Product reviewsHTC Desire A8181 - Mocha (Unlocked) Smartphone

Very capable little device .. compact and fits in your pocket with ease ..

When I first came upon the advertised HTC Desire A8181 4GB - Brown (Unlocked) Smartphone - Grade A 12 Months Warranty
HTC Desire A8181 4GB - Brown (Unlocked) Smartphone - Grade A 12 Months Warranty..
I thought whats the catch here ?.. this all sounds to good to be true ..
To my amazement it is all what there advertisement says and more ...
All for less than £30 absolute bargain ..
To such a point all my friends who cannot afford top of the range iphone's and there like,
Have asked me to order One for them they are small compact and they do all what any other mobile
Needs to do...
I have bought with absolute confidence .Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: londonmagicstore

HTC Desire A8181 - 4GB - Brown (Unlocked) Smartphone HTC Desire A8181 - 4GB - Brown (Unlocked) Smartphone

Yes the wee phone is good value for money, no it does not have a good battery life unfortunately! but it is compact however it is not as good as the htc mini 2 which is an even better handset at 4.5" screen and feels even better in the hand. The desire is nothing really to write home about. I couldn't click on the yes or no's above for the questions, it would not let me for some unknown reason.Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: londonmagicstore

Simple to use smartphone good value for money.

This was my very first smartphone after years of using my motorola razr. I'm a little wary of technology so looked around first to find reviews and found this was highly rated.

Very simple and easy to use even for a first time smartphone. Kindle apps available to use it as an e-reader and the screen is large enough to make it worthwhile. Internal memory is okay but not fantastic but you can transfer any apps you download onto an SD card.

Battery life is average, lasts about a day with light use and extended batteries are available. Best charged from the wall as charging from a computer takes much longer and doesn't seem to hold as well.

The screen quality is great, I've not seen some of the newer phones to compare it with but it is very clear and the touchscreen is responsive.

The only thing I'm not too keen on is the camera, the pictures are okay but the colours are not very true and it doesn't focus very well. It's still much better than my old phone but if you are looking for a camera phone this is probably not the best phone for you.

I would definitely buy this phone again as it suits my needs perfectly. I can read e-books, play sudoku, call, text and check my email.Read full review...

HTC Desire Android Mobile Phone

I bought the HTC Desire because I wanted one item that would take the place of a camera, phone, notebook, Ipod, GPS, and databank. Does the Desire do all this? Yes it does, and so much more. the touch screen keypad is easy to use even for my fingers, the video quality is the best I've seen for such a compact device. There are loads of free apps available which range from games to gadgets and everything in between. It's really easy to use, but if you're struggling there are great "how to" sites on the web.
Is it perfect? No, the camera focusing and light metering aren't as good as on my old Sony Ericsson K800i, nor is the battery life. If you use it without a case it can get a little warm to hold, but a flip front case solves that one.
The bottom line is am I glad I bought it (and I bought it outright not on contract!), and would I buy it again? Yes and Yes!Read full review...

My first smart phone

As a member of the generation that remembers the introduction of mobile phones I finally decided it was time to get an up-to-date version. Decided on HTC Desire cos it had reasonably good reviews without the silly money price. Works ok as far as android phones go, but as forwarned in the reviews the battery life is rubbish. Be prepared to carry the charger with you. Apart from that, even a android virgin like me has been able to work out how to use it. On-line help could do with a little tweaking, perhaps a search facility, but I've been able to google any answers not obvious in the help folder.
Overall I like the phone. Starting with a rating of 5 I'll take off 1 for the lack of battery life, and minus .5 for the online help. On the plus side it's easy to learn to use - well I managed it so it must be easyRead full review...

One of the best value for money Android phone.

When I bought this phone, it's been on a market for over two years. Back then it was a serious superphone. Now - it's probably the best value for money android phone with still good specs and extremely fluid performance.
I bought it to my fiancee to be able to chat via Viber, Whatsapp or Skype. When writing this review, I even switched to this phone from my SGS 2 since this is simply easier to hold and easier to use.
The seller is obviously serious about his business, as descriptions of a phone are even more accurate than I could think of.
All is good, the phone is very well preserved, no scratches at all.

This phone has to significant CONS though:
- annoyingly little amount of free internal memory (this can be fixed by installing custom ROM);
-silent speaker.

Despite that, I would definitely recommend this phone to everyone, who wants a bargain and wants to go deep into the wonders of Android.

Hands down, incredible phone, awesome case and screen quality.Read full review...

HTC Desire WOW

I bought HTC Desire phone in December last year. i had heard so much about the android phones that it seemed the natural thing to do when upgrading my phone. I was not dissappointed the features are excellent. It does take getting used to, and the battery life is not as good as expected, but hey not everything is perfect. It is an expensive investment but one that is really worth it. The thousands of apps that are available will allow you to do anything you wish to do, whilst having fun at the same time.

If are you thinking of purchasing one remember that you will need a good internet package as it surfs the internet to update itself.Read full review...

