HTC Announces New Desire 10 Pro, Lifestyle; Offers Affordable Pricing For Flagship-Like Devices

On Tuesday, HTC officially unveiled the new Desire 10 Lifestyle and Desire 10 Pro, two mid-range Android smartphones with flagship-like designs with a more affordable price tag slapped onto them. Both handsets come with metallic gold contours giving them a premium look without the premium price tag.

First up is the Desire 10 Lifestyle which comes with a 5.5-inch 720p HD display. Under the hood it’s powered by a 1.6GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor with 2GB/3GB of RAM and 16GB/32GB of storage which is expandable up to 2TB via the microSD card slot.

At the back is a decent 13-megapixel camera and up front is a 5-megapixel shooter. The HTC Desire 10 Lifestyle also comes with a modest non-removable 2,700 mAh battery. On the software side of things, the handset runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow with HTC Sense running on top.

Overall, the Desire 10 Lifestyle is HTC’s attempt in delivering an affordable phone that can challenge the likes of the Moto G4 and the Moto G4 Plus, as pointed out by CNET. Although the handset does look promising, it comes with a low-end processor, lower resolution 720p screen and it lacks a fingerprint sensor. However, it does come with HTC BoomSound 24-bit Hi-res audio support which should deliver a better listening experience through speakers.

The Desire 10 Pro, on the other hand, takes it up a notch with its hardware. The handset comes with the same 5.5-inch screen size of the Lifestyle, but this time it comes with a better 1080p full HD screen resolution. Underneath, the Pro is powered by a 64-bit octa-core MediaTek Helio P10 processor with 3GB/4GB of RAM and 32GB/64GB of expandable storage.

The cameras on the Desire 10 Pro are also better as it’s equipped with a 20MP camera on the back and a 13MP shooter up front. The rear camera also comes with laser autofocus and a dual-LED flash, while the front-facing camera supports HTC’s Selfie Panorama mode.

Like the Lifestyle, the Pro runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow with HTC Sense. The most distinguished feature on this model is the inclusion of a fingerprint sensor, which is a first for HTC’s Desire line. The Pro also comes with a larger 3,000 mAh battery.

Unlike the Lifestyle model which is designed to deliver better audio through its speakers, the Pro model is designed to deliver a better audio experience through headphones with the HTC BoomSound audio profile, according to ZDNet. On paper, the Pro model appears to be flagship-worthy, but its lack of an all-metal unibody seems to be the only thing hindering it from being one.

The Desire 10 Lifestyle will be available by the end of September starting at £249 (around $325), while the Desire 10 Pro will arrive in early November. HTC has not provided the price for the Pro model, but the company did confirm that it will be cheaper than the $700 HTC 10. Both handsets will only be released in Europe and in some select markets with no word yet on its availability in the United States.