This is my first personal phone. I bought it in April 2016. The Desire 828 looks like a cross between the HTC One X and a regular Desire phone. It gives you a little of this and a little of that, and tries to stand out of the crowd. More importantly, it tries to be different from other Desire phones(which all look more or less the same). The One X-Desire amalgamation works for it to some extent. The Desire 828 does offer a rare breath of fresh air.
DISPLAY:
The Desire 828 comes with a 5.5-inch FullHD IPS screen with 1080 x 1920 pixels resolution and 401 ppi pixel density. The Desire 828 has the misfortune of launching along with the One A9. While the HTC One A9 boasts of an AMOLED panel resulting in punchy and well-saturated(often over-saturated) colours with deep blacks, the Desire 828 is holding on to a more regular IPS panel, further cementing its Desire background. Not that it’s a bad thing. IPS panels are known for their natural colours even though they may not be so kind to the battery.
Software:
HTC Desire 828 Dual SIM review: Strictly for fans
SAURABH SINGH | @SINGH_SAURABH10
LAST UPDATED: DEC 15, 2015
NEW DELHI
EMAIL AUTHOR
7/10
HTC Desire 828 review: Strictly for fans
<
The HTC Desire 828, unlike most Desire-range phones, crams in substantial amount of juice inside. It is a well equipped phone that reminds you of the good old Desire Eye, which was more an undercover flagship than a regular Desire phone. HTC’s Desire phones are known to hover within the price bracket of Rs 10, 000 to Rs 25, 000 and act as connecting link between the company’s budget and high-end One-range phones. But every now and then, the company comes out with a Desire that gives you the impression of a high-end phone on paper.
The Desire 828 is one such phone. One look at its hardware and you know it means business. But, experience tells us there’s more to a phone than just the hardware. At the end of the day, everything narrows down to user experience. Does the Desire 828 do justice to its well to-do spec sheet? We find out.
Design and build quality
The Desire 828 looks like a cross between the HTC One X and a regular Desire phone. It gives you a little of this and a little of that, and tries to stand out of the crowd. More importantly, it tries to be different from other Desire phones(which all look more or less the same). The One X-Desire amalgamation works for it to some extent. The Desire 828 does offer a rare breath of fresh air.
The front of the Desire 828 is much like the One X where the main display area sits on a slightly raised platform. The upper and lower end of this platform is marked by HTC’s trademark BoomSound speakers. The front of the phone therefore has this 3D-esque design and the dual colour scheme(black screen+ white background) accentuates the aesthetics further. The Desire 828 looks good on the front.
The back is more Desire-like with its characteristic two colour scheme(white+ brown). While the back is totally white(save the camera ring and HTC logo) the mid-frame is brown in colour. The front and back combine to give the Desire 828 a sporty yet classy look.
The Desire 828 is an all-plastic phone, much like other Desire phones. And just like majority of Desire phones, the quality of plastic used here is spot-on and doesn’t look or feel cheap from any angle.
The Desire 828 may be a good-looking phone and all that, but it’s one of the most badly designed phones from an ergonomic point of view. For one thing, it’s huge. And no, it’s not huge in terms of bulk or thickness. It’s huge in terms of width and the fact that it’s a remarkably non-curvy phone adds to its woes.
There are curves; they are just not so evident. The Desire 828 therefore ends up becoming a boxy phone with sharp counters somewhat digging up in the hand. Its substantial width doesn’t help its case either. This is not a phone for people with small hands. Also, just because it is dimensionally big doesn’t mean you’ll get more screen real estate. Substantial bezels on all sides ensure you get an area smaller than what it would seem like on paper. Chunky bezels further make one-handed operability on the phone so very challenging.
The width and bezels are not the only flipsides that the Desire 828 ships with. The company has decided to keep the volume rocker and power button flushed into the edge(on the right). Making the buttons part of the edge may seem a good idea from a design and aesthetic point of view, ergonomically it is a disaster. Because this is a huge phone and because the keys are flushed into the edge, accessing them is often challenging(read frustrating). Again, this is not a phone designed for smaller hands. The effect is more pronounced when you’re in low light or darkness. You’ll end up searching for the keys like needles in a haystack in such instances.
Display:
The Desire 828 comes with a 5.5-inch FullHD IPS screen with 1080 x 1920 pixels resolution and 401 ppi pixel density. The Desire 828 has the misfortune of launching along with the One A9. While the HTC One A9 boasts of an AMOLED panel resulting in punchy and well-saturated(often over-saturated) colours with deep blacks, the Desire 828 is holding on to a more regular IPS panel, further cementing its Desire background. Not that it’s a bad thing. IPS panels are known for their natural colours even though they may not be so kind to the battery.
That being said, the display of the Desire 828 leaves a lot to be desired in terms of output. In one word, it is disappointing. Not only are colours off-balance(with an odd warm tinge) peak brightness is not something to brag about. The screen of the Desire 828 ends up looking pale in comparison to rival phones like the Motorola Moto X Play and the OnePlus X(even OnePlus 2 and Asus ZenFone 2 that also suffer from low brightness issues).
