HTC unveils affordable quad-core Desire 500 for Europe

Recently announced in Taiwan, the HTC Desire 500 has now made its way to Europe.

The device will first come to the UK and will continue later on to other European markets. In a select few, HTC will also offer a dual-SIM version.

The HTC Desire 500 offers a Snapdragon 200 chipset with a 1.2GHz quad-core processor and 1GB of RAM. On the imaging front the smartphone offers an 8 MP camera with a dedicated HTC ImageChip processor, f/2.0 28mm lens and a 1.6 MP front-facing camera. The 4.3" WVGA display up front is of the LCD variety and there will be a microSD card slot for cheap expansion of the 4GB internal memory by up to 64 gigs.

Along with HTC's Flipboard-like BlinkFeed and Beats Audio the Desire 500 will also feature Video Highlights - a 30 second video reel of your images. The battery on board the HTC Desire 500 is a 1800 mAh unit that HTC says is good for some 12 hours of talk time on 3G.

HTC Desire 500 official photos

We're yet to hear the actual price or specific launch dates of the HTC Desire 500, but those should follow soon enough.

Update:

Early reports claim the phone will cost £229.99 or around 270 euro.