After months of rumors, leaks and speculations, HTC has finally launched new smartphones. Yes, that’s plural! Although we did expect the second model to be released at some point this year, the reveal of the U20 5g alongside the Desire 20 Pro was a bit of a surprise.
The announcement isn’t as big news as you might expect because HTC is currently only releasing the devices in Taiwan. Still, we think they’re worth talking about.
So, we have two phones on our hands and at first glance, they look pretty similar, so let’s just talk about what they have in common first and then see what sets them apart.
HTC Desire 20 Pro and HTC U20 5G: the common parts
Design
Despite what the picture might lead you to believe, the Desire 20 Pro and the U20 5G don’t share the same body. The 5G device is actually slightly larger, but we’ll discuss that in the “differences” section. However, it’s safe to say that the two phones look pretty much identical apart from the different finish of the rear panel.
The design is, well, decent. On the front, we have flat punch-hole displays and a slightly thicker bottom bezel, a pretty standard midrange-Android look for 2020. And that’s perfectly fine. On the back, a quad-camera setup in a camera bump that’s as compact as possible and a fingerprint sensor. No thrills, but also no weird design decisions here as well.
Rear cameras
Both the 20 Pro and the U20 5G are rocking the same rear camera system. It consists of four sensors. A 48MP main camera, an 8MP ultra-wide-angle one, a 2MP macro lens and a 2MP depth sensor. The usual portrait mode and night mode are on board, as well as 4K video recording. We can’t comment on the quality of the images since all we’ve seen so far are the standard marketing shots.
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Batteries
A nice surprise is the battery capacity on the new pair of HTC phones: 5,000mAh, with support for Qualcomm Quick Charge. Considering the displays of the phones aren’t too big and neither has a 90Hz refresh rate, the battery life on these phones should be excellent.
HTC Desire 20 Pro and HTC U20 5G: the differences
Size and weight
As expected, the 5G capable device is the bigger one. The HTC U20 5G has a 6.8-inch display with a 20:9 aspect ratio and weighs a hefty 215.5g.
The Desire 20 Pro is slightly more compact with its 6.5-inch display and almost 10% lighter at 201g. This makes the 5,000mAh battery even more impressive, phones have really come a long way in that department.
Specs
Just by looking at the names, it’s obvious that the U20 is the more premium device since it’s the one that has 5G. But there are a couple of other key differences, let’s take a quick look:
Spec:
Desire 20 Pro
U20 5G
System chip
Snapdragon 665
Snapdragon 765G
RAM
6GB
8GB
Storage
128GB, expandable
256GB, expandable
Connectivity
4G LTE
4G LTE, 5G NR
Front camera
25MP
32MP
Ports
USB Type C + 3.5mm headphone jack
USB Type C
A higher-tier SoC, 2GB of RAM more, double the storage and 5G on top of that make for a good separation between the two phones despite their many similarities. We're happy to see that HTC is making use of these cheaper, but also more efficient Qualcomm chips. Even Google is rumored to go for the Snapdragon 765G for its Pixel 5 flagships.
All around, the two HTCs are well equipped to handle anything you might throw at them, the 20 Pro even has a headphone jack! This shows HTC is taking things seriously with this release. However, these days manufacturers need more than a good specs sheet to succeed.
HTC Desire 20 Pro and U20 5G price and release date
It seems that after all, the HTC U20 5G will hit the market later than the Desire 20 Pro, as for now, there's no price or release date for it. The Desire 20 Pro, on the other hand, will go on sale in Taiwan (and only there) on June 18. Its price converts to roughly $300 USD. For comparison, the similarly-priced Moto G Stylus comes with only 4GB of RAM and a 4,000mAh battery (but has a stylus).
If HTC ever decides to return to the US, it might be able to win over some long-lost fans with the right strategy. But for now, let's see how these two phones will be accepted by the public.
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