Big screen HTC Desire 816 reaches Virgin Mobile USA, costs $300 without a contract

By Andy Boxall August 12, 2014

HTC Desire 816 All — Image used with permission by copyright holder

HTC has announced it will be releasing its two most recent Desire smartphones in America, with the Desire 610 being sold through its own website, and the Desire 816 available with Virgin Mobile USA. HTC’s Desire line-up consists of low and mid-range Android devices, which offer smartphone fans a taste of the popular One series hardware at a more affordable price.

The Desire 816 is the more, um, desirable of the two, and it will be on sale through Virgin Mobile USA from August 12, priced at $300 on the no-contract, Beyond Talk plan. HTC announced the phone back in February, and we got to see it during Mobile World Congress, describing it at the time as HTC’s iPhone 5C. That’s a good thing, by the way.

It has a massive 5.5-inch touchscreen with a 720p resolution, a powerful 1.6GHz Snapdragon 400 processor, 1.5GB of RAM, and an impressive 13-megapixel camera. It’s not one of the One M8’s Duo Camera setups, but it will shoot 1080p video.

Related: Read about the One M8’s Duo Camera in our extensive review

Above the screen is a wide-angle, 5-megapixel camera, and HTC claims both will perform well in low-light. Android 4.4 KitKat with HTC’s Sense 6 user interface over the top is installed, and the phone also has HTC’s Boomsound speakers and amplifier.

Moving on to the Desire 610, it has a smaller 4.7-inch screen and a lower, 854 x 480 pixel resolution. The processor is a four core Snapdragon 400 running at 1.2GHz, and there’s 1GB of RAM to accompany it. The rear camera has 8 megapixels, and the selfie cam has 1.3 megapixels. The operating system and UI are the same as the Desire 816, and the phone boasts dual front-facing Boomsound speakers too. Both phones will connect to 4G LTE networks, should the service be offered.

HTC directs those interested in the Desire 610 to AT&T, where it’s available for free with a two-year contract, or for $200 as a prepaid smartphone with AT&T’s GoPhone.

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Senior Mobile Writer

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

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