At the end of January, an unknown HTC smartphone was leaked, along with speculation the device would be powered by one of MediaTek’s octa-core processors. Previously, HTC worked almost solely with Qualcomm, using its Snapdragon processor to power everything from the HTC One to the Desire 300. Although we’re still waiting for the phone featured in the leak to be made official, HTC has revealed a new budget phone, notable for being its first to run a MediaTek chip.
No, it’s not the octa-core processor, but a 1.3GHz quad-core chip. It’s fitted inside the Desire 310, the follow-up to the Snapdragon-powered Desire 300 mentioned above. HTC has been tight with the details on the new Desire 310, mentioning only that it has a 4.5-inch screen, up from the 4.3-inch display on the Desire 300, and a 5-megapixel camera.
However, the Desire 310 did make a brief appearance on HTC’s own website in January, providing us with some more information. Apparently, the 4.5-inch screen will have an 854 x 480 pixel resolution, and the MediaTek processor will be accompanied by 512MB of RAM. A basic VGA video call camera can be seen above the screen, and a MicroSD card slot will help boost the 4GB of built-in memory. HTC may have saddled the Desire 310 with Android 4.2.2, and not the latest 4.4 KitKat version of Google’s OS, but it will install BlinkFeed over the top.
HTC has only announced the Desire 310 for Taiwan, where it’ll go on sale in April, but the previous leak was spotted on HTC’s European website, suggesting a wider release will come soon. It’s the use of MediaTek’s chip which makes the little Desire 310 standout, and is evidence of cost-cutting measures at HTC. It’s a big score for MediaTek too. Its chips are more commonly found in hardware from ZTE, Huawei, Alcatel and similar manufacturers, although it has been linked with both Sony and Samsung, showing the relatively young company is making progress in the industry.
Updated on 03-07-2014 by Andy: The Desire 310 will launch in several European countries, with Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the UK all on the list. In the UK, reports say it’ll be available through Vodafone, O2, and Carphone Warehouse stores. The price has been set at around 160 euros, which converts over to £140 for the UK.
Article originally published on 03-06-2014