Hands on: HTC Desire Eye review
The ultimate selfie-phone?
"Not a bad phone at all, but one that doesn't have a real winning feature - the 13MP front camera is more gimmick than really compelling addition."
- Nice design
- Great power
- Over-powered cameras
- Possible limited release
HTC Desire Eye sepfication(source:-gsmarena.com)
General | 2G Network | GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - all versions |
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3G Network | HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 - Asia | |
HSDPA 850 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100 - AT&T | ||
HSDPA 850 / 900 / 2100 - EMEA | ||
TD-SCDMA 1900 / 2100 - Asia | ||
4G Network | LTE 700 / 900 / 1800 / 2100 / 2600 (Bands 1, 3, 7, 8, 28) TD-LTE 1900 / 2300 / 2500 / 2600 (Bands 38, 39, 40, 41) |
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LTE 700 / 850 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100 (Bands 2, 4, 5, 17, 29) - AT&T |
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LTE 800 / 900 / 1800 / 2600 (Bands 3, 7, 8, 20) - EMEA |
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SIM | Nano-SIM | |
Announced | 2014, October | |
Status | Coming soon. Exp. release 2014, November |
Body | Dimensions | 151.7 x 73.8 x 8.5 mm (5.97 x 2.91 x 0.33 in) |
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Weight | 154 g (5.43 oz) | |
IPX7 certified - dust proof and water resistant up to 1 meter and 30 minutes |
Display | Type | Capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors |
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Size | 1080 x 1920 pixels, 5.2 inches (~424 ppi pixel density) | |
Multitouch | Yes | |
- HTC Sense 6 UI |
Sound | Alert types | Vibration, MP3, WAV ringtones |
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Loudspeaker | Yes, with stereo speakers, built-in amplifiers | |
3.5mm jack | Yes |
Memory | Card slot | microSD, up to 128 GB |
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Internal | 16 GB, 2 GB RAM |
Data | GPRS | Yes |
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EDGE | Yes | |
Speed | HSDPA 42 Mbps (21 Mbps - AT&T), HSUPA; LTE, Cat4, 50 Mbps UL, 150 Mbps DL | |
WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot | |
Bluetooth | v4.0, A2DP, apt-X | |
NFC | Yes | |
USB | microUSB v2.0 |
Camera | Primary | 13 MP, 4208 x 3120 pixels, autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) flash |
---|---|---|
Features | Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, panorama, HDR | |
Video | 1080p@30fps | |
Secondary | 13 MP, autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) flash, HDR |
Features | OS | Android OS, v4.4.2 (KitKat) |
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Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 | |
CPU | Quad-core 2.3 GHz Krait 400 | |
GPU | Adreno 330 | |
Sensors | Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass | |
Messaging | SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email | |
Browser | HTML5 | |
Radio | TBC | |
GPS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS | |
Java | Yes, via Java MIDP emulator | |
Colors | Blue, Red, White | |
- Fast battery charging: 60% in 30 min (Quick Charge 2.0) - Google Drive (50 GB cloud storage) - Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic - MP4/H.264/WMV player - MP3/eAAC+/WAV/WMA player - Document viewer - Photo/video editor - Voice memo/dial/commands |
Battery | Non-removable Li-Ion 2400 mAh battery | |
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Stand-by | (2G) / Up to 538 h (3G) | |
Talk time | (2G) / Up to 20 h (3G) |
Introduction
The HTC Desire Eye is a phone that presents more questions than answers when you first pick it up.
It's a phone with two 13MP cameras, front and back, that represents one of those moments in the smartphone game, the moments when a brand makes a jump forward by putting technology in a place where it wasn't before.
It's not quite on a par with the first cameraphone, or even the first front facing snapper on a handset, but it is an interesting idea that does raise some questions about what people are looking for with mobile photography.
Design
The HTC Desire Eye might be clad in polycarbonate, but it's an attractive device nonetheless. The rounded casing is not only pleasant to hold thanks to being more matte than glossy, but it's also a very light yet balanced design.I particularly like the two colour design (there's a red/white or blue/black option) which is a result of HTC's 'Double Shot' fabrication that came with the Desire 820.
Camera
Come on, I know that's why you're here. You want to see how good the camera is on this phone, front or back.I'll summarise now: the rear camera is pretty good without being stunning. The front-facing camera is overpowered and clearly a marketing tool that actually hurts the brand in terms of output.
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New modes
There are a number of really fun modes to play with on the new HTC Desire Eye – although the new modes will be coming to other phones in the future too, which makes the fact they're a headline feature here slightly redundant.
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Split selfies
A bit like putting yourself in the picture, a mode we've seen since the Samsung Galaxy S4, this makes more sense as it's a real half and half. You can choose to take both at the same time or asynchronously, and the results are pretty fun and good to share.
Video chat
HTC is also making a big play about the fact you can have a video chat with four people all looking at the same phone, and the Desire Eye can work out who's there and give each their own frame.It's literally one of the only reasons I can find for this higher-res camera on the front of the phone, beyond marketing, and it does promise to make it seem more professional if you're having a business meeting with your phone (which is the only reason you'd need to split people out).
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Verdict
Do I like the HTC Desire Eye? I think so. Lovely and vague, right?The thing is, I don't really know what it's for. It's a really powerful phone, one that competes with the One M8. It's got a great screen, and I'm a fan of the Double Shot colour.
But I don't want 13MP cameras front and back – and I don't think the output quality from either would attract any consumers. The One M8 has a better front facing camera in low light, and given the close subject proximity, the resolution is redundant.
This is a phone that's more marketing exercise than truly compelling solution, but it's not a bad smartphone underneath – let's wait and see the final price before deciding whether the Desire line has another confusing addition or not.
source:-HTC Desire Eye review