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HTC Desire 500 UK release date set for August

HTC's latest mid-range smartphone will launch in the UK in August, bringing Blinkfeed and a choice of colours

HTC has announced its latest mid-range smartphone, the Desire 500.

The 4.3in handset will include the company’s SenseUI 5 custom user interface on top of an undisclosed version of Android, but drops the Ultrapixel camera in favour of a more traditional 8-megapixel sensor.

The f/2.0 28mm lens is paired with HTC’s ImageChip picture processing, and the handset will also include a 1.6-megapixel front-facing webcam. Unsurprisingly for a mid-range device, the display is a WVGA 800×480 LCD model.

Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 quad-core processor running at 1.2GHz and 1GB of RAM, the Desire 500 is every bit the mid-range handset. It loses the all-aluminium construction of the HTC One and One Mini in favour of a more budget-friendly plastic chassis similar to that of last year’s One X. It will be available in two colours: lacquer black and glacier blue.

In a welcome change from the high-end One series, the Desire 500 will include a MicroSD card slot to expand the 4GB of internal memory by up to 64GB. Beats Audio remains, although there’s only one front-facing speaker, rather than BoomSound stereo speakers. Although they aren’t yet confirmed for the UK, HTC is also working on dual-SIM and NFC-equipped variants for “select markets”.

Due to go on sale in the UK by the end of August, HTC has yet to set a specific date or confirm pricing for the Desire 500. It was originally announced in Taiwan for NT$11,900, which converts to roughly £260 before taxes. As soon as the UK mobile networks announce whether they will be carrying the handset, we’ll let you know.

HTC Desire 500

HTC Desire 500

HTC Desire 500

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