HTC is out of ideas. After failing to cook up a proper flagship smartphone for 2018 that could-maybe-perhaps compete with the latest from Apple, Samsung, Google, and even LG, the company is looking to the budget market for success among folks who don’t want to spend more than $400 on a new handset. Their way of doing that? Reviving a near decade-old line of phones.
As revealed in new leaks from Rozetked, HTC will be reviving the Wildfire brand which was last used eight years ago with the Wildfire S. This new series of phones will carry these names: Wildfire, Wildfire E, Wildfire E Plus, and Wildfire E1. Exciting, right? They’ll also have 720p screens, some will come with bezels, and others will carry teardrop notches. There’s also a solid chance these things are gonna come with plastic builds.
To be quite honest, I’m worried HTC’s gonna flop again with this revival. The mid-range and low-end smartphone segments have gotten crowded over the past few years, what with Google, Motorola, and LG all offering solid options for not very much money. Let’s also not forget HTC didn’t exactly get the best reviews for its budget offerings. By rebooting something that was killed off eight years ago, it’s hard to say whether HTC will find success in the smartphone market again or if they’ll continue to offer mediocre offerings for no good reason.
