The original HTC Desire became one of the most popular Android smartphones of 2010. The HTC Desire S is the latest in a trio of new devices out of HTC to act as successors to previously successful models–in this case, the HTC Desire.

HTC Desire S Review

The Desire S is also slightly lighter and more compact than the original, measuring in at 115 x 59.8 x 11.6 mm and weighting 5g less at 130g. The Desire S is rocking Android 2.3 Gingerbread straight out of the box, and jolly slick it is too. This means the phone benefits from a whole host of embellishments, such as better memory management, myriad performance boosts and built-in video-call capability. Of course, HTC Sense 2.1 overlays the whole experience, making it instantly familiar.

Inside, there's Qualcomm's single-core 1GHz MSM8255 processor, the same "Scorpion" chipset as powers the Desire HD and Incredible S. So, solid specifications and more than fast enough for most users' needs. Storage is a disappointing with just 1.1GB built in, although you can always add more using microSD cards. On the top is the 3.5mm headset/headphone jack. It has a proximity and light sensor, plus an accelerometer.

 

The screen is uninspiringly similar to that of the original HTC Desire, measuring in at 3.7 inches and adopting Super LCD technology with a resolution of 480×800 pixels. You get vibrant, well saturated images, which also benefit from excellent viewing angles.  Bright with good off-angle viewing, colours are a bit muted, and in low light the screen lags pretty badly and content viewed isn't pin sharp – this is especially noticeable next to the SE Neo. The 3.7-inch screen size makes it easy for most thumbs to reach both the top left corner and the Search capacitive button on the lower right without resorting to the use of a second hand.

The Desire S has a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, which can shoot video at up to 720p.

Still-image quality wasn't stellar, but pictures looked very good for a 5MP cellphone camera. Video was very good as well, though our viewers on YouTube all seem to agree that the audio wasn't all that great. The HD videos are shot at 30fps, and captured video is smooth overall, but you may drop a frame here and there. It also has auto focus round back and a 0.3 megapixel front-facing camera for video calling. I have used the Fring app to test video calling which worked well enough. Overall, it's a competent performance, but not an exciting one – it's outclassed by many.

 

HTC Desire S Review

Over T-Mobile's network here in the U.S.A., the Desire S provided fantastic voice quality with no dropped calls.  Messaging on the HTC Desire S is a well integrated part of the HTC Sense experience. The widgets make accessing emails and texts quick and easy and the keyboard makes text entry a piece of cake. The music player has nice visuals, reminiscent of Cover Flow, and supports track sorting by artists, albums and playlists. Battery life is another area the HTC Desire S improves upon its predecessor.  You should expect 190 more minutes talk time, bringing the total talking time to over 9 hours with 430 hours of standby with the 1,450mAh battery.

 

The HTC Desire S is the successor to one of HTC's most popular European phones. It delivers a streamlined, user-friendly interface, all the power of Android, and a stunning design. The HTC Desire S is incredibly well-built, plenty fast enough for even heavy use, and is all-around a fabulous phone.