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HTC Desire 500 Coming to Europe

After being announced in Taiwan a few weeks ago, HTC’s new budget handset – the Desire 500, will now be coming to Europe.

Geekinsider_desire_500

The Desire 500 will first hit UK, followed by other European markets by end of August.

Featuring an inferior 4.3 inch 480 x 800 WVGA display with an LCD screen, the Desire 500 is a quad-core budget smartphone. It is powered by a 1.2 Ghz quad-core Snapdragon 200 processor, along with 1 Gigabyte of RAM. There’s support for a much-needed MicroSD card up to 64 GB, since the internal storage is just 4 GB.

The Desire 500 has an 8 megapixel camera with HTC’s ImageChip processor and a f/2.0 28mm lens. Like the flagship HTC One, the Desire 500 too can take video highlights, which are 30 seconds of video for your images. Videos can be recorded in HD at 720p. The front camera is a 1.6 megapixel shooter.

“The Desire range has become renowned for bringing a premium mobile experience to the mass market. This particular model, the Desire 500, is no different. It is perfect for people who are always-on-the-go, it enables powerful multitasking and live-streaming of important and interesting information, and it boasts an excellent camera and that bring your important moments to life.” – Peter Chou, CEO.

The device will be running Android Jellybean 4.2, and will feature HTC’s new Blinkfeed news-aggregating inteface on top of its Sense overlay. Like all other HTC phones, the Desire 500 will also ship with built-in Beats Audio support. All of this will be powered by a somewhat low-capacity 1800 mAh battery. HTC is promising 12 hours of talktime on 3G, though.

As for the connectivity options – the device will have the usual set – Bluetooth 4.0, 3G, and Wi-Fi b/g/n. Some regions may also receive an NFC variant.

Rounding up, here are the specifications in one place:

Specifications:

  • 4.3 inch LCD display at WVGA resolution
  • 1.2 Ghz Quad-core Snapdragon 200 chipset
  • 1 GB RAM
  • 4 GB internal memory, expandable up to 64 GB with microSD
  • 8 megapixel rear camera, with video highlights and 720p video recording.
  • 1.6 megapixel front camera
  • Android 4.2.2 Jellybean with HTC Sense and Blinkfeed
  • 1800 mAh battery

Availability

The device will be available in 2 colors – Lacquer Black and Glacier Blue. UK’s PhoneFlogger will be the first one to offer the phone in its country. Pre-orders are available for a sim-free version, starting at £230 – which, barring the Nexus 4, seems to be in line with other devices on the same configuration. Some countries are also expected to receive a dual-SIM variant of the Desire 500.

While 1 GB of RAM is the norm for mid-range phones, the 217 ppi display, along with the Snapdragon 200 chipset could be disappointing for many potential buyers. What do you think of the Desire 500?