HTC Desire Eye Unboxing and First Impressions

HTC has received some flak with regards to the quality of their smartphone cameras, despite, or rather because of, their shift away from the norm, with UltraPixel technology. Since then, HTChas been trying their hardest to prove themselves in this field, with newer releases not only boasting better cameras, but with more software and hardware capabilities.

At a special event a month ago, HTCunveiled its latest smartphone offering, which takes things to a whole other level, featuring a 13 MP shooter with dual LED flash both at the front and back. Before diving in to a full review, we take a look at the unboxing, and give you our first impressions about the HTC Desire Eye!

Unboxing

The HTCDesire Eye is available from AT&T in the US, and the packaging reflects that. Opening up the box shows you the phone in all its glory, and easily noticeable is the “eye” up front, the large camera unit and dual LED flash above the display. Introduced with the HTC Desire 820 was a two-toned color design element, that makes its way to the Desire Eye as well. In the box is otherwise standard fare, including a Quick Start guide, the microUSB cable, an AC wall charging adapter, and some documentation.

First Impressions

Taking the plastic off of the phone, you’ll notice that the bezels along the side of the display are quite thin, but like other HTCdevices, it is longer than it should be, with the black bar with the HTClogo below the display also found here. On one side are the slots for the SIM card the microSD card, an on the other, you’ll find the power button placed below the volume rocker, along with the introduction of a dedicated camera shutter button.

The front-facing BoomSound speakers do make a return here as well. You may miss them at first glance though, as they’ve been relegated to small slits at the top and bottom of the display. How this affects the great quality we’ve come to expect from the speaker setup will be explored in the upcoming full review. The Desire Eye features flagship hardware, and along with the latest, and smoothest, iteration of HTCSense on top, performance at first use is as smooth as you’d expect.

Of course, the big story with this smartphone is with the camera, and the new Eye Experience that it brings with it. The camera application itself is quite simple, but there are a a lot of settings available to allow you to get the perfect shot, including macro mode, Fast Full HD video capture, a software based stabilization, slow motion video, and more. Available modes include panorama, selfie, to really take advantage of the 13 MP front-facing unit, split capture, that let’s you shoot with the front and rear cameras simultaneously, Photo Booth, and Pan 360.

So there you have it – a look at the unboxing of the HTCDesire Eye! The selfie game has been taken to a whole other level with this smartphone, and we can’t wait to dive in deeper with the various features of the camera and the Eye Experience software package, and a lot more, in the upcoming comprehensive review of the HTCDesire Eye.