Skip to main content

HTC brings its refreshed Desire line to the US

HTC brings its refreshed Desire line to the US

Share this story

HTC is today announcing three new phones in its Desire line of smartphones: the Desire 520, Desire 526, and the Desire 626, all of which will be available from US carriers. All of the phones will have full retail prices below $200 and feature the quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 processor and LTE connectivity. The Desire line is designed to be lower cost than HTC's premium One series of smartphones, and trades aluminum finishes and high-end specs for plastic bodies and lesser components.

The Desire 520 is the lowliest member of the group, with a 4.5-inch, 854 x 480 pixel display and 8-megapixel camera, and will be available exclusively from Cricket. The Desire 526, which will be available on Verizon's pre-paid service, is very similar to the 520, but has a 4.7-inch 540 x 960 pixel display.

The most interesting of the new phones is the Desire 626, which will be available on AT&T and Verizon, and on T-Mobile, Sprint, MetroPCS, Cricket, Boost, Virgin, and Tracfone as the Desire 626s. It has a 5-inch, 720p display, 5-megapixel front camera, 16GB of storage, 1.5GB of RAM and comes in a variety of colors depending on carrier. The T-Mobile 626s comes in a rather interesting purple color with orange trim, while Cricket is getting the phone in navy blue with light blue trim (similar to one of the color options on last year's Desire Eye for AT&T). The 626 is a plastic phone through and through, but it's solidly built and has better components than other Desire phones HTC has sold in the US.

HTC Desire 626 photos

1/12

HTC says that its Desire line has done quite well for it in the US, especially in the last year or so. This year, it's been able to bring the devices to many more carriers, which it says will be its strategy going forward. It's not likely that we'll see another one-off for a single carrier like last year's Desire Eye, but if the right carrier comes calling, HTC could change its tune. The new Desire phones will be available across the carriers in the coming weeks.