HTC Desire 650 worldwide release announced just two days ahead of major event

A month after its December release exclusive to Taiwan, HTC has announced today that one of its mid-range devices, the Desire 650, will be released worldwide in February. A stateside release is unlikely, though – the phone will almost surely follow in the footsteps of its predecessor, the Desire 630, and only launch in European and other international markets.

From a specs standpoint, the device looks like a pretty standard low-to-mid range offering: the Snapdragon 400 processor combined with the 2 GB RAM will offer moderately good performance for casual users, while the 16 GB onboard storage is limited but thankfully expandable via SD card. The front and back cameras are 5 and 13 MP respectively, and the screen is a 5-inch TFT LCD with a modest 720p resolution. As is customary for the company nowadays, the front of the device also has stereo speakers above and below the screen. Possibly the only unique feature of the 650 is its back panel, which is vertically divided in two halves, the bottom of which sports an engraved pattern designed to provide a better grip.

On the software side, the phone comes with a version of HTC's BoomSound technology, which in this particular case is just a special sound profile for headphone use. The bundled camera app features most standard options, such as HDR and panoramic shooting, but also offers a custom selfie mode when using the front camera. Other features include a built-in Night Mode for use in low-light environments, and HTC's theming engine for people seeking more customization options.

What's surprising about this announcement is that it comes just two days ahead of HTC's big January 12 event, in which we expect to see the reveal of a number of new devices, including the rumored HTC U Ultra, U Play, and X10. The Desire 650's price remains a mystery for now, but an educated guess would be in the ballpark of €200 ($210), similarly to last year's Desire 630.