HTC Desire 826 snaps 'Ultra' selfies (hands-on)
An Ultra-pixel camera on the front of this phone, which is targeted at Asia, centers on selfies, the trend du jour.
LAS VEGAS -- A new HTC smartphone for the Asian market, the HTC Desire 826 popped up at CES 2015 without much fanfare. With specs and a body that iterate on existing phones (namely the Desire 820), this variation's most notable detail is the cycloptic "Ultrapixel" camera adorning the phone's face.
Remember that HTC adopted the term Ultrapixel as a marketing term to describe its particular camera composition. Rather than cram in megapixels like competitors, HTC reasoned, it dialed them down to four, taking the position that letting in more light would yield better photos. HTC has since backed away from that view by giving newer phones more conventional cameras on the rear.
Now that you're sufficiently caught up, let's run through the specs. Its 5.5-inch 1080p HD display (which looks like a stepped-down resolution) joins up with a 13-megapixel rear camera. Underneath is an octa-core Snapdragon 615 processor that uses four 1.7GHz cores and four 1GHz cores for lighter tasks.
Its 16GB of internal storage is complemented by 2GB of RAM and a microSD slot for more memory. A 2,600mAh battery is pretty midrange for a phone this size. Performance will really depend on how efficient that chipset proves to be.
In classic HTC fashion, the phone is attractive in a black with some light accent colors. Rounded edges and almost no lateral bezel create an interesting contrast. We're not sure yet what the price of this phone will be, but we'll find out when it arrives in Asia later this month.