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.
Read more reviews about Androids phone at our website :
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
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.
Read more reviews about Androids phone at our website :
