The HTC Desire S is the upgrade to the number-one selling Android smartphone, the Desire. The Desire S comes with a new lightweight but strong aluminium body, a large 3.7 inch hi-res touchscreen, the latest Gingerbread operating system plus an updated version of HTC Sense, a 5 megapixel camera with HD video recording and a front camera for video calls. There's also GPS, media playback and FM radio, 1.1GB of memory, a lightning-fast 1GHz CPU, super-fast internet and DLNA streaming.
The HTC Desire S is the upgrade to the monster-selling HTC Desire. When we first reviewed the HTC Desire exactly one year ago in March 2010, we described it as the nearest thing we'd seen to the perfect phone. One year later we still rate it as a 5 star phone. So to be a worthy upgrade, the Desire S has to retain everything that made the Desire so fantastic, and deliver noticeable improvements. This it does.
First the exterior styling of the phone has been given a subtle makeover. It's still very much a HTC, but it's sleeker and more modern looking. HTC have shaved a few millimetres off the length of the phone, and even made it a little slimmer and lighter too. They've replaced the ugly-looking front buttons with sleek touch-sensitive buttons flush with the phone and given the strong aluminium unibody casing a black matte finish. The immediate and lasting impression is one of quality.
At the same time as making the phone smaller, HTC have retained the big 3.7 inch ultra hi-res display that was one of the keys to the Desire's success. 3.7 inches seemed huge a year ago, but these days it's quite commonplace amongst high-end smartphones. Nevertheless it's a good size for running all kinds of apps and we think it's big enough for all but the most demanding of users. The Desire S runs the latest Gingerbread 2.3 version of Android and brings HTC Sense 2.1 as the primary user interface. The combination of updated software and large capacitive display make for a very user-friendly and responsive interface with tight integration of contacts and social networking, plus easy access to apps. There are new widgets available and improved menus too. The customised virtual keyboard provides for very accurate typing.
The phone's memory has been increased to 1.1GB of built-in memory and 768MB RAM, plus the ability to add microSD cards up to 32GB. The 1GHz lightning-fast Qualcomm processor makes everything happen immediately, which is just how things should be.
The camera remains at 5 megapixels, but there's nothing wrong with that, and with autofocus and a power LED flash it still has the edge over the Samsung Galaxy S which lacks a flash. Moreover, the video recording has been upgraded so it now records in 720p HD format. There's also a VGA camera mounted on the front, enabling video calling.
HTC have clearly learned a hard lesson when it comes to battery life and have equipped the Desire S with a powerful 1450 mAh battery, which ought to deliver slightly better performance than the original Desire and significantly better than the Desire HD. The battery life times quoted by HTC are substantially better for the Desire S than the original Desire in fact.
The Desire S is a 3G phone with HSPA for super-fast internet access. The Desire S can achieve peak download speeds of up to 14.4 Mbps (twice as fast as its predecessor) and for even faster data transfer its Wi-Fi capability can be used. Thanks to Gingerbread, you can even turn the Desire S into a Wi-Fi hotspot, enabling Wi-Fi devices to make use of the phone's 3G connection. Other connectivity options are Bluetooth, USB and a 3.5mm audio jack for connecting headphones. You can stream photos and videos to a TV now too using DLNA.
For a handset with a large touchscreen and fast internet access, you'd expect web browsing to be a treat, and it is. Rendering of full web pages is performed rapidly and accurately, with auto-resizing of text on pinch-to-zoom, and flash support for videos. Really, the mobile internet doesn't get any better unless you upgrade to the larger screen of the HTC Desire HD or the HTC Incredible S.
Media support is excellent, with all common music formats supported and audio quality very good too. With the 3.5mm headphone jack and DLNA streaming, we can't fault connectivity either. The Desire S introduces SRS Surround Sound too. An FM radio is also incorporated. The omission of DivX video playback is an obvious omission however.
Other features worth noting are GPS with Google Maps and a digital compass.
When the HTC Desire first launched it was the obvious king of Android. One year on, the marketplace for high-end Android phones is a lot more crowded and the Desire S can no longer claim to be the best. If you're looking for the top Android phone, look to the HTC Desire HD, HTC Incredible S, Google Nexus S or Samsung Galaxy S. But the Desire S offers nearly everything that these rivals can offer, with the benefit of being more compact and a little bit less expensive. The good news is that all five of these Android phones are amazing devices and whichever one you choose you'll be getting a fantastic handset.
- 5 megapixel camera with face detection, autofocus and power LED flash
- 720p HD video recording
- Display: AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with pinch-to-zoom capability, 480 X 800 pixels (3.7 inches) with auto-rotate
- GPS receiver with digital compass, Google Maps, HTC Footprints and geo-tagging
- Music player (aac, .amr, .ogg, .m4a, .mid, .mp3, .wav, .wma formats)
- FM radio
- SRS Surround Sound
- Messaging: SMS, MMS, Email
- Ringtones: MP3 ringtones
- Internet: GPRS, EDGE, HSPA (14.4 Mbps download, 5.76 Mbps upload)
- Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.1 with Enhanced Data Rate, mini-USB 2.0, Wi-Fi, 3.5mm audio jack, DLNA
- Memory: 1.1GB plus 768 MB RAM plus microSD memory card (up to 32GB)
- Vibration alert
- Quadband GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) plus HSPA/WCDMA (900/2100 MHz)
- Size: 115 x 60 x 11.6 mm
- Weight: 130g
- Battery: 1450 mAh
- Talktime: 435 - 490 minutes
- Battery standby: 430 - 455 hours
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