British readers will be pleased to learn that the unlocked version of one of HTC’s most anticipated phones is finally in stock today at online retailers including Clove and Expansys. The HTC Desire can be described as HTC’s Sense-enabled version of the Nexus One.
The Desire, which is expected to be available on every major UK carrier, has already been received by some lucky T-Mobile customers, but those of us with commitment phobia will be happy to know that the unlocked version is now available for around £430 ($660). With taxes and shipping fees this is about the same price as importing a $530 Nexus One from Google, so customers might want to weigh up the pros and cons of timely OS updates versus the swanky new Sense UI of the HTC Desire. A new optical trackpad and real, physical buttons might also sway you towards HTC’s newest 1GHz smartphone.
Meanwhile, Phones4U and Vodafone are now offering the HTC Legend to new customers online. An updated version of HTC’s highly successful Hero, The Legend offers little in the way of spec upgrades over its predecessor, although a brilliant AMOLED display and a sexy new aluminium body means it’s definitely an improvement. Under the hood, the Legend runs the latest 2.1 version of Android, and is another beneficiary of HTC’s Sense styling. The Legend is free with a 2-year contract at £20 per month, or can be picked up for £370 ($568) unlocked.
HTC will be hoping the brand new Sense UI, tweaked and twisted to fit Android 2.1, can give its devices an edge over the increasingly large number of Android phones now available. We don’t see why not, as unlike other less appealing skins (MotoBLUR), Sense makes some marked improvements over vanilla Android. In fact, HTC is so confident of its selling power, it’s even namechecked the interface on the back of the Desire.
