Android Magazine UK - Issue No. 49

Review

HTChaven’trestedontheir

laurels following the Desire

816.Nowitjustneedsa

wider European release

»Verdict

Value for money

Atamid-rangepricepointtheDesire820

couldseriouslyworrymuchmoreexpensive

devicesonthemarket

Features

TheDesire820offersmoreofeverything–

more RAM, more storage, more megapixels

Design

HTC’s new design language is maturing well,

butglossyplasticsarefingerprintmagnets

Performance

The mid-range Snapdragon 615 chip looks

likeawinner.Consistentlyfastinuse

PriceTBC

»More informationhtc.co.uk

»Supplied byHTC

information

HTCDesire820

Two -tone
The Desire 820 is
constructed using HTC’s new
‘doubleshot’ process, which
creates a two-tone colour
unibodythatisextremely
strong.Thisalsofeatureson
thenewHTCDesireEye.The
devicehasaglossyfinish
which is available in a number
of different colours

DotViewcase

The HTC had fantastic

success with the Dot View

case on the One (M8) and it’s

now available for most HTC

devices, including the Desire

820. It provides excellent
     protection while cleverly still
     enabling notifications to be
     viewed through the holes
     on the front

Bold speakers

BoomSound – HTC’s brand

nameforitsdualfront-facing

stereo speakers – is present

andasimpressiveasever.

Their inclusion does make for

larger bezels top and bottom,

butwethinkthatit’saworthy

trade-off, particularly for

gaming and movies

HTC ONE

(E8)

issue43

better than worse than

HTC Desire 820

HTC Desire

816

Issue40

Future-proofing

HTC confirmed the Desire 820 will be updated

toLollipop,soit’sagoodbuyforthefuture.

Speedy transfers
The 820 supports 150Mbps LTE-A for fast
transfers.VodafoneandEEaresupportingtoo.

Bigger memory

The 2GB memory, means that applications are

less likely to be shut down.

something which is a defi nite benefi t of any
plastic bodied phones.
If there is any doubt as to the target market for
this device, then the 8 megapixel front-facing
camera should quickly resolve it. Second only to
HTC dedicated selfi e phone, the Desire Eye, with
it’s 13 megapixel camera and front-facing fl ash,
the 8 megapixel lens on the front of the Desire
820 takes some of the fi nest self-portraits of
any phone, with clever software features to
impress your friends. For the less concieted, the
13MP rear camera takes decent pictures too.
So what’s not to like about the Desire 820?
It’s big, really big, courtesy of that huge screen
and the BoomSound speakers. As phones in
general get larger though, it somehow feels

manageable, as long as you forget any ideas of

using it one handed. The new plastics on the

phone are very nice but the glossy back has

some downsides. It’s a little bit slippery in the

hand, susceptible to fi ngerprints and we worry it

will show scratches easily. When it’s clean and

new though, it looks fantastic.

In some markets the Desire 820 is available

with dual SIM slots (as seen on the Moto G 2nd

Generation), but in the UK it’s likely that the

single version SIM will be offered. Provided HTC

can get a wide distribution of the device in the

UK, they could really have a hit on their hands.

There is a veracious appetite for larger devices in

the market and the mid-range price point is very

underserved in that regard.

»^ Operating system ............... Android 4.4.2 KitKat

»^ Processor ...................................^ Qualcomm Snapdragon 615

Octa-core

»^ Memory .......................................16GB ROM / 2GB RAM

»^ Dimensions ..............................157.7 x 78.74 x 7.74mm

»^ Weight ..........................................155g

»^ Display size ...............................5.5 inch

»^ Display resolution ...............1280x720 pixels

»^ Connectivity ............................ LTE-A 150Mbps

»^ Expansion slot .......................microSD

technical specs

Battery life

The 2600mAh

battery is smaller

than other phablets,

so expect good but

not especially