HTC Desire S review: Droid cravings

18 April 2011
Powerful hardware, large high-res screen and the latest Android version in a single piece of solid metal – the recipe did wonders for the original Desire so no wonder HTC are in no mood to experiment with the sequel. Take the best and make it better pretty much sums up the game plan...

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  • E
  • Egypt
  • MR@
  • 02 Jul 2011

Anonymous, 19 Apr 2011this phone can compete with the dual cores.. 768mb give 30... moreWham bam thank you, maÂ’am, my qusetoins are answered!

    • I
    • Irais
    • wMH
    • 02 Jul 2011

    AnonD-2354, 06 May 2011Have this phone for a week now, worked fine (mostly), great... moreReal brain power on dspilay. Thanks for that answer!

      • B
      • Bertie
      • RLR
      • 01 Jul 2011

      AnonD-2354, 24 Apr 2011Got the phone for 4 days now, great device. However battery... moreSuperbly illuminating data here, tahnks!

        • G
        • Gump
        • 3K3
        • 01 Jul 2011

        htc lover, 19 Apr 2011are u insane ? I think u have uploaded wrong picture of ben... moreI saerched a bunch of sites and this was the best.

          • K
          • Kittie
          • yVg
          • 20 Jun 2011

          dhd, 19 Apr 2011hmm, no trackpad... i find it enormously useful when editin... moreUhh, yeah I think you are asking too much..

          You mentioned about needing accuracy when editing text messages, that's what the large green things are for when you touch and hold for a second, it enlarges the area that your finger sweeps over and could not be easier with getting inbetween tricky spaces that you would have had a hard time attempting even with the desire. You just need to know how to work the phone before complaining about something that is easily remedied.

          Ok, something I do somewhat agree with you about.. they could benefit use more on-board space but in saying that, there's nothing wrong with how much space is there and the SD card more than makes up for the lack of space.. if you can't fit everything you need then you should consider upgrading your SD card or cutting out some of what's on your phone which if it takes up more than 32gb then its too much ...find me a few good phones with more than that much space?? I have a lot of music/movies/tv AND apps (including games) on my 8gb SD and onboard memory and have yet to consider upgrading.

          I have the desire S, I upgraded from my Desire and none of the skins take up more space.. what ARE you on about?! You can fit the same number of widgets/apps on the screen as before and it does not look anymore cluttered, and what options does it limit exactly?

          It sounds like you've had a bad experience and biting at everything that isn't quite perfect, well I would love to see you (personally) try to beat HTC with a phone :) When you do, then you can whinge and complain.

          If you really want, go to a Samsung.. they are brilliant phones. But be prepared to lose a lot more options than the HTC Sense UI "limits" you to.

            • D
            • AnonD-6352
            • u15
            • 13 May 2011

            Hanu, 19 Apr 2011Hi guys can u help me out here... my max budget is 23k.... ... moreYes, HTC is also good, I am also going to buy this phone...
            Where r u going to buy it from?

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              • AnonD-6352
              • u15
              • 13 May 2011

              Steve, 19 Apr 2011"my max budget is 23k" Gosh, well in that case... moreDude he meant 23K INR do ur maths

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • nGx
                • 12 May 2011

                Now had the phone a month and definitely recommend it (4.5/5). True, battery is not perfect, but it never runs out even on a high usage day (on 3G), and it's easily recharged at night. More of an issue is the strength of reception. My Partner has an HTC Desire (previous version) and in weaker reception areas, in the country, she has a stronger signal (1 bar more). So a slight reception problem in the country, but given all the other benefits, including how price competitive it is compared to the other similar phones, it's something I can ignore.

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                  • AnonD-7603
                  • M8T
                  • 12 May 2011

                  Bought this phone at 23K INR ... must say its a killer phone. Battery backup is very good till the time you know what and how to use and how to end those tasks which consume battery. For me, it runs easily for 1.5 days with good usage. Cam quality is great and in darkness, the flash just blasts the pic with good amount of light.
                  Android 2.3 rocks and this phone is a killer in every sense. Till now its been 4 days... and I havent had any problems what so-ever with the phone be it battery bakcup, OS or anything...
                  My 1st smartphone roxxx
                  PS - Forgot to mention about the secondary VGA cam in front which is quite useful for video call and skype. Many phones of the same range lack it

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • iGB
                    • 06 May 2011

                    Strange, this phone is more expensive than the LG Opt 2X or at the same price... Shouldn't it be lower? Specially because it will not be able to run Sense 3.0? I really like the phone, specially because I liked the original Desire, this one is even better in aspects but the hardware, specially internal memory, it's not great and yet it's at the price of a hardware monster... I really hope the price falls a bit.

