HTC Desire 626 Pro Reviews

The HTC Desire 626 is an affordable, attractive Android phone for Verizon that's held back by poor battery life and slow performance.

The HTC Desire 626 ticks a lot of boxes, matching rivals for specs and packing it all into a colourful, eye-catching shell without pushing the price up. But it's a phone that doesn't quite live up to its billing. Like the build itself, the handset doesn't quite deliver in the way I'd hoped, particularly when it comes to the camera and battery life. The screen at least is decent, and it's generally smooth under the finger, but even here there are caveats, with a lack of brightness and occasional slowdown holding the phone back. I don't want to be too hard on the Desire 626 because on the whole it wasn't frustrating to use, even coming from a higher-end handset – but the competition is just too keen for me to wholeheartedly recommend it.

Right now, the 2015 edition of the Moto G is the benchmark that many folks will use to compare phones that are within the same scope. Indeed, the HTC Desire 626’s outright price point of $185 makes it an attractive offering, especially if you find its tailored design to be better, but it’s still a somewhat underperforming package that doesn’t threaten the Moto G in terms of functionality. Well, that’s pretty concerning because you’re going to fork over just a smidgen more for it – plus, it lacks the better specs of the Moto G. We won’t deny that HTC has something tangible here for consumers who don’t want to spend a fortune on their next phone and are looking for a good-looking handset, but we just expect better results everywhere to keep it in the same pedestal as some of the other prized options out there.