HTC Desire S review

Can HTC's first Android 2.3 smartphone live up to its blockbusting heritage?

HTC Desire S
The definitive HTC Desire S review

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HTC Desire S review: Video

The big change from the HTC Desire when it comes it video is the addition of 720p video recording. It's recorded in H.264 in the 3GP file format, and comes out with some slightly odd specifications.

HTC desire s

As you can see, the quality is generally pretty good. Motion is captured well in the first clip, with little ghosting and very few artefacts around the performer. There are some strange stutters, though, as if the phone had struggled to record consistently.

This same thing is even worse in the second clip. There's more motion in this clip, which would indicate that it's possibly a problem with the phone not being able to keep with the bitrate.

The third clip has the same issues again. However, it also shows the strength of the recording, with the ducks' ripples appearing smooth and crisp. The flying birds' movement is well handled, and a good amount of light is being let in with the sun already starting to get low in the sky.

Much like for stills, the light doesn't do much for videos. It'll light things immediately in front well enough, but drops of quickly, so you'll always be struggling to pick detail. However, it's better than nothing for when you just have to take videos of something in the dark. No, don't tell us. We don't wan to know.