Even though the colours have a slight warm tinge, this does not necessarily affect its viewing angles. Watching videos and reading text is not so much of a hassle, unless you’re out and about. That is when the legibility takes a serious hit due to low brightness. One saving grace here is that the phone is not so prone to fingerprints and smudges which keeps the screen clean and useful most of the time.
Software:
The Desire 828 runs Android 5.1 Lollipop-based Sense 7.0 UI which is HTC’s custom skin. While we like HTC’S Sense UI for the greater part, those who like things old-school and unadulterated will be disappointed with it since there is some heavy skinning involved. That being said, Sense UI is one of the better re-imaginings of Google’s Android so it’s still well worth a shot.
Performance:
The Desire 828 is powered by a 1.5GHz octa-core Mediatek MT6753 processor coupled with Mali-T720MP3 GPU and 2GB RAM. While the Mediatek 6753 is a capable processor, it can’t upset phones like the OnePlus 2, Asus ZenFone 2, Meizu’s MX5 even the Moto X Play in terms of raw performance. It was able to do justice to a phone like the Coolpad HTC Desire 828 Dual SIM review: Strictly for fans
SAURABH SINGH | @SINGH_SAURABH10
LAST UPDATED: DEC 15, 2015
NEW DELHI
EMAIL AUTHOR
7/10
HTC Desire 828 review: Strictly for fans
<
The HTC Desire 828, unlike most Desire-range phones, crams in substantial amount of juice inside. It is a well equipped phone that reminds you of the good old Desire Eye, which was more an undercover flagship than a regular Desire phone. HTC’s Desire phones are known to hover within the price bracket of Rs 10, 000 to Rs 25, 000 and act as connecting link between the company’s budget and high-end One-range phones. But every now and then, the company comes out with a Desire that gives you the impression of a high-end phone on paper.
The Desire 828 is one such phone. One look at its hardware and you know it means business. But, experience tells us there’s more to a phone than just the hardware. At the end of the day, everything narrows down to user experience. Does the Desire 828 do justice to its well to-do spec sheet? We find out.
Design and build quality
The Desire 828 looks like a cross between the HTC One X and a regular Desire phone. It gives you a little of this and a little of that, and tries to stand out of the crowd. More importantly, it tries to be different from other Desire phones(which all look more or less the same). The One X-Desire amalgamation works for it to some extent. The Desire 828 does offer a rare breath of fresh air.
The front of the Desire 828 is much like the One X where the main display area sits on a slightly raised platform. The upper and lower end of this platform is marked by HTC’s trademark BoomSound speakers. The front of the phone therefore has this 3D-esque design and the dual colour scheme(black screen+ white background) accentuates the aesthetics further. The Desire 828 looks good on the front.
The back is more Desire-like with its characteristic two colour scheme(white+ brown). While the back is totally white(save the camera ring and HTC logo) the mid-frame is brown in colour. The front and back combine to give the Desire 828 a sporty yet classy look.
The Desire 828 is an all-plastic phone, much like other Desire phones. And just like majority of Desire phones, the quality of plastic used here is spot-on and doesn’t look or feel cheap from any angle.
The Desire 828 may be a good-looking phone and all that, but it’s one of the most badly designed phones from an ergonomic point of view. For one thing, it’s huge. And no, it’s not huge in terms of bulk or thickness. It’s huge in terms of width and the fact that it’s a remarkably non-curvy phone adds to its woes.
There are curves; they are just not so evident. The Desire 828 therefore ends up becoming a boxy phone with sharp counters somewhat digging up in the hand. Its substantial width doesn’t help its case either. This is not a phone for people with small hands. Also, just because it is dimensionally big doesn’t mean you’ll get more screen real estate. Substantial bezels on all sides ensure you get an area smaller than what it would seem like on paper. Chunky bezels further make one-handed operability on the phone so very challenging.
The width and bezels are not the only flipsides that the Desire 828 ships with. The company has decided to keep the volume rocker and power button flushed into the edge(on the right). Making the buttons part of the edge may seem a good idea from a design and aesthetic point of view, ergonomically it is a disaster. Because this is a huge phone and because the keys are flushed into the edge, accessing them is often challenging(read frustrating). Again, this is not a phone designed for smaller hands. The effect is more pronounced when you’re in low light or darkness. You’ll end up searching for the keys like needles in a haystack in such instances.
Display
The Desire 828 comes with a 5.5-inch FullHD IPS screen with 1080 x 1920 pixels resolution and 401 ppi pixel density. The Desire 828 has the misfortune of launching along with the One A9. While the HTC One A9 boasts of an AMOLED panel resulting in punchy and well-saturated(often over-saturated) colours with deep blacks, the Desire 828 is holding on to a more regular IPS panel, further cementing its Desire background. Not that it’s a bad thing. IPS panels are known for their natural colours even though they may not be so kind to the battery.
