Rudderless HTC builds a “Metaverse” smartphone with NFTs

Enlarge / HTC's metaverse phone. (credit: HTC)

HTC is somehow still making smartphones. The latest from the company is the HTC Desire 22 Pro, a 399 British pound (~$486) mid-ranger that represents the company's first smartphone of 2022.

HTC says this phone will somehow help you "enter the metaverse," as "the phone to carry you into the future." The metaverse is the latest tech buzzword companies have been hyping up. It's roughly used to mean "VR-related." The phone itself does not seem to have any actual VR features. HTC's latest VR goggles, the Vive Flow, use an Android phone as the controller and can show the phone screen inside the VR environment. This phone comes with that Vive Flow controller app, but you can install it on any Android phone that supports miracast and get the same features.

Presumably the buzzword gimmicks are meant as a distraction from the fact that the HTC Desire 22 Pro is a generic-looking mid-range phone. It has a Snapdragon 695, a 120 Hz, 6.6-inch, 2412×1080 LCD, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and a 4520 mAh battery. It has Android 12, a fingerprint reader, wireless charging, a microSD slot, and an IP67 water-resistance rating, which HTC only describes as "splash proof." For cameras, you have a 65 MP main camera, a 13 MP ultrawide, 5 MP depth sensor, and 32 MP front camera. HTC's spec sheet curiously also lists "Face ID" as a feature, which is an Apple trademark. HTC probably means generic face recognition.