The HTC Desire Eye, the phone with the highest-resolution front camera in the world, is now available for booking in select stores in India at a price of Rs 36,000. Some retailers in Delhi are promising to deliver the phone next week if booked now.
The phone is yet to be officially been launched in India, but an official unveiling is expected next week. HTC’s official page has a ‘coming soon’ notice on the HTC Desire Eye.
The phone was launched a month ago in India, and HTC had promised to have it available in stores in the first week of December. The company is very much on track for delivering the Desire Eye at the promised time, according to a distributor.
MADE FOR SELFIE
The HTC Desire Eye should not be confused with the HTC One M8 Eye, which is currently available at Rs 35,500.
The M8 Eye, for example, is largely a software updated HTC One M8.
However, the HTC Desire Eye is a different hardware model, though it shares the same 2.3 GHz Snapdragon 801 platform as the M8 Eye that gives it a score of around 40,000 on Antutu.
However, the Desire Eye has a 5.2-inch full-HD display compared to the 5-inch one on the older model.
The key differentiator is the front camera, and how it complements the rear one to enable new features. The front camera has been bumped up from 5 MP to 13 MP.
Not only is the front camera of very high resolution, it also has a dual-LED flash. It has a f/2.2 aperture, which gives it a wider angle of shooting than most cameras, including the one at the back.
HTC has also included software that can take one compound picture using both the front and the back cameras at the same time, or have the shooter also placed in the picture taken by the back camera. Like all new HTC phones, this one also comes with ‘face merge’ that can merge the faces of two people to into one.
In addition, the HTC Desire Eye also departs from the traditional grey metal look of HTC flagships phones. In that way, the Desire Eye belongs to the same colorful bunch of new phones as the Desire 820 and the One E8.
HTC claims that the phone has been created from a single piece of plastic. To achieve the dual color format, HTC has used a special technology instead of using panels or paint. As a result, the company says the color will not fade, even as the single-piece design gives the phone a robustness not seen most all-plastic models.
It also helps the HTC Desire Eye to be waterproof under 1 meter of water for 30 minutes, a first for the Taiwanese brand. It also has speakers that face the front, instead of the back as found in most traditional mobiles.
RAM remains the same at 2 GB.