Reasonably good, coverage problem excepted.

Pretty much as expected, it does everything you might expect. Good screen. Battery life is very dependant on what is switched on as for most other smartphones.

Only issue is that occasionally the mobile coverage disappears even in areas of good coverage. The only way to get it back is to power off and on again. it is not clear what triggers this but it might be related to enabling other RF services such as GPS, WiFi etc.

It appears common to other Desire users from a web search, ie software not hardware, and so far a query into HTC has produced no reply.Read full review...

The ultimate gadget, a very useful classy smartphone

I'm new to the world of smartphones so don't have much to compare with. I previously owned a Nokia n810 which is not exactly a smartphone, but is close to one, being a pocket tablet PC and part of Nokia's n-class smartphone series.

I'm not even a fan of mobile phones in general, but this phone turned me onto them. It's so incredibly useful with all the things it does it's much more than a phone. I can't put it down and it's now my favourite gadget!

My reason for buying the HTC Desire was because I wanted a device that has SatNav and Android so I can use an Android app to monitor speed and journeys on my bicycle. I chose the HTC Desire because of it's high rating and good reviews.

The phone itself is very stylish looking, quite thin and reasonably light (lighter than my Nokia n810). The screen is fantastic and I like the horizontal and vertical tilt mode.

The good

You can basically do anything you can do on a laptop on this phone. It's virtually a computer. I was a bit hesitant about being using Android and being tied to the Android apps marketplace (now called Google Play) but as it turned out, it's truly awesome. The amount of apps is astonishing and the vast majority are free. Anything you could possibly want to do, there's a zillion apps for it. From creature photography, to live poker, to updating your blog and much much more.

I love the sound recorder feature which is basically a dictaphone that uses up hardly any space. I also love the barcode scanning apps from the Asda and Tesco which make shopping a breeze!

This really is a device for the 21st century and you'll never look back with a decent smartphone. It's not just a fashion accessory, it's actually very useful and will save you time and enable you to organise yourself better.

Oh and did I mention the eBay App? It does a fantastic "chuck-ching"! alert whenever you make a sale, and replying to messages or re-listing or listing new items is a breeze.

The camera works well and shoots decent video and pictures, not as good as a digital camera or pocket camcorder, but still very decent. There is also a handy time and date stamp feature.

Although the sound is good, the earphones that come with it are sub-standard but ok for making calls, there's a handy built in mic and you can pause/mute sound.

There are a few small gripes with the HTC Desire:

Poor battery life: Since the phone is always-on (even when it's switched off!) the 1400mAh battery runs down very fast within a day. And when the screen is on, even faster (in just a few hours). You need to keep it constantly charged. Saying that, I bought my second hand so I don't know if a new battery would perform much better, but based on reviews, I don't think so. There are however slightly higher 1700mAh capacity batteries available on eBay.

No stylus: This is something common to most smartphones so not really a criticism of HTC, however it's something I really miss compared to my Nokia n810 which has one. I find the touch screen and using fingers frustrating at times. Give me a stylus any day!

Memory: The phone itself only has 512MB ram which is low compared to other models and makes, however I find it's adequate for me at this stage. You can use SD media storage cards to install apps and save data, but some apps rely on the phones memory and of course you can only run so many apps in memory.

Camera: Only one forward facing camera means you can't see yourself when making video calls.Read full review...

Good reliable phone with large clear screen and plenty of features.

1st Android smartphone purchased. Good value for money at £67.
Generally like the way it works. Sound quality is low, which seems to be an Android problem.Not the easiest phone for making calls. Stores a lot of information in a small space. Great for e-mails and if you are into social networks. Loaded skype but have yet to use it on this phone. Lots of free apps from google.The battery lasts just over a day using wifi. Good maps. Sat nav a bit tricky in the car, good for out walking. Can download music and play via Amazon cloud storage. Calendar and time zones good. Easy to set reminders and birthdays.Also like the updating weather forcast.Read full review...

A Modern phone that's easy to use!

I took a lot of time choosing which new phone to have this time, and I am very pleased to say it was worth that time when I got my HTC Desire.
As soon as you pick it up you can feel the quality of this handset.The large screen makes it easy to use and coupled with a fast processor, surfing the net is simple.
There is a 5 meg camera which is ample for everyday use and maybe could be better but the slim sleek design for me makes this phone thoroughly recommended.Read full review...

HTC Desire HD

Had the phone for approx. 2 weeks and very pleased. Excellent screen/ size though colours not quite as vibrant as Desire (this one has super lcd). Few nice options when using the camera and widgets. Seems slightly quicker than Desire. Battery life on par with Desire, I switch off WiFi/ 3G etc. when not using and would say I am a moderate user. Get around 1 1/2 to 2 days from battery and still improving. Excellent for using apps (Angry Bird's etc.) due to screen size. Overall I would recommend if looking for smartphone. If you have a Desire and reasonable eyesight (this is why I went for the larger screen)and small hands then I would stick with what you have.Read full review...