Buying a budget-friendly smartphone used to mean settling for an ugly, chunky piece of plastic that was already practically obsolete. But that’s no longer the case.

The latest example: HTC’s new Desire 626. Coming to AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon, as well as to a variety of pre-paid carriers, this Android handset offers the good looks you’d expect from a premium phone without the high price.

Think of the Desire 626 as HTC’s answer to Apple’s iPhone 5c: It’s not the flagship model, but it’s still pretty damn good.

Looking good

Like I say, the Desire 626’s main selling point is its design. Not only is it relatively lightweight and thin, but it’s really attractive.

T-Mobile’s version of the phone comes in purple on pink. (Too bad that version also has a glossy back that picks up way too many fingerprint smudges.) Cricket’s version is dark blue on light blue. If you’re looking for something more subdued, there’s a white-on-tan version from Verizon.

The 626 comes with a relatively large 5-inch screen with 720p resolution. That means its images won’t be quite as sharp as those viewed on something like the iPhone 6, but you’d need a pretty discerning eye to see the difference.

View photos

HTC has packed Desire 626 with a quad-core processor and 1.5GB of memory, which means apps and games should run smoothly. In my brief hands-on time with the phone, I found it to be quite speedy: I had no problems swiping through apps, and the camera app opened in a snap.

I did, however, notice that the camera delayed a beat or two between photos, which could make snapping a series of quick shots difficult.

Speaking of taking pictures, the Desire 626 comes with an 8-megapixel rear camera and 5-megapixel camera in front. The few quick shots I was able to take looked clear and colorful when viewed on the phone’s screen.

Storage space for the Desire 626 is limited to 16GB, which could be a problem if you take a ton of pictures and save a lot of music. Thankfully, HTC has included a microSD card slot so you can expand that storage space.

The Desire 626 will be available this summer through Verizon and A&T with standard contracts, and as a pre-paid phone through Boost Mobile Cricket, Sprint , T-Mobile, Tracfone, and Virgin Mobile. (Precise release dates will vary by carrier.)



Stay tuned for our full review of the Desire 626 in the near future.

Email Daniel at dhowley@yahoo-inc.com; follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley or on Google+.