HTC has come up with two amazing phones recently; Desire 816 and 616. Though, these two devices belong in different price brackets, they are actually very similar in terms of of design and other specifications. The Desire 816 came out some time back, priced at Rs 25,000, where as the Desire 616 is awaited and is priced at Rs. 17,000.
The Innards
The Desire 816 runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad-core chipset which runs on at 1.6 GHz. Where as the Desire 616 runs a Mediatek MT6592 processor which is on Octa-core at 1.4 GHz. Now, whether you consider Snapdragon stronger or not, we personally feel that Octa-core chipset is slightly more powerful at 1.4 Ghz than the 1.6 GHz Snapdragon 400 in Desire 816. That means Desire 616 will give a slightly better performance than the Desire 816.
Display
The 5.5 inch Desire 816 has a 1280X720 pixel resolution which is same as the Desire 616 which fashions a 5-inch screen. This means, the 5.0 inch 616 has a better resolution and higher pixel per inch ratio, thereby giving it a better display in comparison to the Desire 816.
Operating System
Now, this is the category where Desire 816 easily wins. The 816 sports Android 4.4 out of the box, also the device has HTC sense as well as HTC BlinkFeed, which come fully loaded to the device. Although, you do get BlinkFeed and HTC Sense 5.5 with the 616, but it is not a full version and the device runs on Android 4.3 JellyBean. So, the 616 doesn’t possess latest version softwares and there is no schedule for any update either.
Camera
As far as the imaging is concerned the Desire 816 wins with its 13 MP camera at the rear and a 5 MP on the front. Both the rear and the front camera are capable of shooting 1080p videos. It fashions an f/2.2 aperture lens with various additional features for the HTC Sense camera. Whereas in the 616 only the 8MP rear camera supports 1080p video capturing, the 2MP front camera shoots at 720p only and also you don’t get those fancy camera features.
Battery
Desire 816 sports a pretty impressive battery at 2,600 mAh where as the 616 gets a 2000 mAh battery. We have experienced that 816 has a phenomenal battery life while 616 lags behind in this segment.
Memory and RAM
Desire 816 holds a much larger internal storage than 616 i.e. 8 gigabytes against 616’s 4 gigabytes. Both devices support microSD cards with 616 supporting expansion of only 32 GB while the 816 being capable of expanding to 128 GB of additional memory. Also Desire 816 gets 1.5 GB of RAM whereas you get only 1 GB RAM with Desire 616.
Design
In terms of design, Desire 816 looks impressive with its matte plus gloss finished body, which looks amazing. Overall the device feels sturdy . You don’t get a removable back panel which some people may not like, but the aesthetics as well as the shiny steel barrel around the camera steals the show.
The Desire 616 is slightly thicker and has an overall plastic shell (even the buttons are plastic). It’s back panel is removable. The plastic body makes it look less impressive when compared to the 816. But still the 616 is a really good looking device, in fact one of the best looking ones in it’s price bracket.
Summary
Overall, both the devices are the hottest selling commodities in their respective categories and there is good reason for that. They are fantastic in terms of build quality, software and obviously the support you get from the HTC. 616 gives you an octa-core processor at the price in which other devices provide you with dual core where as 816 brings out a large screen and fantastic built quality t0 the Rs. 25,000 segment. You do have several good alternatives in both these categories such Nexus 5 and also LG G2in 25k price bracket while you can get various handsets from the likes of Gionee, Micromax and others in the 17k segment. But with this purchase, you get amazing customer support from HTC. The company has proved that they have well built phones and have great service and support in India, which very crucial in today’s market place.
| Phone | HTC Desire 816 | HTC Desire 616 |
| Display | 5.5 inches720x1280 pixels | 5.0 inches720x1280 pixels |
| Memory | 8GB | 4GB |
| Ram | 1.5GB | 1GB |
| Camera | 13MP rear5MP front | 8MP rear2MP front |
| OS | Andriod 4.4 KitKat | Android 4.3 Jelly Bean |
| Processor | 1.6 Ghz Quad-coreQualcomm Snapdragon 400 chipset | 1.4 GHz Octa-coreMediatek MT6592 processor |
| Battery | 2,600 mAh Non-removable | 2000 mAh removable |
| Price | Rs. 25,000(approx) | Rs. 17,000(approx) |
