HTC is bringing affordable ICS smartphones to the masses, but at what cost? The Desire C doesn’t seem to break the mold in terms of design with its standard rubberized plastic and standard black slab style. As usual, the 3.5” display only managed a HVGA resolution, which is well behind high-end models.
Obviously, HTC pares down some of the effects used by the Sense 4.0 UI to avoid sacrificing performance too much. The 600MHz single-core processor and 512MB are obviously less than impressive with noticeable lags during heavy multitasking. AnTuTu benchmark shows that the Desire C is comparable in performance with the Samsung Galaxy Y and Huawei Ascend Y100. The 5Mp rear-facing camera produces decent images in well-lit areas and it starts up immediately despite the weak hardware. One advantage of the phone is the NFC capability and full version office apps. Overall, the decent camera and Android 4.0 are definitely special treats, which make the phone looks acceptable for the price.
