The HTC Desire S is a handful, but in a good way because it packs most of the functions that you’ll ever need from a phone.

Visually, the Desire S looks, well, desirable. The slim, slightly curved case uses the trademark HTC unibody construction. Despite the first impression that it’s a bulky phone, it’s actually comfortable and ergonomic to hold. It’s also lightweight – in fact, the Desire S is five grammes lighter than the original Desire. Such dimensions also make the phone very pocket-friendly.

The phone’s highlight is its capacitative 3.7 inch-screen, which is just gorgeous. The screen’s great colour reproduction comes in handy for handling media and for browsing. The camera/HD video recorder automatically sharpens edges and blurs areas of similar colour.

The Desire S may only have a few buttons, with the front four being capacitative, but don’t let such minimalism deceive you as the functions are exhaustive. The Desire S is seriously fast thanks to the second generation Snapdragon, while the 768MB RAM is generous.

One thing you’ll immediately notice in the Desire S is the absence of an optical trackpad, which significantly upgrades the phone’s usability.

HTC has also integrated the Quick Settings menu alongside the notifications in the drop-down Android menu – giving instant access to frequently-used options.

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