That being said, the display of the Desire 828 leaves a lot to be desired in terms of output. In one word, it is disappointing. Not only are colours off-balance(with an odd warm tinge) peak brightness is not something to brag about. The screen of the Desire 828 ends up looking pale in comparison to rival phones like the Motorola Moto X Play and the OnePlus X(even OnePlus 2 and Asus ZenFone 2 that also suffer from low brightness issues).
Even though the colours have a slight warm tinge, this does not necessarily affect its viewing angles. Watching videos and reading text is not so much of a hassle, unless you’re out and about. That is when the legibility takes a serious hit due to low brightness. One saving grace here is that the phone is not so prone to fingerprints and smudges which keeps the screen clean and useful most of the time.
Software
The Desire 828 runs Android 5.1 Lollipop-based Sense 7.0 UI which is HTC’s custom skin. While we like HTC’S Sense UI for the greater part, those who like things old-school and unadulterated will be disappointed with it since there is some heavy skinning involved. That being said, Sense UI is one of the better re-imaginings of Google’s Android so it’s still well worth a shot.
The one thing that is disappointing however is that Sense 7 UI feels so much like Sense 6 UI and the one before it. The changes that have been introduced in the latest Sense iteration are so very subtle. But they are there, and some of them are actually quite good. We like them and chances are the user(buyer) will also like them. Unlike other user interfaces, Sense UI feels all the more polished and has a genuine direction.
Two key additions in Sense 7 are: Sense Home and Themes. HTC’s Sense Home is essentially a home screen widget that keeps track of your location(at all times) and intelligently arranges a series of apps that you’re most likely to use in a situation(like home, work and outside) at one place. While it’s certainly useful, it’s not compelling enough for someone to go buy an HTC phone strictly for it. Some would even be wary of HTC servers constantly monBrianbalakumaranring their location and activity. It’s a good thing, Sense Home can be disabled. The Desire 828 gives you enough options to customise your phone thanks to a new Themes engine. Everything down from wallpapers, ringtones to icons can be customised to suit your mood and taste.
Meanwhile, HTC’s proprietary RobotouchnkFeed news aggregator is still alive and kicking. It’s a convenient way to have all your social media post as well as news grabs tailor-made to your choice at one place on your home screen. Again, you can disable it should it be too overwhelming for you.
HTC has practically re-imagined every app and widget out there in Google’s dictionary. Everything gets a fresh coat of paint, however, at no point things go overboard which is nice.
Performance
The Desire 828 is powered by a 1.5GHz octa-core Mediatek MT6753 processor coupled with Mali-T720MP3 GPU and 2GB RAM. While the Mediatek 6753 is a capable processor, it can’t upset phones like the OnePlus 2, Asus ZenFone 2, Meizu’s MX5 even the Moto X Play in terms of raw performance. It was able to do justice to a phone like the Coolpad Note 3 because that phone cost peanuts in comparison to the Desire 828. Also, it came with additional 1 gig of RAM that gave multi-tasking a significant boost. Not that the Desire 828 is any less of a performer. Just don’t expect it to be a powerhouse phone.
As long as you keep your desires in control, the Desire 828 will keep you pleasantly satisfied. Basic tasks were handled well by the phone and it showed no signs of lag or slowing down as long as we did not stretch it. That being said, there were some hiccups while streaming(and playing) 1080p content, a problem that even the Note 3 had. Other than that everything else works well. Be it calling and text, mAnasultanging social media, listening to music and/or browsing the web, the phone accomplishes it all without breaking a sweat. HTC could have put in more RAM, but 2GB is sufficient(in our usage) to handle multi-tasking and switching between apps was fairly easy wheezy. Basic games were handled well, while graphical games ran well at low and medium settings.
The phone has a tendency to get a little warm on playing games and clicking photos, but nothing alarming as such. It’s quick to cool down, which is nice. The Desire 828 comes with 16GB of inbuilt memory which is expandable by up to 2TB via microSD.
The two BoomSound speakers onboard the Desire 828 do full justice to their reputation. They offer clear audio, which gets loud and punchy. There’s little or no distortion observed at peak volume. Most importantly, their placement is excellent.
Phone calls made with the Desire 828 are of acceptable quality and we did not encounter any major call drops with our review unit. Both the microphone and earpiece sound quality was good. The phone supports 4G LTE on both SIM cards.
Camera
The Desire 828 sports a 13-megapixel camera on the rear with autofocus, optical image stabilisation and LED flash. There’s also a 4-megapixel’UltraPixel’ camera on the front. HTC is touting the Desire 828 as among its better camera phones ideal for low-light photography. Unfortunately, the phone fails to live up to these tall Note 3 because that phone cost peanuts in comparison to the Desire 828. Also, it came with additional 1 gig of RAM that gave multi-tasking a significant boost. Not that the Desire 828 is any less of a performer. Just don’t expect it to be a powerhouse phone.
Camera:
The Desire 828 sports a 13-megapixel camera on the rear with autofocus, optical image stabilisation and LED flash. There’s also a 4-megapixel’UltraPixel’ camera on the front. HTC is touting the Desire 828 as among its better camera phones ideal for low-light photography. Unfortunately, the phone fails to live up to these tall claims.
Value for money:
I think the value for money for this phone is not so good.