HTC

Desire EyeReview in pictures

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Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder

Despite its plastic construction, the unibody smartphone manages to stand out with its

dual-tone finish

Our review unit is dipped in white, but has a bright red strip running along its edges.

It’s also available in a black and blue combination

Sporting a 5.2-inch display, the Desire Eye falls in the phablet category

Can be held in a single hand easily, though it’s length is more than the competition

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Your rough-and-tough partner

It’s one of the very few flagships with IPx7 certification

This means that the device is resilient to dust and water, and can survive a depth of up to

1m for up to 30 minutes

Along with the display dominating the fascia, the front camera with dual-LED flash also

grabs attention

The right edge is home to the volume rocker and the power button with a dedicated camera

key further below, which is a welcome addition

On the left, it has slots for a nano-SIM and a microSD card

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A display that’s quite an eyeful

Unlike other devices in the HTC Desire lineup, the Desire Eye sports full HD

resolution

That, combined with phone’s 5.2-inch display, results in rich pixel density of

424ppi

The display produces excellent colours and sharp text

It has appropriate brightness levels, and though it becomes slightly reflective,

we were able to view it outdoors as well.

The display is protected by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 3

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More than meets the eye

In the software department,

HTC has used its custom skin

dubbed Sense 6 with

Android 4.4 KitKat as its

base

The UI brings a nice user

interface along with a number

of features

Some of the key features of

Sense 6 include BlinkFeed,

Zoe, Video highlights, etc.

Motion launch gestures come

in handy to unlock the device

or to jump directly to the

BlinkFeed screen by simple

swipes, even when the phone

is locked

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No distinction between the front and rear snappers…

The HTC Desire Eye is

supplied with 13-megapixel

snappers at the rear as well

as front, which are both

complemented by dual-tone

LED flash

The custom camera app offers

various modes and features to

enhance photographs

Apart from that, the app has

interesting modes like Split

capture and Photo booth

Both the shooters can record

videos in 1,920 x 1,080 pixels

at 30fps

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… and both have an eye for detail

With their 13-megapixel BSI

sensors, both the primary and

secondary cameras capture ample

amount of detail and reproduce

accurate colours

However, the rear camera’s

metering mechanism is biased

towards the center, resulting in

blurriness towards the sides

Front snapper is good, but not

perfect. Although, it offers

numerous software enhancements

The dual-tone LED flash,

supplementing both shooters,

comes in really handy in low-light

environments

Close up

Long shot

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Front shot

Crunches numbers in the blink of an eye

The smartphone sits at the top of the Desire range, and that reflects in the

hardware department as well

It comes powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, offering four

cores ticking at 2.3GHz, paired with 2GB of RAM

The combination allows the phone to perform smoothly, be it while doing basic

tasks or playing graphics-heavy games such as Riptide GP2

Sadly, it starts heating up within 10 to 15 minutes of gameplay

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Fulfills your storage needs

Equipped with 16GB of

onboard storage

Users can access almost 9GB

for installation of apps and

storing personal files

If that doesn’t satisfy your

requirements, then you can

make use of the expansion

slot to insert a microSD card

of up to 128GB

The device also supports USB

OTG, allowing you to plug in

flash drives directly

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The battery chart is an eyesore

Draws power from a

2,400mAh non-removable

battery

Sadly, it’s unable to last the

entire day

It played back an HD video

for slightly less than 11 hours

continuously

However, you can enable the

Power Saver mode to

conserve the battery

There’s also Extreme power

saving mode, allowing you to

extend the battery life by

shutting down everything

except basic functionality

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At a glance…

Measures 151.7 x 73.8 x 8.5mm

Weighs 154g

5.2-inch display, full HD resolution

2.3GHz quad-core Qualcomm

Snapdragon 801 processor

2GB RAM

16GB internal storage, expandable

up to 128GB

13-megapixel cameras at the front

and back with dual-tone LED flash

Support for 4G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth,

NFC and GPS

2,400mAh battery

Android 4.4 KitKat with Sense UI

Pros and cons

Distinctive design

Dust and water resistant

Lovely display

Powerful pair of snappers – both

at the front and rear

Power-packed internals

Image quality of captured

images isn’t the best

Average battery

Doesn’t come cheap

Pricing & verdict

Price:Rs 37,999

“With a powerful snapper at the front, the Desire Eye might seem like it’s aimed at mainly selfie enthusiasts. However, the Taiwanese giant has made sure that the device doesn’t lack in any other aspect and one look at its spec sheet proves that. Sadly, all this comes at a premium. But if you’re brand conscious, like to capture selfies, want a rugged phone and don’t want the hassle of invite-only or flash-sales models, then this is a right choice for you.”