HTC Desire 12s was officially released in December 2018 and is now an older, discontinued smartphone model. Earlier that year, HTC Desire 12 had launched in March 2018, and the Desire 12s followed later as another addition to HTC’s budget-focused Desire lineup.
At the time, the global smartphone market was evolving rapidly, with some premium smartphones priced above $1,000, although this represented only the high-end segment and not the entire market.
Many major brands like OnePlus, Honor, and Huawei were expanding their offerings across different price ranges, while Taiwanese manufacturer HTC was working to maintain its presence in the competitive smartphone industry.
Following HTC’s deal with Google, there had been speculation about the company’s long-term smartphone plans.
However, the release of the Desire 12s in December 2018 showed that HTC was continuing its smartphone lineup at that time. The HTC Desire 12s featured entry-level specifications and introduced minor design changes compared to earlier Desire models.
Featuring a dual-tone design style similar to other HTC phones released at the time, the HTC Desire 12s has a traditional display with noticeable bezels on the top, bottom, and sides.
The phone includes a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner and a dual-tone back panel designed to improve grip. HTC officially confirmed that the Desire 12s has a plastic body with a dual-tone finish, rather than glass, combining different textures for its overall design.
The HTC Desire 12s features a 5.7-inch HD+ display with an 18:9 aspect ratio. While this was among the larger screens in the Desire lineup at the time, later models such as the Desire 19+ were released with bigger displays. The device launched with Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box, and it did not receive any major Android version updates afterward.
The phone includes essential sensors such as an ambient light sensor, accelerometer, digital compass, fingerprint sensor, and proximity sensor. In terms of hardware, the Desire 12s is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 processor, which was an entry-level chipset already used in many budget smartphones before 2018 and was not considered a major upgrade. It was available with up to 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage, which could be expanded using a microSD card.
On the back of the HTC Desire 12s, the camera module may appear similar to a dual-camera setup, but the phone actually has a single 13MP rear camera with an f/2.0 aperture, while the secondary design element is only for aesthetics and not an additional camera lens. The rear camera supports video recording at 1080p.
On the front, the device features a 13MP selfie camera with an f/2.2 aperture, and both the front and rear cameras are paired with LED flash support.
The HTC Desire 12s is powered by a 3,075 mAh Li-ion battery. It supports a standard micro-USB port and does not support fast charging, which was typical for entry-level smartphones at the time of its release.
HTC Desire 12s Availability and Price
HTC Desire 12s was released mainly in Taiwan and select Asian markets in late 2018. At launch, the device was available in Red, Silver, and Black color options. The 3GB RAM + 32GB storage variant was priced at NT$5,990, while the 4GB RAM + 64GB storage variant was priced at NT$6,990 in 2018. The smartphone is now discontinued and is no longer sold officially.
