New HTC Desire 601 comes with 4G LTE and 4.5-inch screen, set for release in October

By Andy Boxall September 3, 2013

HTC Desire 601

The phone leaked as the HTC Zara a few weeks ago has now been made official as the HTC Desire 601, so as expected, it slots into HTC’s range somewhere in-between the Desire 500 and the HTC One Mini. Sadly, while it looks quite similar to the One Mini from the front, it doesn’t share the aluminum body seen on the One and One Mini, and instead goes for the plastic shell used on other Desire models. This should keep the price sensible though.

HTC has fitted the Desire 601 with a big 4.5-inch screen, however the resolution is 960 x 540 pixels, seeing it match the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini. Giving the phone its power is a dual-core, 1.4GHz Snapdragon 400 processor with 1GB of RAM, which is again the same chip used in the S4 Mini, but with a reduced clock speed.

When the HTC Zara was leaked, it was rumored to come with Android 4.3 and HTC Sense 5.5 installed, however at this point it appears Android 4.2.2 and Sense 5.0 will be standard. That doesn’t mean an update won’t arrive in the future though. The addition of Sense means the phone has HTC’s BlinkFeed on the home screen, and HTC Zoe is there to compliment the camera software.

Two stereo speakers are fitted to the front of the phone, and the BoomSound amplifier is on hand to give the bass a boost. There is some good news on the connectivity front, as the Desire 601 will happily connect to 4G LTE and 3G HSPA+ networks. Other features include a 5-megapixel camera, 8GB of internal memory, and a microSD card slot.

HTC will begin selling the Desire 601 across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East in October, but no price has been provided yet.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Senior Mobile Writer

Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…

Mobile

The $99 ZTE Obsidian sports 4G LTE and Android 5.1, will hit T-Mobile airwaves on August 13

ZTE Obsidian

Not everyone wants a bleeding-edge smartphone. Whether it's the price tag, ostentatiousness, or complexity that accompanies the very highest-end handsets, some folks are perfectly satisfied with more utilitarian devices. Problem is, phones on the low end typically compromise in one major area or another -- BLU's Studio C omits 4G LTE, for example, and Alcatel's OneTouch Mini ships with Android 4.2 (a version behind the newest, 5.1). But every once in a while, a respectable smartphone at a palatable price rolls around, and the ZTE Obsidian sounds like it fits that description.

The Obsidian, bound for T-Mobile airwaves later this month, will retail for an affordable $99. Its internals are mostly par for the price point's course -- a 4.5-inch FWVGA display, a 1.0 GHz Mediatek quad-core processor, and a 5MP rear and 2MP front-facing camera, and 1GB of RAM -- but the Obsidian sports Android 5.1 and 4G LTE connectivity. That last point's notable -- even the Motorola 4G Moto E (normally $99), widely considered one of the best budget phones around, carries a $30 premium.

Mobile

The new Moto E with 4G LTE costs just $100 at Verizon, Sprint, and other prepaid carriers

Updated 4G Motorola Moto E made official

att takes ax slashes prices several gophone smartphones version 1478130790 moto e 4g lte

Motorola has launched a new Moto E smartphone, and this time it comes with 4G LTE connectivity. The official announcement comes after a series of leaks, and a brief tease of the product launch over the weekend. The phone has been updated in several different ways, and here's what you need to know.

Updated on 03-12-2015 by Malarie Gokey: Added news of Verizon, Sprint, Boost Mobile, and Virgin Mobile availability and pricing.
New Moto E keeps things simple
Motorola has increased the screen size to 4.5-inches for the new Moto E, but has decided to keep the same 960 x 540 pixel resolution. It's covered in a Gorilla Glass panel to keep it safe, and apparently the body has a water repellent coating. That's not the same thing as the Moto E being waterproof though, so don't go dropping it in the bath.

Mobile

Sony’s new Xperia E4 has two-day battery life, and a big 5-inch screen

sony xperia e4 news

Sony’s new Xperia E4 smartphone pairs a large 5-inch screen with a sensibly sized battery, resulting in a phone which it claims won’t have to be charged every night. The 2300mAh battery should return 29 days in standby mode, or just over 12 hours of talk time. That’s feature phone territory.

Of course, in the real world things are very different - usage, signal strength, and settings can all impact battery performance - but Sony still says we’ll get two days out of the Xperia E4 before it needs recharging. There’s also Sony’s battery-extending Stamina Mode to make sure it doesn’t grind to a halt when you need the phone most.