                      • D
                      • AnonD-2354
                      • nDZ
                      • 06 May 2011

                      Have this phone for a week now, worked fine (mostly), great build quality.

                      However I had the restart problems reported by many, and yesterday the phone froze completeley, after two factory resets it still happened intermitently freezing, restarting or working fine...

                      I don't understand why the f*** they don't put a hardware restart button and I had to pull out the battery evereytime it froze up.

                      but for now it seems to work, I hope it stays like this, anyway very weird since there is no aparent reason for the crashes

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • t7Z
                        • 05 May 2011

                        Been Using the Phone for a week.. So far i have no complains i do recommend this phone to all.

                        Pros:

                        - Fast Web Browser In fact Desire S is one of the few android phone's that can play full HD video inside it's browser.

                        - Battery Life stand's 2 days of normal usage.. 2 hrs. phone call every day messaging, email and aound 1 hr. of wifi using.

                        - no sign of paint shedding ( i do believe it depends on the phone you have purchased )

                        - Video play is great specially the SRS feature of the phone 2 thumbs up!

                        - music play is also awesome because of its built in equalizer. and great music interface.

                        - cool unibody design feels sexy and solid in your hands.

                        - SLCD is good view angles are perfect.

                        - Call quality is great earpiece speaker is very loud, back speaker is just average.

                        - Touch screen is very sensitive

                        - No lags, can surf the web , listen to music, push emails , go online in IM's at the same time with no problem.

                        - HD recording is good for 720p

                        - Camera is average 5mp but it shoots ok.

                        - Fast Boot is AWESOME!.. powering the phone off and
                        when you power it up back it will only take 2-4 sec. you can fully use the phone. ( just dont remove the battery )

                        Cons:

                        - No 3g video call for the meantime, can only use it using fring, skype or YM video calls or other 3rd party app's but i dont mind it.

                        - Wifi death grip does not happen all the time it depends on how you hold the phone. i have notice if it will drop i will only lose 1 bar of signal in wifi.

                        - some complains there is a light leakage above the soft keys. mine is just ok.

                        overall experience its a great phone and it's currently 3rd place in top 20 android phone's in the world!..

                        here's the link:

                        http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/20-best-mobile-phones-in-the-world-today-645440?artc_pg=19

                          • s
                          • satya
                          • vGM
                          • 03 May 2011

                          Steve, 19 Apr 2011"my max budget is 23k" Gosh, well in that case... morenice one!!!

                          I think he is talking about INR Indian Rupee..

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                            • AnonD-7457
                            • vGE
                            • 01 May 2011

                            i am confused between Xperia Arc,Desire S and Nexus S.
                            here in India we have only S-LCD version of nexus S,so the best feature of Nexus S (AMOLED screen)is lost.
                            Also m not much interested in HTC Incredible S bcoz of its boxy looks.
                            Suggestions plz..

                              • b
                              • bilal
                              • mcG
                              • 30 Apr 2011

                              it looks very similar to the nexus one without a trackball

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                                • AnonD-6628
                                • vG5
                                • 28 Apr 2011

                                Anonymous, 19 Apr 2011hi , I have two questions to ask 1) Is this the receptio... moreYes Wifi signal do tenda to drop by 2-3 bars IF you keep your hands top back side of the panel. i know its really bad on HTC's part to have such a bizzare problem with their high end phone , but then none of the phone in the market is perfect .

                                Samsung Galaxy 2 is already launched in few nations , and it should be out any time soon in the indian market . probably 1st or 2nd week of may?

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                                  • Lorda
                                  • m5E
                                  • 27 Apr 2011

                                  the video of this phone is 20 fps!!! it says 30, not good!

                                    • t
                                    • tkolev
                                    • n3s
                                    • 26 Apr 2011

                                    Holysmoke, 19 Apr 2011Well well seems to be a pretty decent smartphone . pricing ... moreIf the battery performance of your phone is really that bad, you have a rouge process making the CPU run at 100%. Check what's eating up your battery and fix it. Also, the camera performs way better with sharpening turned down to -2 and the lag in video recording is fixed by a faster card (I got a class 10 and my videos are flawless).
                                    Anyway, you can wait for the SE NEO and that you are going to waaaaaaaaaaaaait and waaaaaaaait and waaaaaaaait for updates by SE.

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                                      • Denzo
                                      • vCA
                                      • 25 Apr 2011

                                      Is this screen as good as AMOLED original screen on the HTC DEsire?

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                                        • AnonD-2354
                                        • nDF
                                        • 24 Apr 2011

                                        Got the phone for 4 days now, great device. However battery is at most mediocre,other than that it looks pretty solid and I'm still thinking wether it needs a case and protective screen or not...