Monday, September 26, 2016
HTC’s midrange Desire line has been the company’s bread winner for the past couple of years, while HTC has struggled to compete with Samsung and Apple on the high end. But while the Desire line has been hugely important to HTC’s bottom line, it has always had a playful, less serious look than the company’s other phones. That's why last week HTC unveiled a pair of Desire 10 smartphones heavily teased over the past few weeks. One of the distinctive things about the Desire 10 is the design, with gold trim framing the distinct colours, giving a contrast finish reminiscent of art deco classic design.
HTC Desire 10 Pro
The Desire 10 Pro packs the better hardware. It starts with a 5.5-inch FullHD IPS display, protected by an unspecified gen Gorilla Glass. This higher-specced model is powered by a Mediatek Helio P10 chipset and has 4GB of RAM and a roomy 64GB of storage, which is also expandable via microSD. A 20MP primary camera sits on the back of the Desire 10 Pro with a f/2.2 27.8mm-equivalent lens, laser autofocus and a dual-LED flash. Selfies are taken care of by a 13MP front cam with the same-specced lens, and a 150-degree selfie panorama mode for group shots. The measures 156.5 x 76 x 7.9mm and weighs 165g. Inside it, there's a 3,000mAh battery to keep the lights on.
On the connectivity front, the Desire 10 Pro brings Cat. 6 LTE (up to 300Mbps down/50Mbps up) , dual-band 5GHz/2.4GHz Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth v4.2, NFC and AGPS + GLONASS. Wired options include a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a microUSB 2.0 port. A fingerprint sensor is placed on the Pro's back as well, and other than unlocking the device it is also able to control the camera.
HTC Desire 10 Lifestyle
Though the Desire 10 Lifestyle looks and feels same as Desire 10 Pro there are many things missing under the hood. It features a 5.5-inch display that has a 720p resolution for a pixel density of 267ppi. Perhaps least impressive about the Lifestyle is the SoC in charge - the aging and not particularly powerful Snapdragon 400, which even Qualcomm now lists as a wearables' chipset.
The Desire 10 Lifestyle will be available in two versions, one with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of built-in storage, the other with a 2GB/16GB configuration. Both offer a microSD slot for expansion, so fret not.
What the Pro gets for a selfie camera, the Lifestyle uses for a primary shooter, at least judging by the numbers. It's a 13MP sensor behind an f/2.2 28mm-equiv. lens. The front-facer of the Desire 10 Lifestyle is a 5MP setup with an f/2.8 aperture and a 33.7mm-equiv focal length.
LTE is Cat. 4 on the Desire 10 Lifestyle (150Mbps down, 50Mbps up), you get 2.4GHz Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth v4.1, NFC and AGPS + GLONASS. No port surprises here - microUSB 2.0 for charging and data transfer, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The Lifestyle doesn't get a fingerprint sensor, though.
At 156.9 x 76.9 x 7.7 mm, the Desire 10 Lifestyle measures mostly the same as the Pro, but weighs 10g less, mainly because of it packs a smaller 2,700mAh battery.
The missing part of this puzzle is price. We know that the Desire 10 Lifestyle will $300, but the Pro will cost more, priced between the Lifestyle and the HTC 10. The Desire 10 Lifestyle will start rolling out in select markets today, with the Desire 10 Pro expected next month.
HTC Desire 10 Pro
The Desire 10 Pro packs the better hardware. It starts with a 5.5-inch FullHD IPS display, protected by an unspecified gen Gorilla Glass. This higher-specced model is powered by a Mediatek Helio P10 chipset and has 4GB of RAM and a roomy 64GB of storage, which is also expandable via microSD. A 20MP primary camera sits on the back of the Desire 10 Pro with a f/2.2 27.8mm-equivalent lens, laser autofocus and a dual-LED flash. Selfies are taken care of by a 13MP front cam with the same-specced lens, and a 150-degree selfie panorama mode for group shots. The measures 156.5 x 76 x 7.9mm and weighs 165g. Inside it, there's a 3,000mAh battery to keep the lights on.
On the connectivity front, the Desire 10 Pro brings Cat. 6 LTE (up to 300Mbps down/50Mbps up) , dual-band 5GHz/2.4GHz Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth v4.2, NFC and AGPS + GLONASS. Wired options include a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a microUSB 2.0 port. A fingerprint sensor is placed on the Pro's back as well, and other than unlocking the device it is also able to control the camera.
HTC Desire 10 Lifestyle
Though the Desire 10 Lifestyle looks and feels same as Desire 10 Pro there are many things missing under the hood. It features a 5.5-inch display that has a 720p resolution for a pixel density of 267ppi. Perhaps least impressive about the Lifestyle is the SoC in charge - the aging and not particularly powerful Snapdragon 400, which even Qualcomm now lists as a wearables' chipset.
The Desire 10 Lifestyle will be available in two versions, one with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of built-in storage, the other with a 2GB/16GB configuration. Both offer a microSD slot for expansion, so fret not.
What the Pro gets for a selfie camera, the Lifestyle uses for a primary shooter, at least judging by the numbers. It's a 13MP sensor behind an f/2.2 28mm-equiv. lens. The front-facer of the Desire 10 Lifestyle is a 5MP setup with an f/2.8 aperture and a 33.7mm-equiv focal length.
LTE is Cat. 4 on the Desire 10 Lifestyle (150Mbps down, 50Mbps up), you get 2.4GHz Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth v4.1, NFC and AGPS + GLONASS. No port surprises here - microUSB 2.0 for charging and data transfer, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The Lifestyle doesn't get a fingerprint sensor, though.
At 156.9 x 76.9 x 7.7 mm, the Desire 10 Lifestyle measures mostly the same as the Pro, but weighs 10g less, mainly because of it packs a smaller 2,700mAh battery.
The missing part of this puzzle is price. We know that the Desire 10 Lifestyle will $300, but the Pro will cost more, priced between the Lifestyle and the HTC 10. The Desire 10 Lifestyle will start rolling out in select markets today, with the Desire 10 Pro expected next month.
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