The HTC Desire 650, which was initially launched December 2016 in the company’s home country of Taiwan, features a back cover with a smooth upper portion and a grooved bottom for better grip.

The HTC Desire 650, which was initially launched December 2016 in the company’s home country of Taiwan, features a back cover with a smooth upper portion and a grooved bottom for better grip. HTC

It seems like HTC couldn’t wait for its big event on Thursday to announce the global launch of its Desire 650 handset. The midrange smartphone was initially launched last December in the company’s home country of Taiwan. HTC is expected to launch new flagships at the January 12 event, including the HTC U Play, U Ultra and the X10.

The HTC Desire 650 is as midrange as it gets. It furnishes a 5-inch TFT LCD display with a 720 x 1280 pixel resolution and 294 ppi pixel density. It packs a 1.6 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor with 16 GB of internal storage and a modest 2 GB RAM. To compensate for the somewhat limited storage space, an external microSD memory slot is available and expandable for up to 256 GB.

The HTC Desire 650 has a 13 MP primary camera with an f/2.0 aperture. It comes with backside illumination (BSI) technology that supposedly improves shots in low light. The front-facing secondary camera is a 5 MP f/2.8 shooter with several selfie modes.

The successor of the HTC Desire 630 packs a 2,350 mAh non-removable lithium-ion battery and runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Its back cover features a smooth upper portion and a grooved bottom. HTC says that the unique design provides users better grip.

Additional features of the Desire 650 include the Night Mode function for better vision in low light and HTC’s BoomSound audio technology, which is basically a sound profile for headphone use per Pocket-lint. There are a couple of stereo speakers upfront, one above the display and one below it.

The HTC Desire 650 is available in two colour options: lime light and dark blue. The handset is set to hit European shores and international markets in February, but a US release is unlikely. HTC has yet to make an official announcement regarding the price of the Desire 650.

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