Starting with the face of the Desire 626, the 5-inch screen feels
somewhat claustrophobic, despite its larger size. There's a lot of
wasted space, specifically thanks to unnecessary HTC branding below the
screen. On-screen buttons also take away a considerable amount of app
canvas space, making the screen feel a lot smaller than you'd expect
The display is still quite impressive for the price, with a sharp
720p resolution and a nice bright look, although in use it can
occasionally feel like you're watching a letterboxed movie. The phone's
auto-brightness feature is also a little unpredictable.
Surrounding
the screen is your familiar HTC stereo-speaker grill, complemented by a
surprisingly solid 5MP front-facing camera. The right-hand side of the
phone holds your power button, as well as a volume-rocker, while the
left-hand side of the device features SIM and microSD card slots, both
hidden behind a single plastic flap. Internally the phone has 16GB of
storage
On the top of the handset is a headphone port, while the bottom
features your standard micro USB port for charging. Notably the 626
doesn't feature any form of fast-charging which, mixed with an average
battery capacity, means it isn't the greatest phone for travelling. I
often struggled to make it through the day, even with light use.
The
13MP rear-facing camera is also a real shame, with images ranging from
compressed and overly sharp, to just plain murky. The camera is fine for
Instagram and Snapchat, but even in this price category it's
disappointing.
Which essentially means the HTC Desire 626 is your
typical mid-range smartphone. It feels soft and solid, although it can
creak within your hands. The buttons are evidently cheap, and they lack
definition.
There's no denying that the phone is comfortable to
hold, with 8.1 mm of depth and a weight of 139 grams. But matched with
poor performance the phone can feel hollow.
Running Android 5.1,
the 626 features HTC's Sense UI, which is once again sluggish in use,
with a primitive multitasker, a complicated default homescreen setup,
and a general lack of care. There's a theme system, although otherwise
HTC adds very little to the Android experience.
This isn't helped
by the phone's limited mid-range internals. Performance woes surface
constantly during use. YouTube can become a stuttery mess when matched
with incoming notifications and high-resolution video, while Chrome
often jolts into action. Even Twitter and Facebook felt slow, while
Music playback clearly impacts overall speed. It's still usable of
course, but I've seen better at the same price.
As always Google
steals the show with their excellent suite of productivity apps, like
Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Calendar, alongside the solid Android
app ecosystem. Yet there is a lot of double-up with HTC's own apps. The
phone comes with two very similar Music apps, for instance, which will
only create confusion.
At $360, the Desire 626 feels like more
like an iPod Touch killer more than anything else, a stocking stuffer
destined to become a Christmas Day treat. And while you can surely do
better with a near-vanilla, though bland Moto G, the 626 still deserves
credit for its daring sense of style.
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