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In the early days of Android, HTC was one of the top smartphone makers. That hasn’t been the case for a long time, with the company more recently shifting its focus to virtual reality products like the HTC Vive Flow headset.
But HTC hasn’t given up on phones… or trying to find reasons why you should spend money on one. So the company isn’t just positioning the new HTC Desire 22 Pro as a mid-range phone that offers decent bang for the buck. It’s also calling it a companion for the HTC Vive range of VR products.
For the most part that’s kind of a meaningless distinction. HTC notes that you can pair a Desire 22 Pro with a Vive Flow headset to find VR, metaverse, or “VIVEVERSE” content using your phone and then experience it in VR using a headset or watch videos in VR via screen casting from your phone. But really you could use just about any Android phone to do that.
Up for pre-order in the UK, Europe, and Taiwan for the equivalent of $400 to $485 depending n the region, the phone also appears to have crypto wallet functionality, at least in Taiwan. The HTC Taiwan website mentions support for using the VIVERSE app to “manager personal digital assets and NFT collections,” “browse and trade in VIVE Market,” and “put cryptocurrencies on Etherium and Polygon chains into your VIVE Wallet.” There’s no mention of those features on the EU or UK pages though.
Strip away the metaverse and crypto buzzwords though, and what you’re left with is a phone that appears to have pretty solid specs for a mid-range phone, including a 120 Hz FHD+ display, 8GB of RAM, triple cameras, IP67 water and dust resistance, and a side-mounted fingerprint sensor.
Here’s a run-down of key secs for the phone:
| HTC Desire 22 Pro specs | |
| Display | 6.6 inches 2412 x 1080 pixels 120 Hz LCD |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 |
| RAM | 8GB |
| Storage | 128GB microSDXC card reader |
| Cameras (rear) | 64MP primary 13MP ultra-wide 5MP depth |
| Camera (front) | 32MP |
| Battery | 4,520 mAh |
| Charging | 18W (wired) 15W (wireless) Reverse wireless charging |
| Wireless | WiFi 5 Bluetooth 5.1 NFC 5G NR Dual LTE SIM, Dual Standby |
| Security | Fingerprint reader (side) |
| IP rating | IP67 |
| OS | Android 12 |
| Dimensions | 166.3 x 76.9 x 9.4mm |
| Weight | 206 grams |
| Price | £399 / €459 / TWD$11,990 |
