Sony took the veils off their latest smartphone in India, the Xperia C just a few days back. Something noticeable about the Xperia C is that it comes with budget manufacturers’ favourite processor, the MT6589 from MediaTek. While the potential of the MT6589 is known well enough, it is a first to see a manufacturer as large as Sony adopting the processor. On the other hand, HTC’s Desire 500 features the more popular and mainstream Snapdragon 200.
Weight and Dimensions
HTC Desire 500 dimensions: 131.8 x 66.9 x 9.9 mm, weight: 123g
Sony Xperia C dimensions: 141.5 x 74.2 x 8.9 mm, weight: 153g
As expected, the Sony Xperia C is bigger and heavier thanks to the larger screen it comes with. The Desire 500 can be seen as a ‘mini’ device, whereas the Xperia C is just about the average sized device for this year.
Both devices should be fairly good in the hand, and due to it’s smaller size, the Xperia C should be more pocket friendly.
Display and Processor
The Xperia C comes with a 5 inch panel with a qHD resolution of 960×540 pixels. This seems to be Sony’s tactic to not make the MT6589 look like a slow processor, and we must say the idea does seem like a good one. On the other hand, the Desire 500 comes with a 4.3 inch WVGA (800x480p) screen, which is considerably smaller than the Xperia C’s screen. You should go for the Desire 500 if you do not watch a lot of videos or play a lot of games on the phone, since the 4.3 inch screen won’t really provide for a very enjoyable multimedia experience.
Coming to the processors, the Xperia C comes with MediaTek’s MT6589 which everyone knows about, thanks to venturing domestic brands. The processor comes with 4 cores clocked at 1.2GHz. The Desire 500 comes with the older and less powerful Snapdragon 200 which runs at the same frequency and has the same number of cores.
Camera and Memory
Since both devices are seen as competing ones, the specifications carried on them are very similar too. Both devices come with 8MP cameras, and both manufacturers are known for their top-notch hardware quality which includes internal components like the camera sensors. Thus, it will be tough to choose one among the two on the basis of camera, but it will be safe to say that you cannot go wrong with either.
On the memory front, the devices again clash with exactly the same specifications. This includes 4GB of ROM and 1GB of RAM, along with a microSD slot for expansion.
Battery and Features
The Desire 500 comes with an 1800mAh battery, which we think is a little short of expectations. However, HTC’s devices are known to give 10-15% of extra usage on the same battery size, which can be enough to overlook this shortcoming. On the other hand, Sony’x Xperia C comes with a 2390mAh unit which sounds a lot better. However, the device packs a 5 inch screen which definitely will be much more of a battery monger than the 4.3 inch unit on the Desire 500.
Even then, we expect both devices to have about equal runtime on a single charge. The Xperia C might turn out to be better on some occasions, we will have to wait and see.
Key Specs
| Model | Sony Xperia C | HTC Desire 500 |
| Display | 5 inches, 960×540 qHD | 4.3 inches, 800×480 WVGA |
| Processor | 1.2 GHz quad core | 1.2 GHz quad core |
| RAM | 1GB | 1GB |
| Internal Storage | 4GB | 4GB |
| OS | Android v4.2.2 | Android v4.1.2 |
| Cameras | 8MP/VGA | 8MP/1.6MP |
| Battery | 2390 mAh | 1800 mAh |
| Price | 20,500 INR | 20,500 INR |
Conclusion
Between the two devices, you should go for the Desire 500 if your usage involves reading mails, chatting, calls, etc. If you wish to play games and enjoy other forms of multimedia on your device, you should go for the Xperia C for two reasons: i. A larger screen, and ii. A newer, slightly more powerful processor and a bigger battery.
