Decent camera, Boomsound speakers, 4G network capability
Sub par screen, so-so processor
With mid-range phones, the key to success is very often to trickle enough of that tasty cutting-edge tech down from the top table to the lower priced buffet range. So can the HTC Desire 601 deliver the necessaries with its dual-core processor and 4G network capability?
Design
The Desire 601's body is very much old-school HTC, made of rubberised plastic. It doesn't feel as premium as the aluminium of the HTC One, but it does feel a little warmer and more comfortable in the hand. There are just two touch-sensitive Android buttons beneath the screen, for home and back, but you can get the multitasking overview with a smart double tap on the home button.
The 4.5-inch display is something of a letdown, with a sub-HD resolution of just 960x540 pixels, which boils down to 245ppi.
That's way behind the Moto G's 1,280x720 pixels which you can pick up for a little over half the price. It's not terrible by any means -- web pages, pics and movies look fine, but they just lack that little bit of extra eye candy you get with the higher res screens. Movies sound pretty good thanks to the stereo Boomsound speakers on the side, which are the same as the ones on the considerably more expensive HTC One.
Android and processor
Running on top of the Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean opearting system, the HTC Sense 5 user interface is here in all its glory, with its intuitive layout and useful widgets. You also get HTC Blinkfeed which pulls your social media and other updates together in a Flipboard style magazine interface.
The dual-core 1.4GHz processor backed by 1GB of RAM seems a bit underpowered next to quad-core rivals like the Moto G or Nexus 4, but it delivered a Antutu benchmarking performance score not too far behind those two of 15,426 and in practise it didn't feel sluggish or prone to stalling.
There's only 8GB of memory on board but fortunately you can add more via microSD card.
Photography
The 5-megapixel camera includes autofocus, an LED flash and an illuminated sensor for improved low-light shots. It also has HTC Zoe mode, which begins capturing from a second before you press the shutter to give you a range of pics to choose from, as well as a three-second video. There's also Panorama, Sequence Shot, Always Smile and Object Removal options as well as an editing suite. Pics aren't the very sharpest, but they're pretty good for a five-megapixel snapper and all the options offer plenty to play with.
The largish 2,100mAh battery put up a good fight and gave us a good day and a half of steady use.
Conclusion
The HTC Desire 601 is a good mid-range phone with a reasonably powerful processor and a surprisingly good camera, though it's let down a little by its less-than-HD screen. Despite its many good points however, it struggles to distinguish itself from the Moto G, the elephant that's been dropped into the midrange room, and delivers both better processor and screen for a little over half the price. However, if the screen doesn't matter so much, but 4G and a better camera do, then you might just consider the Desire 601 over the Moto G.
Software: Google Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean
Processor: Dual-core 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400
Memory slot: Yes
Display: 4.5in TFT LCD, 960x540 pixels
Connectivity: Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0
Ports: microUSB, 3.5mm headphone jack
Camera: 5 megapixel with autofocus, LED flash and BSI sensor; VGA front-facing camera
Video playback: 3gp, .3g2, .mp4, .wmv, .avi
Audio playback: aac, .amr, .ogg, .m4a, .mid, .mp3, .wav, .wma
Radio: Yes
Battery: 2100mAh
Size: 135x67x10mm
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
