HTC Desire 600 dual sim

HTC DESIRE 600 DUAL SIM REVIEW

Shortly after the release of the One, HTC announced the Desire 600 dual sim with many of its big brother's features mainly HTC Sense 5, Blinkfeed and Boomsound. It also includes Video Highlights, but omits the Infra Red blaster and Ultrapixel sensor (2.0µm). Instead, it's replaced with a standard 8MP BSI camera sensor (1.4µm) and the first version of the HTC ImageChip - this also means that the Zoe features are lost in the process. It joins the fleet of other HTC dual sim specialists like last year's Desire SV and One dual sim (limited to specific markets). The HTC Desire 600 features a 4.5-inch Super LCD2 qHD panel that sports a resolution of 540x960 pixels and pixel density of 245ppi. We were a bit disappointed that HTC has not equipped the phone with at least a 720p display. Instead of the ultrapixel (a low-light loving sensor with 2.0µm pixel size), the Desire 600 uses a standard wide angle 8MP BSI sensor with 1.4µm pixel size, but keeps the same f2.0 aperture and 28mm unique wide angle lens as the flagship. It also includes the older HTC ImageChip from last year's flagships which gives us powers like HDR, burst shooting and VideoPic (take still shots during video capture) as well as super fast shutter/focus, slow motion video and flash metering: however it loses all the fancy Zoe features, which are enabled by a newer ImageChip 2 on the HTC One. Video recording maxes out at 720p; most likely due to the lesser capabilities of the Snapdragon 200 SOC. Daylight pictures are of good quality but slightly hurt by HTC's default aggressive digital sharpness: thankfully you can always reduce sharpness using the Image Adjustments menu in the camera app. In terms of low light it's perfectly usable when scaled down, especially indoor shots but 1:1 detail gets seriously degraded due to the smaller pixel size. We don’t blame you if you find it hard to spot the Desire 600 amongst other phones on display in a store. The handset has bland looks and doesn’t have a premium feel as well. It’s fairly slim at 9.3mm and quite light at 130g. The front houses a 4.5-inch Super LCD2 display but there’s no mention of any scratch protection. There are chrome accents around the top and bottom where the speaker and earpiece are placed. The back cover is removable and feels quite cheap although the texture does offer good grip. Ports and buttons take their usual spot and are within reach of your fingers, which is good. The Desire 600 has taken the capacitive button layout from the One so you’re left with just two usable buttons. There are two microSIM slots under the hood and a hot-swap microSD card slot for memory expansion. Overall, the Desire 600 isn’t very desirable as far as aesthetics are concerned. Sure, it’s comfortable to hold and use but we can’t shake that cheap feel of the chassis. The 600 comes with Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean and the beautiful Sense 5 skin that we fell in love with on the One. Everything’s pretty much the same as we left it on the One except for the addition of dual-SIM management. The 600 sold in India comes bundled with a whole mess of browser shortcuts in the app drawer, which are nothing but annoying. The interface is quick but certain animations stutter especially when you hit the home button. The display tops out with a pixel count of 254ppi, which may seem low but the low pixel count isn’t really much of an issue. The display has good brightness and sunlight legibility isn’t bad either. The colours are quite vibrant as well which is good for movies and games. The Desire 600 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 MSM8625Q running at 1.2GHz. This is a quad-core chip based on ARM’s Cortex-A5 architecture and is the exact same unit powering the Samsung Galaxy Win or Quattro as it’s known here. Despite the 1GB of RAM and four cores, the Desire 600 manages up to 720p video while 1080p playback struggles badly. The 600 features Boom Sound just like the One which is probably the highlight of this phone. While the sound isn’t very crisp at high volumes like the One, it’s certainly loud and detailed. You can actually enjoy a movie or a concert on the phone without the need for earphones. Another good thing is that Beats Audio is system wide now so you can have it enabled even with third party audio and video players. The stock video player supports MKV and AVI as well which is nice. You also have the option to capture a screenshot and battery levels and system is also displayed. There’s also FM Radio onboard. The Desire comes with 8GB of onboard memory out of which 4.6GB is usable. The Desire 600 sports a removable back cover and 1,800mAh battery. Underneath the cover is a sea of red (including the battery). It's quite a nice touch and looks great, though it's just a shame not many will actually get to see the inside. The SIM card slots are also found here, alongside the microSD card slot. The HTC Desire 600 is one of the very few smartphones in this price segment that offer dual-SIM connectivity. While the phone offers a good package incorporating good build quality and a great feature set.

SPECIFICATION & FEATURES

HTC DESIRE 600 DUAL SIM PRICE

Price in USA $455

Price in UK £279

Price in EURO €330

Price in PAK Rs.49,500

Price in INDIA Rs.28,900