HTC launches Wildfire E Plus, a rebranding of a Chinese entry-level phone

Many nostalgically remember HTC’s flagships for the smartphone area, but few know that the Taiwanese manufacturer still makes mobile phones. After selling its smartphone division to Google for the development of the Pixel, HTC went on to make phones in the entry-level and mid-range ranges with a smaller team. The company still releases phones from time to time, and the new HTC Wildfire E Plus still seems to be a subdued effort from the company.

HTC Wildfire E Plus is not a 100% original model

The HTC Wildfire E Plus appears to be just a rebranding of a phone already released by another company, suggesting that HTC doesn’t really develop many parts of the smartphones that carry its logo anymore. The basis for the new model is the UMIDIGI G1, a Chinese smartphone released this summer.

The specs are thus the same: 6.52″ screen with HD+ resolution (1,600 x 720 pixels), MediaTek MT6739 chipset at 1.5 GHz, 2 GB RAM, 32 GB internal storage and a large 5,150 mAh battery. The “fast” charging is done at 10W. Having so little RAM, the phone can’t run the full version of Android, but is equipped with Android 12 Go Edition. Incidentally, this might be the last version of Android it can run, with the new Android 13GB requiring 3GB RAM.

The camera is entry level, meaning a 13 megapixel sensor for wide, 5 megapixels for macro and another 5 megapixel camera on the front, integrated into a notch. The phone is also equipped with a fingerprint sensor in the power button on the right side.

At around $130, you wouldn’t even expect much better specs for a phone like the HTC Wildfire E Plus.