Two devices with quad core processors that don’t cost a fortune, two devices that you can buy as they belong to the low budget and mid range category. HTC Desire 500 was at first the cheapest smartphone with quad core processor until ZTE Blade V was launched the same month at even lower price. The price difference between the two devices is pretty big (+66%) so we need to see if the difference on the specs of these two devices are also that big.
Screen
HTC Desire 500 has a 4.3 inches screen and ZTE Blade V a 4 inches screen. The 0.3 inches difference is not that big. Of course this is a different category and the competition at 4.3 inches smartphones is really big with great devices. The 4 inches category has mid range and low budget phones. Both phones have a moderate screen with ZTE Blade V to have more pixels per inch (233PPI over 217PPI of HTC Desire 500). So ZTE Blade V has a better screen even if the difference is small.
Camera
There is a difference on the camera of the two phones. HTC Desire 500 has an 8MP camera and ZTE Blade V a 5MP one. You can see the difference on the pictures. Although ZTE has autofocus and LED flash, it cannot compete the 8MP camera of HTC because of the lens and the software HTC has embed on that device. HTC Desire 500 has also a better front camera of 1.6MP compared to the old fashioned VGA camera of ZTE Blade V.
Processor
Both phones got our eyespot because of the low price and the quad core processor. We were used to see high end devices with quad core processors and now some low budget phones have that technology. Both phones have the Quad-core Qualcomm MSM8225Q Snapdragon 200 at 1.2 GHz so they have exactly the same processor. They also have 1GB of RAM so now the difference on the speed is on the software side. They both perform well and the feeling is great on the menu, the browsing, the games. These phones are powerful compared to other phones of their category.
Battery
Both phones have the same 1800mAh battery that is good for a dual core phone but moderate for a quad core one. Although there are some apps and tips to control your power consumption, your battery will come to an end very soon. We need bigger batteries in smaller bodies to support the power quad core chipsets.
Software
HTC Desire 500 comes with Android 4.2 right from the start. ZTE Blade V is one update back and it has the 4.1 Android version. HTC has also a bunch of apps and customizations so the experience is more rich. ZTE Blade V has less things preinstalled but maybe this is good as the memory is only 4GB so having more apps would make the available space even smaller. We like the newer Android versions on devices because midrange and low budget devices have fewer possibilities for an update so the winner here is HTC Desire 500.
Size & Design
HTC Desire 500 has a bigger screen but the size of the body remains slim and light compared to ZTE Blade V. Desire 500 weights 123g and is 7g lighter than the 130g ZTE Blade V. The HTC device is also 9.9mm and is 1mm slimmer than ZTE Blade V. You can feel that difference.
Verdict
HTC Desire 500 is more expensive than ZTE Blade V so we expected to be a better device. In fact it has a better camera, a newer Android version, more software add ons and is slimmer and lighter. But ZTE Blade V is cheaper and has the same specs in fields that matter like the processor speed, the screen quality and the battery. So is it worth to pay the difference on the price to get HTC Desire 500? I think not except you need to take photos from your phone (and you need a quad core phone too).
HTC Desire 500 specs rating
| Spec | HTC Desire 500 | Compared to: | with spec: | Score | Buy now: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Width | 9.9 | Sony Xperia Z Ultra | 6.5 | 48% | |
| Weight | 123 | HTC Desire C | 100 | 77% | |
| Screen PPI | 217 | HTC One | 469 | 46% | |
| Camera MP | 8 | Nokia Pureview | 41 | 20% | |
| 2nd Camera | 1.6 | Sony Xperia Z | 2.2 | 73% | |
| Processor | 4 * 1.2 | Samsung Galaxy Note 3 | 8 * 1.9 | 32% | |
| RAM MB | 1000 | Samsung Galaxy Note 3 | 3000 | 33% | |
| Battery mAh | 1800 | Huawei Ascend Mate | 4050 | 44% | |
| Android | 4.2 | Google Nexus 4 | 4.3 | 83% | |
| Release Date | 2013-09 | - | Today | 100% | |
| Our view | 60% | - | 100% | 60% | |
| AVC rating method | Date Rated: | 2013-09-18 | Total Rating | 56.0% | Cheap cases for this device |
ZTE Blade V specs rating
| Spec | ZTE Blade V | Compared to: | with spec: | Score | Buy now: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Width | 10.9 | Sony Xperia Z Ultra | 6.5 | 32% | ZTE Blade V |
| Weight | 130 | HTC Desire C | 100 | 70% | |
| Screen PPI | 233 | HTC One | 469 | 50% | |
| Camera MP | 5 | Nokia Pureview | 41 | 12% | |
| 2nd Camera | 0.3 | Sony Xperia Z | 2.2 | 14% | |
| Processor | 4 * 1.2 | Samsung Galaxy Note 3 | 8 * 1.9 | 32% | |
| RAM MB | 1000 | Samsung Galaxy Note 3 | 3000 | 33% | |
| Battery mAh | 1800 | Huawei Ascend Mate | 4050 | 44% | |
| Android | 4.1 | Google Nexus 4 | 4.3 | 67% | |
| Release Date | 2013-09 | - | Today | 100% | |
| Our view | 50% | - | 100% | 50% | |
| AVC rating method | Date Rated: | 2013-09-24 | Total Rating | 45.8% | Cheap ZTE Blade V cases |