Since the inception of smartphone maker HTC Corp in the late 1990, the brand is rated highly for its aesthetically engineered design. Lately, having he opportunity to get hold of HTC Desire 820 midrange smartphone and explore its intricacies, the first thing that struck me was its body – though it lacks the fancy aluminum body of its more expensive sibling, its plastic physique is well built. It is simply a continuation of the success of its Desire predecessors, gauging from the combination of size, price and quality of build. Weighing 155g, the handset's 5.5-inch HD screen is brilliant, with great viewing angles. The Desire 820 has a body dimension of 157.7 x 78.74 x 7.74mm, and one notable feature of Desire 820 is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 chipset at its core, which is a 64-bit octo-core chip paired with Adreno 405 graphics. That's paired with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage, making for a handset that's powerful and capacious enough for everyday needs.It offers 1280 x 720 pixels, which equates to 276ppi. That's reasonable - it's still HD quality after all - be we could easily make out those pixels at normal viewing distances.The chipset is designed to bring octo-core and 64-bit efficiencies to the mid-range.With the Snapdragon 615 processor, the HTC Desire 820 offers lightning-fast Cat 4 4G connectivity at speeds of up to 150mbps1. With an integrated LTE modem and the latest high performance multi-core, 64-bit processing power, entertainment lovers can revel in the ability to stream music, download films and juggle multiple social feeds or apps both smoothly and effortlessly.Thanks to Qualcomm Technologies' processing capabilities, with separate performance and low power clusters within the processor for managing intensive and lighter workloads, the HTC Desire 820 also operates at maximum power efficiency, ensuring you get more from your phone for longer. Although the Desire 820 is in HTC's mid-range model, it's still a 4G LTE handset, so it provides a fast data connection. The overall performance is good, handling everyday tasks with aplomb. You'll have no problem cracking through emails, browsing and enjoying the screen space on offer. There's a 13-megapixel camera on the rear of the Desire 820 and an 8-megapixel camera on the front, both capable of capturing 1080p video. Offering high-performance imaging, the phone's rear camera, with f/2.2 aperture and a 13MP BSI sensor, captures incredible quality images in both daylight and low light, so photos will be bursting with detail even as the sun goes down. It has HTC's Eye experience, offering the latest HTC Camera app, which makes it simple to use, with plenty of options available. Added are some fun features, allowing swipe between front and rear cameras to grab selfies, as well as offering a Split Capture mode to snap front and rear shots at the same time. For high quality selfies, the HTC Desire 820 features an 8MP front-facing camera, delivering impressive solo poses and effortless group shots. Enhancing the imaging experience, it also offers software that allows to merge features for a completely original look, real time Live Makeup, which allows you to preview the image and set the desired level of skin smoothing before the image is captured and Photo Booth, where can capture several moments in a single image. The rear camera is fast to focus and capture shots, offering some great results in good light conditions. There's also an effective HDR (high dynamic range) mode, which, although not automatic, will allow more balance out of scenes with highlights and shadows. Experiencing what the HTC Desire 820 really has to offer, validated what Peter Chou of HTC Corporation said: “ With the HTC Desire 820, we've combined the most advanced technology with the best possible entertainment experience and bold, distinctive design, to deliver a handset that is both desirable and affordable… it gives entertainment lovers exactly what they are looking for – a powerful, fast, stylish smartphone that delivers their favorite content on a big screen at a competitive price.” Hence, with its the premium imaging experience and powerful HTC BoomSound, the colorful, stylish HTC Desire 820 sets a new benchmark for mid-range smartphones. — SG
