HTC Desire 520 review: A cheap Android device that sacrifices too much

I've played with and reviewed more phones over the past five years than I can count, almost all of which were running Android. No phone has made a lasting impression quite like the HTC Desire 520, and that's not necessarily a good thing.

5.4

HTC Desire 520

The Good

The HTC Desire 520 is affordable and compact Android smartphone with loud front-facing speakers. It also includes a microSD card slot and user-replaceable battery.

The Bad

The screen is dull, battery life is short, and the plastic casing feels cheap. There's a noticeable delay when switching between apps and scrolling through the home screen.

The Bottom Line

Don't be fooled by the Desire 520's low price. You can get a better-performing phone if you are willing to spend a little extra.

HTC's latest budget-friendly smartphone is one of the cheapest available. You can pick it up from Cricket Wireless, an AT&T subsidiary, in the US for $100 with activation; the next rung up costs almost twice the price. It's also available on Optus in Australia for AU$199. It doesn't currently sell in the UK, but the US price converts to about £65.

On the surface, the phone looks appealing to average consumers. An affordable and pocketable 4.5-inch device with a quad-core processor and 8-megapixel camera. What's not to like? It's when you dive deeper that you see a dated operating system, limited storage and poor battery life. While it may be cheaper than the competition, the Desire 520 sacrifices more to get there. For that reason, I can't recommend it.

HTC Desire 520

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The Desire 520 looks like many of HTC's other smartphones, albeit an inexpensive, plastic version that feels cheap, attracts greasy fingerprints, and lacks personality. The phone is available in a single color -- slate gray -- and doesn't feature any colorful accents. It's small, which makes it comfortable to hold, but the sleek backing caused it to slip from my hand more than once. The camera lens also protrudes slightly from the back, which worries me when I place it down on a rough surface.

Looking at the outdated screen isn't much fun. The 4.5-inch display is dim, colors are diluted and text can become pixelated when you zoom in. To add some context, this is the same resolution as the original Motorola Droid , which came out six years ago in October 2009. There is a bright spot, though: the 520 features the company's trademark dual front-facing speakers, which are surprisingly loud.

HTC has outfitted the 520 with Android 5.1 Lollipop software and HTC's Sense interface layered on top. It's unclear if it will ever be updated to Android 6.0 Marshmallow, which is just starting to roll out now. I prefer stock Android, but the Sense experience isn't bad and it does give you access to HTC-exclusive features like Blinkfeed (a news aggregator app) and Zoe (a camera app to create moving images, similar to Apple's Live Photos feature).

However, Sense does gobble up most of the phone's 8GB storage, leaving you with 3.25GB of storage for all of your apps, music, videos and photos. Luckily, there's a microSD card slot under the back cover for added storage. Like many other recent budget-friendly phones, the Desire 520 lacks NFC, which means you can't make mobile payments through Android Pay.

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How's well does the 520's 8-megapixel camera take photos and video? Photos didn't turn out looking very crisp or properly exposed, and colors tended to oversaturate. Its 2-megapixel camera is OK for the occasional selfie, but group shots can be difficult because it doesn't include a wide-angle lens. The 720p video capture is fine, but on the whole, the competing Alcatel Idol 3 (4.7) and Motoroloa Moto G (Late 2015) both have better 13-megapixel rear cameras and 5-megapixel front facing ones, plus shoot 1080p Full HD videos.

On the performance front, it's best to keep your expectations low. The Desire 520 can handle the basics like calling, texting and emailing, but when it comes to multitasking or gaming you begin to notice a stutter. There is even a delay when opening the app drawer or navigating through the different home screens. You can see how it compares to the competition in the charts below.

The good news is that you can replace the 2,000mAh battery, which is becoming more of rarity these days. In our battery drain test of looping video, the phone lasted just under 8 hours, which is about 4 hours less than competing phones. Ouch. On an average day with music streaming and browsing social media, I had to charge the phone by lunch or it wouldn't make it to the evening.

Phone calls also weren't as crisp as I had hoped. Contacts often reported that I sounded dull and muddy. Overall quality was mediocre, kind of what you would expect for a cheap phone. While the speakerphone volume was loud, the quality of the call would dip a considerable amount. Data service was reliable in New York City on Cricket Wireless, but your performance will vary based on the strength of the network in your area.

Who should buy this?

The main draw of the phone will be its price -- it's incredibly cheap. The Desire 520 could be appealing to first-time smartphone buyers or parents looking to for an affordable device for a child. While the phone has some impressive features and a decent camera, it sacrifices too much. The screen is dull, battery life is poor and performance is lacking. You are better off purchasing an Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 or Moto G . It costs almost twice as much, but the extra cash gets you a better screen, faster performance, an improved camera and solid battery life.

How the specs stack up