HTC is a young pup compared to some major smartphone manufacturers, having only been created in 1997. Coming up against prolific and famous manufacturers of Android smartphones such as Samsung, Huawei and Sony, HTC had to make up some ground if it wanted to make an imprint in the crowded smartphone design and manufacturing industry. Some ground it made up and some imprint it made, as HTC was one of the founding members of the Open Handset Alliance, the group of manufacturers and network operators that pioneered and launched the Android mobile operating system.
The very first HTC mobile phone contracts launched on the manufacturer’s handsets used the Windows operating system (remember those?), accompanying Sony, LG and Samsung as one of only a few manufacturers to adopt the system. HTC’s role in building the Android system opened doors for the Tawainese company to manufacture Google handsets, which itself paved the way for Google to acquire a 2,000 strong design and development arm of HTC’s business for a cool $1.1bn in 2018. Not that this makes a difference to anyone searching for the best HTC mobile packages, because HTC still designs and manufactures its own handsets, as well as handsets for other phone companies.
Throughout HTC’s development history it has released smartphone handsets with inspirational names like Magic, Hero and Thunderbolt (not forgetting the Nexus One). Today, the HTC mobile contracts you take out appear on arguably less inspirationally named handsets. The company now favours the One range, along with handsets numbered in sequence, which at least lets you know where you are when picking out an HTC phone deal and where your phone relates to its predecessors.
Prior to its acquisition by Google, HTC handsets were available on all of the major networks, including EE, Vodafone and Three Mobile. MVNO’s like Giffgaff, iD Mobile and Smarty also saw the company’s budget focused handsets as ideal choices for the various HTC phone offers in which these MVNOs specialised. Giffgaff’s brand of flexible and cheap phone plans were a perfect fit for HTC’s budget focused handset range, which continue to be strong purchase incentives for smartphone users looking to save money on their monthly contracts. HTC’s devices always featured super high definition displays, one of the most sought after features of any smartphone handset.
While it is safe to say that Google’s acquisition of a key part of HTC’s design and development workforce has seen a reduction in HTC’s smartphone output, the company still blazes trails when it comes to pioneering technology. HTC won the VR Headset of the Year at the 2018 VR Awards with its HTC Vive Pro VR headset, narrowly being beaten by Quest by Oculus the following year. When all is said and done, HTC mobile phone deals might not be the first on many Android phone’s list of searches, but you can be sure that if you are searching for budget handsets with incredible technology behind it, HTC handsets can more than hold their own.