HTC Desire 700, Desire 501 slated for India launch in early 2014

After the recent launch of the high-end One Max, priced at a whooping Rs 61,490, HTC has now unveiled three new handsets for the mid-range Desire series at a presentation in Taiwan. The new devices, namely the HTC Desire 501, the HTC Desire 700 and the dual-Sim Desire 601, are now listed on the official Taiwanese website. While there is still no mention on the official website about when the new devices will be available in other markets, reports claim that the Desire 700 and the Desire 501 are expected to launch in India in early 2014. Let’s take a look at what each device brings in tow:

HTC Desire 700:
The handset seems to be positioned by the company as a cost-effective alternative to the company’s flagship One. Coming with a 5-inch display, the handset sports a lower qHD resolution. Just like the One, the Desire 700 packs stereo BoomSound speakers on the front. Under the hood, it is powered by a quad-core Snapdragon 400 SoC, although the details of clock speed and architecture are scanty for now. Coupled with the processor is 1GB of RAM, which should be good enough to run the latest Android version, 4.4 KitKat.

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Looks like a pretty decent deal

In terms of photography, the Desire 700 comes with a traditional 8-megapixel camera, a BSI sensor and an f/2.0 sensor, as well as a 2.1-megapixel front shooter, again with a BSI sensor. The primary camera can shoot 1080p video and has HTC’s Zoe feature baked in. The device comes with 8GB of internal memory with microSD card support. The Desire 700 comes with dual- micro SIM with HSPA support on the first SIM slot and GSM/EDGE on the second.

Rounding up the package is a 2,100mAh Li-Po battery, which seems a bit small for a phone of this size. The company has said that the battery is good for close to 12 hours of 3G calls. The price of the device stands at NTD 13,900 in Taiwan, which works out to around Rs 29,200.

Here’s a quick look of HTC Desire 501:

• 5-inch display with 960x540 pixel resolution
• Bluetooth, Wi-Fi
• 8-megapixel rear camera, 2.1-megapixel front camera
• 8GB internal memory, expandable via microSD card slot

Coming with a 4.3-inch WVGA display, the Desire 501 seems to be a budget-friendly alternative to the One mini. Under the hood, the device comes with a dual-core processor clocked at 1.15GHz. While details on the processor are scarce, there seems to a good chance that the handset may come packing a Cortex-A6 chipset like the Desire 500.

One mini alternative?

It comes with the same 8-megapixel and 2.1-megapixel camera combination as the 700 and supplements the same with HTC ImageChip. There is no mention of HTC Zoe support, though, and the front-facing stereo speakers are missing as well. Still, the 501 comes with a pretty decent specs sheet, including 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal memory with a microSD expansion slot as well as a 2,100mAh battery. When compared to the One mini, the 501 wins out on the card slot option and the bigger battery, but falls short when compared to the superior 720p LCD and the Krait-based chipset on the mini. The 501 does not come with dual-SIM support and is priced at NTD 9,900 in Taiwan, working out to roughly Rs 20,500.

Take a quick look at the specifications of the Desire 501:

• 4.3-inch display with 800x480 pixel resolution
• Bluetooth, Wi-Fi
• 8-megapixel rear camera, 2.1-megapixel front camera
• 8-GV internal memory, expandable via microSD card slot

Now with dual-SIM support

While the Desire 601 was already launched back in September, HTC has now introduced a dual-SIM version as well. The phone comes with a 4.5-inch display with 960x540 pixel resolution, 1GB of RAM, a 5-megapixel/1080p shooter, 4GB of internal memory and a 2,100mAh battery, most of what we have already seen in the original 601. Apart from dual-SIM support, this one comes with front facing BoomSound stereo speakers and a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, a bit lower than the single-SIM version which comes with a dual-core 1.4GHz processor. This one is priced at NTD 10,900, working out to approximately Rs 23,060.