HTC Desire 200 Released: Next-Best Entry Level Phone?

Phone companies always advertise and promote their best flagship phones, so naturally, we never hear about all the entry-level minimalistic phones that flood the market each year. HTC has now decided to change things a little. It is very proud of its Desire 200, which while falling into a lower price category, has an impressive amount of tech in it.

The phone has a 3.5 inch HVGA display (320 x 480 pixels), surrounded by an all-plastic body that mimics the design of the company's flagship phone, the One. While we can't expect the most powerful processor in a budget phone, it does come with the single-core Snapdragon S1 SoC clocked at 1 GHz, along with 512 MB of RAM, and 4 GB of internal storage, which can be expanded up to 32 GB with a Micro-SD. Connectivity is achieved by WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 and HSDPA (which is basically enhanced 3G), while image capture depends on the rear 5 megapixel camera.

The phone runs Android Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.4 along with Sense User Interface, and has a 1,230 mAh battery that should keep the power-mellow phone running all day long. At only 100 g and measuring 107.7 x 60.8 x 11.9 mm, the phone that will be available is either black or black/silver color options. Pricing is expected to fall below the $250 mark, and the phone will be widely available through most carriers.

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  • halcyon
    I never feel comfortable buying or recommending the cheap when it comes to these things. If you care enough to want the Android experience might as well get a device that can allow you to enjoy it.
    Reply
  • ismaeljrp
    horrible phone even for the price, should have given it at least 1gb of RAM, and price it at no higher than $150.
    Reply
  • Matsushima
    I agree with the above (halcyon and ismaeljrp), Android is too much bloated for low-performance ARM hardware. I have experienced years of frustration with low-end Android phones and eve TV boxes running Android. Even my original Samsung Galaxy S is horrible at running Gingerbread, past and present. If you are looking for an entry-level smartphone go for Windows Phones such as the Nokia Lumia 520 or the HTC Windows Phone 8S. At least they don't lag.
    Reply
  • killerclick
    Hmm, this for $249 or Nexus 4 for $299? Hard to decide. :)
    Reply
  • Bloob
    Lumia 520 or 521, can be had for $130 in the states:
    http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_lumia_520-5322.php

    And you think this is good?
    Reply
  • twelch82
    Battery life is the key as far as I'm concerned. I have a Razr Maxx and have been happy with it, because it has relatively low specs and a 3k+ mAh battery. If you can't get a phone with sufficient battery life, stay away from Android. This phone's 1250 mAh is not enough. You'd be better off with a feature phone. Most of the time when you get a call, your battery will be dead, making it useless as a phone.
    Reply
  • icemunk
    I would hope this phone is well below the $200 mark. The specs don't justify anything higher than $100 truthfully.
    Reply
  • TomsSound
    The problem is as others have said.. too little memory for Android.
    1GB should be the very bottom of the line for android phones.
    8GB of internal storage is really a minimum also.

    This is short sighted on HTC's part. People will buy this phone because it looks an awful like the HTC One at a bargain price. Alot of parents buying phones for kids don't care to pay alot... They'll get it home and realize how terribly slow it is . Tell all their friends how bad android phones are and switch to an iphone.
    They are beating themselves up, by putting out a substandard product.
    Reply
  • TomsSound
    The problem is as others have said.. too little memory for Android.
    1GB should be the very bottom of the line for android phones.
    8GB of internal storage is really a minimum also.

    This is short sighted on HTC's part. People will buy this phone because it looks an awful like the HTC One at a bargain price. Alot of parents buying phones for kids don't care to pay alot... They'll get it home and realize how terribly slow it is . Tell all their friends how bad android phones are and switch to an iphone.
    They are beating themselves up, by putting out a substandard product.
    Reply
  • warezme
    cheap is relative, with a iphone 4 trade in and company discount, I picked up an HTC One for the grand total of $17.34, great phone other than the battery being sealed.
    Reply