Mystery solved: HTC Desire 816 should run Android 4.4.2 KitKat at launch

HTC showcased its brand new Desire 816 at MWC 2014 last week, but it didn’t say what Android version the device would run at launch. Fortunately, we can now confirm that it’s going to be Android 4.4.2 KitKat - at least for the China-bound variant of the smartphone, which is called Desire 816w.

The 816w was recently approved by China’s Telecommunication Equipment Certification Center (Tenaa), and we were able to obtain details regarding its OS. As we already mentioned, this handset does indeed run Android 4.4.2. So we’re thinking that it would make little sense for the international model to come with something else than KitKat.

HTC said that the Desire 816 would be released around the world starting April. It will be available even in the US, where AT&T and Sprint could be among the carriers selling it.

Unlike the upcoming All New HTC One / M8, the Desire 816 is not a high-end smartphone. Still, it looks pretty good, and it offers a set of nice mid-range features, including: a 5.5-inch 720p display (267 ppi), LTE connectivity, a quad-core 1.6GHz Snapdragon 400 processor, 1.5GB of RAM, 5MP front-facing camera, 13MP rear camera, and 8GB of expandable internal memory. The new Desire has a fairly large 2,600 mAh battery, and will come in multiple color versions, including black, white, green, yellow and pink.