SpecEagle review · HTC

HTC Desire Eye review: A selfie-focused phone with a 13 MP front camera and dual front flash.

SpecEagle Editorial·Oct 2014·$550
Overall
50/100
Class rank
#9 of 33
Tier
Mid-range
Buy?
Look elsewhere
The verdict, up front

The selfie phone before selfies were huge.

HTC Desire Eye doubled down on the front camera — a full 13 MP selfie shooter with its own dual-LED flash — anticipating the selfie boom. With Snapdragon 801 power and BoomSound it was more than a gimmick, even if the concept was ahead of the mainstream curve.

01Display

64/100

64/100 — right at the average for mid-range phones of 2014.

TypeSuper LCD
Size5.2 inches
Resolution1,920 × 1,080 px (FHD)

02Camera

64/100

At 64/100 this is one of the strongest camera showings among mid-range phones of 2014 — 8 points above the cohort average.

Main13 MP, f/2.0, dual-LED
Front13 MP, f/2.2, dual-LED flash
Video1080p

03Performance

64/100

At 64/100 this is one of the strongest performance showings among mid-range phones of 2014 — 10 points above the cohort average.

ChipsetSnapdragon 801 (28 nm)
RAM2 GB
Storage16 GB · microSD

04Battery

56/100

56/100 is one of the weaker battery results among mid-range phones of 2014 — 8 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.

Capacity2,400 mAh
Standby~ 460 hours

05Build

64/100

64/100 — right at the average for mid-range phones of 2014.

06Value

56/100

56/100 trails the 59-point cohort average for mid-range phones of 2014.

What works
  • 13 MP front camera with its own dual-LED flash.
  • Snapdragon 801 flagship power.
  • BoomSound stereo + IPX7 splash.
  • microSD + jack.
What doesn't
  • Small 2,400 mAh battery.
  • Plastic build (vs the metal One).
  • A gimmicky single-purpose pitch.
  • Mono-era camera tuning.
Cross-shop it against
OnePlus X
$249 · score 64/100

How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 33-phone cohort of mid-range devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .