HTC Launches Desire 816 at MWC
by Joshua Ho on February 24, 2014 10:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Trade Shows
- MWC 2014
- Smartphones
- HTC
- snapdragon 400
Today, HTC seems to be delivering on their promise for a stronger focus on the 150-300 USD market segment by launching the Desire 816, a phablet with a 5.5" 720p display and a Snapdragon 400, along with dual front facing speakers with an amplifier on each speaker. For now, it seems that HTC is quite tight-lipped on software, as they only state that the 816 runs "Android with HTC Sense", although based upon the press images it's clear that the hardware buttons have been removed and it may be the beginning of a trend for HTC's 2014 devices. While many are likely to object over the bezel on the bottom, it seems that this may be an unavoidable bezel, as the One, One max, LG G2, Nexus 5, and other phones all have the glass bezel area around as tall as the one that looks to be on the Desire 816. Based on the photos that I've seen for the HTC One's digitizer, it seems that the area must be used for digitizer connectors, but capacitive buttons will fit in that area.
Of course, specs are effectively the most important part of midrange phones when it comes to placing the kind of value that they have, so I made a table to summarize the key points:
| HTC Desire 816 | |
| Display | 5.5" 720p LCD |
| SoC | MSM8928, Snapdragon 400, 1.6 GHz quad Cortex A7 |
| RAM | 1.5 GB |
| Rear Camera | 13MP f/2.2, 1080p HD recording |
| Front Camera | 5MP f/2.8 720p HD recording |
| WiFi | 802.11 b/g/n |
| Storage | 8GB + microSD |
| Battery | 2600 mAh, 3.8V, 9.88 WHr |
| WCDMA Bands | 850/900/2100 MHz (Band 5, 8, 1) |
| LTE Bands |
EMEA: 800/900/1800/2600 MHz (Band 20, 8, 3, 7) Asia: 900/1800/2100/2600 MHz (Band 8, 3, 1, 7) 700 MHz (Band 28) for Taiwan, Australia |
| SIM Size | NanoSIM |
Overall, outside of pricing, there's not too much to talk about. It does use a NanoSIM, something that's definitely important to keep in mind for prospective buyers, and the 9.88 WHr battery is a bit small for the 5.5" form factor but based upon the performance of the One max with a 5.9" display, it shouldn't be too big of a deal, especially with the power-sipping Cortex A7s. The press release doesn't say anything about the LCD panel, but I guess that will have to be discovered at the press event. Overall though, this seems like a relatively well-designed phablet. Whether HTC's strategy will work is another question.
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Netwern - Monday, February 24, 2014 - link
HTC device naming is such a mess. Replytim851 - Monday, February 24, 2014 - link
Indeed. Worst marketing department ever. ReplyKrinosy - Tuesday, February 25, 2014 - link
I want to know what they're going to name the follow up to the HTC One. Replywillis936 - Monday, February 24, 2014 - link
At this point I'd like to propose a "law" similar to Moore's Law based off of technology and market trends:There will never be a decent smartphone option on Verizon again. Reply
edi_opteron - Monday, February 24, 2014 - link
I'm sure that Nokia is a bigger more popular tech giant than HTC and today's biggest buzz was Nokia's first android devices... I just can't help thinking why anandtech deliberately overlooks Nokia... Replytim851 - Monday, February 24, 2014 - link
Nokia *was* a bigger, more popular tech giant. I don't think they are selling more *smartphones* (those that Anandtech cares about) than HTC now. And that's with HTC tanking. Android + iOS combined for 95.7% of all smartphone sales in Q4/13. So despite the annoyingly vocal Microsoft fanboys, Windows Phone doesn't matter at this point.And the X phone by Motorola is D.O.A. I'm still baffled that MS let them ship it, seems to be a giant middle finger from Espoo to Redmond. Reply
Sunrise089 - Monday, February 24, 2014 - link
I know some people either hate contracts or use providers other than AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, or T-Mobile, but for me these 'midrange' phones couldn't be less interesting. I use my phone for an hour+ per day, so the hardware cost per hour/day of use is extremely low. Saving less than $200 in the contract paradigm or even $300+ in the no contract world doesn't seem worthwhile with how important a phone is day-to-day for most people. ReplyBobs_Your_Uncle - Monday, February 24, 2014 - link
A General Note:Joshua: You're a recent arrival to AT & we now get to witness your mettle under short-form rapid-fire conditions. (You've certainly been no slouch so far!) Best Wishes To You!
More generally on topic:
I confess to some degree of confused amazement over the failure of ANY mfg. except HTC to implement dual/stereo front firing speakers. Sure, physics inarguably limits what can be realized in such a small form factor, & I get cost/benefit, etc. But when this feature was introduced on the One, I thought the industry would experience a collective moment of, "How could I/we have conceivably EVER missed this!" While maybe not everyone's 1st priority, sound quality does matter & I just really don't get HTC's exclusivity here.
Re: HTC:
I've had positive experiences with HTC in years past & I wish them well in achieving a focused, well reasoned future path. While I freely acknowledge their seemingly directionless, mumbling shuffle around some corners of the room in the more recent past, I still consider the HTC One to be one of the finest (if not the absolute finest) phones ever to be designed & commercially released; even while allowing for it's arguably significant shortcomings (Ultra-Pixel execution, etc.).
HTC's history boasts a number of exceptionally innovative (honest usage of "innovate": no gratuitous "buzz word de jour" usages allowed!) ... innovative approaches & industry achievements. Consumers & the broader market can only benefit from the technological progress driven through participation of strong competitors. Here's hoping HTC is one of them! Reply
errorr - Monday, February 24, 2014 - link
I don't see how HTC can survive in the low margin business that is non-samsung android.I expected lenovo to buy them but with moto now their smartphone business I don't see how HTC can compete with the cost structure of lenovo, huawei, etc... Reply
Krinosy - Tuesday, February 25, 2014 - link
I think Lenovo were shopping around for an ailing but strong consumer brand (seeing as they tried Nokia and Blackberry before settling for Moto) and to be honest HTC's branding was, is and continues to be a horrible mess not worth buying. Reply