HTC’s two new Desire phones are all about good looks
Don't expect standout specs, but the design is right
HTC’s latest budget blowers are guaranteed to get you noticed. The 5.5in Desire 12 and 6in Desire 12+ are arriving in bright purple and shiny gold hues, which mimic the HTC U11’s liquid surface glass (only done on the cheap with acrylic). They both have in-demand 18:9 screens, but lowly 1440×720 panels, making it clear these are cut-price handsets. The Desire 12 makes do with a Mediatek CPU, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage, while the Plus at least steps things up with a Snapdragon 450, 3GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. Both phones get 13MP cameras, but the Plus gets a secondary snapper for adding portrait blur. It’s a lowly 2MP sensor, though, so seems to be there purely for depth mapping. Both phones keep the headphone jack, but don’t make the leap to USB-C charging – you’re stuck with outdated microUSB here. The Plus also gets a fingerprint sensor on the back, but both phones will have basic face detection using the selfie camera up front. There’s no word on price or availability just yet, but these could be ones to watch if you’re after a bargain phone with serious style.
Tom Morgan-Freelander
Deputy Editor 
