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Who said budget has to mean boring? HTC’s Desire 626S packs a 720p screen into a gorgeous, colorful plastic body for just $170
It’s hard to find a respectable budget phone that performs well and doesn’t look like a cheap slab of plastic that could crack at any moment. HTC is intent on changing that with its Desire budget phones. The Desire 626S is the cream of the crop with its 720p screen and attractive plastic unibody that comes in fun colors.
We took a peek at the T-Mobile and MetroPCS version to see just how much bang you’ll get for your buck with the Desire 626S.
Many budget phones are incredibly ugly, rectangular things that come in a dull color and don’t have one iota of style to them. HTC makes some of the most stylish devices in the world, and it simply can’t stomach putting out an ugly phone – even if it’s going to be a budget device. The Desire 626S has a thoughtful, fun design that’s sure to attract attention. Based on looks alone, you’d never know the Desire 626S cost less than $200.
With the Desire 626S, you’re getting the same software you would get with the One M9.
It has a sleek polycarbonate plastic unibody that comes in a variety of fun color combinations, depending on which carrier you’re with. We took a look at the T-Mobile and MetroPCS version, which comes in a funky purple taupe and tangerine color combination. The front and rear speaker grills are what HTC calls “purple taupe,” while the edges of the device, the HTC logo on the back, and a few other accents are bright tangerine in color. The main camera and its flash are both ringed with tangerine for added flair.
The back looks more purply in person than it does in press photos, but it’s not so purple that guys will turn from it in horror. The tangerine accent color has a warm hue that’s more on the red or pink side of the color spectrum than yellow. The overall result is one sharp-looking, fun phone. It feels pleasant in the hand, too – solid and sturdy just like the very premium Desire Eye, which went to AT&T with a considerably higher price tag not too long ago.
The only quibble we have with the design is T-Mobile asked for a glossy finish on the taupe purple parts of the phone, and boy does it attract fingerprints. Still, it’s better than the white on white color choices other carriers made.
All too often budget phones come with huge tradeoffs in the spec department, and while the Desire 626S certainly doesn’t have the sharpest screen or fastest processor onboard, it does better than most. It sports a 5-inch, HD screen with a 1280 x 720 pixel resolution, and even though that isn’t incredibly high-resolution compared to more expensive phones, it still looks bright and sharp. Only the truly eagle-eyed display fanatic will note the difference. Remember, this is a budget phone, so 720p is considered the big leagues, here. You should be able to watch videos on it without any problems, and most other everyday tasks really don’t require a screen sharper than 720p.
A Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 quad-core processor powers the 626S along with 1GB of RAM. The device seemed responsive and fast in our brief tests, though the latest games and other processor-intensive tasks might hurt it a bit. We’ll have to test it more to give you a better idea of how well it works under pressure. Regardless, that’s pretty normal for a budget phone.
Based on looks alone, you’d never know the Desire 626S cost less than $200.
Although it comes with just 8GB of storage, that amount is expandable via a MicroSD card slot, which is great news for those who like to take pictures or store music on their phones. Even if you don’t get a MicroSD card, 8GB is more than you’ll get on most budget phones. However, it must be noted that the AT&T and Verizon versions of the phone, the Desire 626 (no S), comes with 16GB of storage. That model also comes with 1.5GB of RAM, so general performance could be better on it, though probably not by much.
Rounding out the main specs is an 8-megapixel back camera with auto-focus and 720p video recording, and a 2-megapixel shooter on the front (the AT&T and Verizon version has a 5-megapixel front-facing camera). We didn’t test the cameras yet, so we’ll have to update you on how they perform when we review the device in full.
One very welcome thing about the Desire 626S is that it runs Android 5.1 Lollipop with HTC’s Sense UI on top. Essentially, if you have an the Desire 626S, you’re getting the same user experience, at least software wise, as you would get with the flagship HTC One M9, which is nearly triple the price. You can choose your favorite theme or design your own, read news on BlinkFeed, and take advantage of HTC’s other software tweaks that it places over the top of Android.
The lower the screen size and resolution, the better the battery life. The 2000mAh battery inside the Desire 626S should keep the phone running for a considerable amount of time — especially with the 720p screen, which is far less power-hungry than a 1080p or 1440p display. Again, true battery life will be exposed when we have the phone on long-term test, but the early signs are good for the Desire 626S.
Overall, HTC’s Desire 626S looks to be one of the best budget phones you can get for less than $200. It’s coming to almost every carrier, including several of the smaller pre-paid carriers, so almost no matter your preference, it should be yours for an highly competitive price.
T-Mobile offers it for $170 or $0 down and $7.09 for 23 months, with the 24th month costing just $6.92. At MetroPCS, the Desire 626S costs a mere $80 at launch with an instant rebate. AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and others have yet to announce prices, but they will soon, and they’re expected to be similar. It’s hard to argue with these kinds of prices, especially considering how the Desire 626 looks and feels in comparison to other cheap phones.
We’ll have a full review of the Desire 626S shortly, so stay tuned for more.
Are you tired of paying for streaming services you never watch just to get a phone plan feature you actually want? T-Mobile has good news for you! The carrier is rolling out new plans, called T-Mix, in early November to replace its old Experience lineup with a build-your-own perks system called Picks.
The benefits you choose vary from streaming and gaming to food delivery, AI, satellite service, and phone discounts. But if you are satisfied with your existing plan, you can keep it.
Merely days after the iPhone Duo hit the shelves, images of broken screens on the phone started popping up across social media. Until now, it’s been unclear what’s causing the line of defective pixels that appears vertically along the crease, as well as horizontally, on the phone’s inner display.
Apple has finally acknowledged the issue, which has shown up on iPhone Duo units owned by customers as well as demo units in stores. In a statement shared with Bloomberg, Apple says that not all iPhone Duo units are affected and that those that are tend to show the display fault early on. The company added that users who experience problems with their iPhone Duo display should contact AppleCare for a replacement.
Not long ago, Apple treated independent repair like an act of outright hostility. The Cupertino giant locked down parts with serial-number pairing, while repair tools remained firmly out of reach of anyone outside its authorized repair network. More importantly, the company waged a legal and lobbying battle against right-to-repair legislation.
I've covered enough of these fights over the years to know what a shift looks like. That's why what happened in October 2026 genuinely caught me off guard. The day the iPhone Duo went on sale, what may be the most mechanically complex iPhone to date, Apple pulled off a surprising about-face. It published teardown-style repair manuals for a handful of major components.