HTC Desire 626 packs colourful design and ‘enhanced’ camera

HTC’s latest affordable smartphone, the HTC Desire 626, could offer a tasty combination of low price and killer specs to rival the Moto G 2015.

Last year’s HTC Desire 620 was a solid mid-range phone, boasting built-in 4G, a sharp and colourful screen and impressive battery life for just £170. The only major disappointment was the lacklustre 8-meg camera, which like the One M9‘s snapper failed to blow us away.

However, the newly-launched Desire 626 could prove a worthy follow-up as it packs in a new ‘enhanced’ 13-megapixel camera, as well as a 5-megapixel selfie snapper. We just hope that it’s better than the Desire Eye‘s 13-meg lens, which once again failed to live up to expectations, mostly because our low-light and close-up photos were often instant deletes.

The 620’s 5.2-inch screen has been scaled back to a 5-incher for the Desire 626, but it still boasts 720p visuals, the same as rivals such as the Moto G (and the new Moto G 3, set to launch tomorrow, if the rumours are right). There’s a 1.2GHz Snapdragon processor and Android 5.1, as expected, plus 16GB of storage, expandable by up to 512GB thanks to the microSD slot.

Featuring a two-tone design, the Desire 626 will be available in blue, purple, white or grey. Oh fine, if you want the ridiculous full titles, it’ll be available in Blue Lagoon, Purple Fire, White Birch and Dark Grey.

You can buy the HTC Desire 626 from major networks including Three and O2, plus the Carphone Warehouse, when it goes on sale in the UK. So far HTC hasn’t confirmed the UK price or release date, but we’re guessing early August for around £169.