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HTC Desire 501 Review

HTC Desire 501

Posted: , by Daniel P.

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Camera UI - HTC Desire 501 Review

Camera UI

Camera

The phone shoots good stills, but HD 720p video recording is garbled and unusable.

The 8 MP camera is joined by an LED flash on the back, and we also have a 2.1 MP frontal shooter. These are managed by HTC's Sense camera app, which here doesn't include extra options like HDR shots, Panorama, or color effects. Launching the app and taking the first pic from the lock screen takes about three seconds, which is bearable, but shot-to-shot times are not as instantaneous as it is customary with HTC phones lately.

The pictures exhibit accurate color representation and an amount of detail we'd expect from the 8 MP camera resolution. The scene's exposure and color measurements are correct in most situations, and somewhat underexposed in others, but overall you'd have a helpful little snapper on you with the Desire 501 most of the times you'll need a picture.

HTC Desire 501 Sample Images

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+ 11 images

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Camera speed

Taking a pic (sec)Lower is better Taking an HDR pic (sec)Lower is better CamSpeed score Higher is better CamSpeed score with flash Higher is better
HTC Desire 501 4
 No data
 343
 267
HTC Desire 500 3.5
 No data
 478
 401
Motorola Moto G 3
 5
 416
 366
LG Optimus L7 II 5.2
 No data
 No data
 No data
View all

The video capture situation is less impressive than the stills, as the phone records with 720p resolution and 30fps on paper, but when we tried it outdoors, the HD footage was garbled and unusable. We had to switch to lower resolution to record one, hopefully a problem with our unit only. The phone's single mic picked quite a lot of wind noise while filming, too, drowning our narrating voice in the process.



Multimedia

No DivX support in the stock video player, a bunch of editing options in the gallery

Editing capabilities are a staple for the HTC Sense gallery, and the photos can be shared through multiple venues, including directly to your social networks.

Music playback with the stock player is aided by automatic download of album art, artist info and lyrics, where available, and you have SoundHound track recognition functionality built right into the app's interface. The built-in speaker is average – it's okay in terms of sound quality for a cell speaker, but it's strength is not enough to hear it in noisy environments.

The phone plays MPEG-4, Xvid and MKV video files up to 720p resolution with no issues, though the player isn't licensed for DivX video support, so you'd have to resort to the Play Store and install 3rd party apps for that.

Audio output

Headphones output power (Volts)
Higher is better
HTC Desire 501 0.90
HTC Desire 500 0.43
Motorola Moto G 0.53
LG Optimus L7 II 0.41
Loudspeaker loudness (dB)
Higher is better
HTC Desire 501 80
HTC Desire 500 78
Motorola Moto G 87
LG Optimus L7 II 83
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Call Quality, Battery and Conclusion

10 Comments
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posted on 17 Feb 2014, 05:16
Reply

1. X.E.R.O. (unregistered)


What year is it!?

posted on 17 Feb 2014, 05:18 2
Reply

2. hboy857 (Posts: 349; Member since: 03 Jun 2013)


I'm pretty sure it's 2011, lol.

posted on 17 Feb 2014, 05:47 1
Reply

3. kaikuheadhunterz (Posts: 1157; Member since: 18 Jul 2013)


Not everyone can afford 2013 hardware

posted on 17 Feb 2014, 07:26
Reply

4. Kriksis (Posts: 93; Member since: 27 Aug 2012)


Funny enough Jolla phone with a bit better hardware gets a lot worse score...

posted on 17 Feb 2014, 10:04
Reply

5. majp89 (Posts: 182; Member since: 18 Jun 2013)


I'm not seeing HTC's logic here. Why ship an updated model of a smartphone with older software?

posted on 17 Feb 2014, 10:16
Reply

6. kabhijeet.16 (Posts: 813; Member since: 05 Dec 2012)


Their logic is to get completely Bankrupted.. They want to end up like Nokia/Motorola.. Both Excellent companies with awesome devices but are bankrupted.. Maybe HTC wants that Google acquires it....

posted on 17 Feb 2014, 18:13
Reply

7. iKrit (Posts: 1; Member since: 17 Feb 2014)


Moto G: High screen resolution. Good performance. Bad camera. Android KitKat!!!
Desire 501: Low screen resolution. Well design. Good camera. Android 4.1!?!?

If Moto G put a 8MP camera on it, it'll be a very best budget phone for everyone ever!
And if Desire 501 put a high screen resolution, it'll better than current Moto G too.

posted on 24 Feb 2014, 03:50
Reply

8. xiaomi (Posts: 3; Member since: 24 Feb 2014)


The HTC Desire 501 has a 4.3-inch Super-LCD 2 screen of acceptable quality. Its resolution is 480 by 800 pixels, which is okay given the smartphone’s class, with 217 ppi count.1buy.es Still, fuzzy edges in graphics are easy to spot with a naked eye, regardless of whether you’re surfing the internet, reading an article, or just looking at the icons on your home screen.

posted on 24 Feb 2014, 03:51
Reply

9. xiaomi (Posts: 3; Member since: 24 Feb 2014)


The HTC Desire 501 has a 4.3-inch Super-LCD 2 screen of acceptable quality. Its resolution is 480 by 800 pixels, which is okay given the smartphone’s class, with 217 ppi count.1buy.es Still, fuzzy edges in graphics are easy to spot with a naked eye, regardless of whether you’re surfing the internet, reading an article, or just looking at the icons on your home screen.

posted on 24 Feb 2014, 04:32
Reply

10. pbp_57 (Posts: 1; Member since: 24 Feb 2014)


Is HTD desire 501 Android upgradable to any newer version?

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HTC Desire 501

HTC Desire 501

OS: Android
view full specs
PhoneArena rating:
7Good
Display4.3 inches, 480 x 800 pixels (217 ppi) S-LCD 2
Camera8 megapixels
Hardware
NovaThor U8500, Dual-core, 1000 MHz, ARM Cortex-A9 processor
1 GB RAM
Size5.06 x 2.63 x 0.39 inches
(128.5 x 66.9 x 9.8 mm)
4.59 oz  (130 g)

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