.

When we held the phone for the first time the Desire 616 appeared to be underwhelming in respect to build. It does look like a Rs. 16,990 priced handset, agreed. The saving grace, of course, is the removable battery and a microSD card slot. This average looking phone weighs in at 150grams. The Desire 616 design doesn't have an appealing factor, like HTC's previous handsets in the Desire series.

From first look, the HTC Desire 616 display will make an impression. With a decent 720p HD resolution, the Desire 616's 5-inch display has an eye-popping 294 pixels-per-inch image density. The screen is sharp and crisp, without even a trace of pixelization creeping in. Colours still aren't as natural as on the Samsung-made phones.

The HTC Desire 616 is a world apart from the HTC One E8 with all manners of new features. The Desire 616 comes with a dated Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with HTC's Sense 5.5 slapped on top. The app drawer and home screen are part of HTC Sense UI, however, system apps, and even Camera UI are all stock Android 4.2 Jelly Bean which we commonly see on any MediaTek-powered devices.

In the software department the Desire 616 completely fails to captivate our senses. Still we'd like to say that the Desire 616 is more accessible to those who require a more streamlined phone without much complication.