HTC Desire 22 Pro Sets Its Sights On The Metaverse

Earlier this month, Taiwanese technology brand HTC, teased the launch of a new product as part of its new metaverse initiative called "Viverse." The image accompanying the teaser indicated that the product in question was a new smartphone. At the time, HTC shied away from revealing the name of the smartphone, resulting in enthusiasts and tech journalists being left wondering as to what naming scheme HTC would settle with for the new device. The only other thing the teaser talked about was that this new product would be officially unveiled in late June.

Today HTC finally took the covers off this new smartphone, and as it turns out, the device is part of the company's longstanding Desire lineup of smartphones. The new HTC Desire 22 Pro is touted as a smartphone tailored to work seamlessly with the HTC's Vive Flow VR glasses. When used with these glasses, the Desire 22 Pro claims to offer users an immersive 2D and 3D viewing experience.

Desire 22 pro is the phone to carry you into the future.
Learn more: https://t.co/QOev17nRSQ#htc pic.twitter.com/Hrwrp5iNmw

— HTC (@htc) June 28, 2022

While these features sound exciting and futuristic, the fact remains that the Desire 22 Pro, in isolation, looks and sounds like yet another run-of-the-mill mid-range Android smartphone. Sure, the device wants to use its AR capabilities as an additional selling point — but we have serious reservations about whether these features alone will be enough to save the HTC Desire 22 Pro from becoming another HTC smartphone that works well, but can't find an audience.

The HTC Desire 22 Pro appears at a glace to have very little ambition to stand out in terms of industrial design or visual flare. At the back is a vertically stacked triple camera array above a pair of LED lights, while the front panel has a single upper-left punch hole and a sizeable chin below its display. At the same time, HTC did include a fashionable wavy ribbed pattern covering almost the entire rear panel, as well as gold accents on the "Starry Night Black" iteration of this device. There's also an alternate color iteration of this phone called "Wave Gold" that might throw you for a loop.

Powering the HTC Desire 22 Pro is Qualcomm's Snapdragon 695 chipset with 5G-ready tech in play. The phone comes in a single 6GB RAM/128GB internal storage configuration with the option to upgrade the storage using a microSD card. The phone is also dual-SIM capable, with one supporting up to 5G, and both ready for LTE. The rear camera setup on the HTC Desire 22 Pro includes a 64MP+13MP+2MP configuration, while the front-facing camera uses a 32MP sensor. Besides boasting a 4250mAh battery that supports 18W fast charging, the phone also supports wireless charging and is IP67 rated for water and dust resistance.

Those interested in the phone can pick it up from retailers across Europe for EUR 459 ($404), where it goes on sale starting July 1, 2022.