MWC 2014: New HTC Desire 816 adopts HTC One style

HTC has taken the wraps off its new Desire 816 midrange smartphone, a metallic mobile that borrows from the flagship HTC One but sports a bigger screen and smaller price tag.

HTC stopped short of announcing its new top-of-the-range phone, which has been given the codename HTC M8, at MWC 2014, instead revealing a new midrange device.

That said, the HTC Desire 816 has a fairly healthy specification sheet. A 5.5in HD screen with a 1280 x 720 resolution screen is powered by a quad-core 1.6GHz processor.

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There's a 13MP rear camera and 5MP front camera, Bluetooth support, HTC's BoomSound sound processing and dual front speakers, should you want to irritate everyone within earshot.

The design mirrors that of the HTC One, with a "fresh interpretation of the classic, premium metal design" of the One range, which once more rather puts the plastic casing of the brand new Samsung Galaxy S5 to shame.

Due for release later this spring, there's no official word on pricing for the HTC Desire 816, though it should come in noticeably cheaper than the 2014 flagship phones.

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by Joe Cox

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Joe is the Content Director for What Hi-Fi? and Future’s Product Testing, having previously been the Global Editor-in-Chief of What Hi-Fi?. He has worked on What Hi-Fi? across the print magazine and website for almost 20 years, writing news, reviews and features on everything from turntables to TVs, headphones to hi-fi separates. He has covered product launch events across the world, from Apple to Technics, Sony and Samsung; reported from CES, the Bristol Show, and Munich High End for many years; and written for sites such as the BBC, Stuff and The Guardian. In his spare time, he enjoys expanding his vinyl collection and cycling (not at the same time).