HTC Desire 816: Remember the HTC handset which accummulated over a million pre-orders in China a couple of months ago? Well, it has already reached Europe and the Taiwanese manufacturer sure hope it would get the same impact as it did in the world's largest smartphone market. 

Will it be able to make it?

For the past years, HTC has been focusing much of its manufacturing technologies, features and marketing on its high-end and flagship level smartphones. That is not a bad thing, but the tight competition in that area does not do HTC any favor. 

However, in the midrange level, competition is a welcomed challenge for HTC because this is where the company's build quality and design works best. In a smartphone category where consumers are torn among different handsets with similar features and specs, they would often go for the one that looks better.

This is where HTC excels. 

So in the case of the HTC Desire 816, it certainly looks a lot like the HTC One M8 flagship minus the brushed metal finish. That is good for HTC as well for consumers who are dying to get the flagship but cannot afford its steep price tag. 

At only 295 euros in Europe, the Deisre 816 is certainly a good deal considering its 5.5-inch display, 1.5GB RAM, quad-core CPU, Snapdragon 400, 8GB of internal memory, and even dual-SIM compatibility. 

According to the report by GSM Arena, Romania will have the dual-SIM version, though that may not be the case for other European countries. 

Indeed, the HTC Desire 816 was able to get the best out of its initial market in China where value and quality are given the highest priority. But in the EU where many consumers switch phones more frequently, we cannot guarantee the midranger's success. 

We will see in the next few weeks and months how HTC midrange handsets fare in this competitive market.