HTC Desire 22 Pro Black 128GB

The HTC Desire 22 Pro is a niche phone built primarily as a companion for the VIVE Flow VR headset. It packs rare features like IP67 water resistance, wireless charging, and a headphone jack, but the camera quality is a major letdown. Performance from the Snapdragon 695 is just average, and the IPS LCD screen can't compete with OLED rivals. Only buy this if you're specifically invested in HTC's VIVERSE ecosystem, and try to find it at the lower end of its $420 to $625 price range.

The Snapdragon 695 is a known quantity at this point, and it lands squarely in the middle of the pack for performance, sitting in the 48th percentile. That means apps open fine, scrolling is mostly smooth thanks to the 120Hz refresh rate, and you can play lighter games without issue. But push it with something like Genshin Impact or heavy multitasking, and you'll feel the lag. This isn't a speed demon, and the benchmark scores in our database confirm it's about average for this price bracket.

Where the performance story gets more interesting is in the phone's intended use case with VIVE Flow. The 695 chip is tasked with handling the XR content streaming, and for that specific, less demanding workload, it's adequate. The 8GB of RAM helps keep things from grinding to a halt. Just don't expect this to replace a flagship phone for raw processing power. The 18W charging is also painfully slow by modern standards, taking well over an hour to top up the 4520mAh battery, which itself delivers solid but unspectacular battery life in the 75th percentile.

Stacked against the Google Pixel GGX8B, the Desire 22 Pro loses the camera battle by a landslide. Google's computational photography is in a different league, and the Pixel's OLED display is simply better to look at. The HTC fights back with expandable storage and a headphone jack, two things the Pixel lacks, but for most people, the superior camera and software support on the Pixel will matter more. The OnePlus 13 is another competitor that offers a far more powerful processor and faster charging for a similar price, making the Desire 22 Pro feel a generation behind in performance.

The Motorola Razr is a different beast entirely with its foldable form factor, but it highlights how the Desire 22 Pro's display tech feels dated. Even a mid-range Samsung Galaxy A-series phone will give you a better screen. The HTC's only real trump card is that specific VIVERSE integration. If you don't own a VIVE Flow and don't plan to, a phone from OnePlus or Google will serve you better in almost every measurable way, from camera scores to display quality and overall speed.

Pricing for the Desire 22 Pro is all over the map, with a spread from $420 to $625 across vendors. At the low end, around $420, you're getting a phone with a unique feature set, specifically the VR integration and IP67 rating, that you won't find elsewhere for that money. The wireless charging and expandable storage add to that value proposition. But as you creep toward the $625 mark, the value falls apart completely.

At over six hundred dollars, you're in the territory of a base model Pixel or a discounted last-gen flagship that will absolutely smoke this phone in camera quality, display, and raw performance. If you can snag it closer to the $420 price from a vendor like Newegg, and you specifically want that VIVE Flow companion, the math starts to make a little more sense. For anyone else, the price-to-performance ratio is tough to justify.

HTC is back, sort of. The Desire 22 Pro feels like a phone designed for a very specific person, and that person is already curious about the metaverse. It's built to pair with HTC's VIVE Flow VR glasses, and the whole pitch revolves around stepping into virtual worlds. If that sounds like your thing, you're the target audience. For everyone else, this is a mid-range Android phone with a couple of interesting tricks and some noticeable compromises.

The hardware itself is a mixed bag. You get a big 6.6-inch 120Hz display, which sounds great on paper, but it's an IPS LCD panel, not the vibrant OLED you'd find on similarly priced phones from Samsung or OnePlus. Under the hood, the Snapdragon 695 5G processor and 8GB of RAM handle daily tasks fine, but this chip is showing its age. The real standout feature is the IP67 water resistance and the inclusion of both a headphone jack and a microSD card slot, things that are becoming rare gems in 2024.

We're looking at a phone that ranks in the 96th percentile for features, which makes sense when you see the spec sheet. Wireless charging, reverse wireless charging, stereo speakers, and that expandable storage are all here. But the photography score lands at a disappointing 35.6 out of 100, and the single customer review we found is a brutal 1 out of 5 stars. This is a device with a very specific mission, and it stumbles hard outside of that niche.

Skip this phone if you care about camera quality at all. The 35.6 out of 100 photography score puts it near the bottom of the pack, and you'll be disappointed with the results compared to a Pixel or even an older iPhone. Look at a Google Pixel GGX8B instead if photos matter to you.

You should also pass if you just want a great all-around phone and have no interest in the VIVERSE or VIVE Flow. The mid-range processor and LCD screen make it feel dated next to similarly priced phones from OnePlus. The OnePlus 13 offers a much faster chip and better display for a comparable price, making it a smarter buy for the average person who just wants a reliable, fast smartphone.

If you own a VIVE Flow headset or are deeply invested in HTC's VIVERSE platform, the Desire 22 Pro is your dedicated companion device. It's built for that job, and the wireless casting and XR content handling work as advertised. For this specific, narrow use case, it's a functional and reasonably priced sidekick. The IP67 rating is a nice bonus for peace of mind.

For literally anyone else, this is a tough sell. The camera is a genuine weak spot, the display is behind the curve, and the processor is merely adequate. You're buying a phone that excels at a feature most people will never use, while falling short on the basics they use every day. Unless you find it heavily discounted and desperately need a headphone jack and microSD slot, you're better off with a Pixel or OnePlus.