The HTC Desire C is a slightly strange phone for HTC to release. After a hat-trick of awesome phones in its One series – including the budget-friendly One V – the Desire C is coming in not so far below the price of the One V, yet with a palpably more pedestrian spec list.

Sturdy build; Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS with HTC Sense adding tons of fun; efficient features

600MHz processor noticeably slows when multitasking or fast swiping; mediocre camera; similarly priced but higher performing phones are available

There's a lot to be desired about HTC Desire C but its low price point would have to be its most attractive spec. It may be an entry-level phone but it runs Ice Cream Sandwich and features Beats Audio technology. For a cheap phone, its specs are quite decent.

Nokia Lumia 610 – Coming in at a similar price point to the HTC Desire C, the Nokia Lumia 610 is Windows Phone's entry to the budget market. Featuring a 3.7-inch display and a 5MP camera, the Lumia sports good hardware and an excellent operating system, though it does suffer from a lack of third...

While the Desire C shows it is possible to run Android Ice Cream Sandwich on a low spec handset, we're still not sure why you would want to.

Solid build; HTC Sense offers lots of fun; useful features to Android Ice Cream Sandwich

600MHz chip is slow under pressure; average snapper; higher-spec handsets available for the same price

With Nokia switching most of their efforts to Windows Phone there's very few "featurephones" coming onto the market. It's left the door open for cheaper Android smartphones which, despite dropping a few specs here and there, still give owners access into the large range of apps and games within...

It's not the fastest performer and the video quality leaves a lot to be desired, but the Desire C is a very affordable way to get Android Ice Cream Sandwich

Ice Cream Sandwich; Beats Audio

Camera quality; Small Size; Poor Multitasking; Lack of a camera flash

When it launched its flagship One line of Android phones earlier this year HTC suggested it would be sticking to a policy of creating fewer more clearly differentiated handsets. Well, it appears not to have taken very long for that policy to have been eroded.

Nice styling and good build quality; Good quality screen; Android 4.0 is feature packed

A little expensive for its features; Can become quite slow

The biggest rival the HTC Desire C faces is, ironically, the HTC One V which costs a little more but boosts screen size, processor and more for around ￡50 extra. If decent performance from a palm sized phone is key, the the HTC Desire C is an excellent choice with a quality build and Android 4.0...

Palm size; HTC design; Android 4.0

White case can scuff

Much ado was made about the Desire C's Ice Cream Sandwich capabilities. But when the processor seems unable to keep up with its own OS, then you have to wonder whether it was worth force-feeding ICS into it.

Once upon a time, the . The has taken that mantle in 2012, so the Desire is now reduced to propping up the bottom of HTC's smartphone lineup. The HTC Desire C retails for $229 but features the Beats Audio sound profile, comes with integrated 25GB Dropbox storage and has a 5-megapixel camera.

Good design and build; Relatively low price; Decent battery life

Can be sluggish at times; Abysmal camera; Limited internal memory