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HTC’s new Desire 12 phones have humdrum specs but splashy colors

HTC’s new Desire 12 phones have humdrum specs but splashy colors

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HTC Desire 12 phones
Image: HTC

HTC has announced a new line of midrange smartphones called the Desire 12 and Desire 12 Plus. The phones are 5.5 inches and 6 inches, respectively, and their most notable feature is probably not any of the specs, but available colors, which, judging from photos, will include purple and gold.

As reported by Engadget, both phones have 18:9 displays with 1440 × 720 IPS LCD panels. The phone bodies are built to mimic the “liquid surface” design language of the HTC U11, using acrylic in place of glass. It’s a choice that results in a product that still looks slick, but feels much less premium when handled. The Desire 12 offers a MediaTek MT6739 chipset along with 2GB or 3GB of RAM, 16GB or 32GB of expandable storage, and an up to 2TB microSD card slot. The Desire 12 Plus has a Snapdragon 450 processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of expandable storage, and the same microSD card slot.

The Desire 12 and 12 Plus will both ship with a 13-megapixel camera on the back, but the 12 Plus also has a secondary 2-megapixel lens for portrait effects. The front-facing cameras clock in at five megapixels and eight megapixels respectively, both promising facial recognition.

The phones will come with a 3.5mm headphone jack and a Micro USB port for charging. For battery, the smaller Desire 12 sports a 2,730mAh capacity, while the 12 Plus gets a larger 2,730mAh battery. The 12 Plus also has a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, a feature you won’t find on the standard Desire 12; it will have a face detection feature, but don’t expect it to be nearly as good as the iPhone X’s.

HTC hasn’t confirmed details like the phones’ pricing, launch date, regional availability, or the full range of colors, but did confirm to Engadget that gold will definitely be an option.