HTC takes on the budget segment of the smartphone market with its new Desire 310, a speedy quad-core handset that won't draw a hole through your pocket.

The company has just unveiled its latest budget-friendly offering in the form of the HTC Desire 310, a smartphone designed for consumers looking to get high performance for a decent price.

The HTC Desire 310 is undoubtedly a value device, but it does pack some neat features and will be available in a range of colorful options to suit various tastes.

While quad-core horsepower is usually found in the higher-end of the smartphone market, there are a few handsets out there that pack a punch, yet still remain in the mid-range sector. The HTC Desire 310 is one of them, boasting a quad-core CPU clocked at 1.3GHz, which, according to HTC, has what it takes to give it smooth graphics and speedy web browsing. The smartphone also sports a 4.5-inch display, 1GB of RAM, and a 5-megapixel rear camera, among other specs.

"Everybody today wants a smartphone that can keep up with them, regardless of whether it is a flagship or entry-level model," HTC CEO Peter Chou reckons in the press release on Thursday, March 6. "The latest addition to our renowned HTC Desire range combines super-fast processing and premium features at a lower price, offering users the best possible experience in this category."

The HTC Desire 310 also comes with the popular BlinkFeed feature on top of the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS. As a reminder, BlinkFeed first made its debut on the current HTC One flagship smartphone, enabling users to have customized streams of relevant content.

Also on the software side, the handset's Offline Reading mode makes a nice addition, as it allows users to view content from their personal feeds without requiring a Wi-Fi or data plan Internet connection. When on Wi-Fi, HTC Desire 310 users can add up to 120 articles to a reading list through this mode and enjoy them later even if they're no longer connected.

The smartphone's 5-megapixel rear shooter, meanwhile, can turn photos into video sequences, complete with effects and music.

"With the HTC Desire 310, your pictures and video clips can be automatically turned into a professional-looking show reel of your best moments," HTC further touts. "Select photos taken with the HTC Desire 310's 5MP camera, place them into your preferred sequence and choose your favourite tracks and effects to create impressive videos to share with friends and family through social networks."

The HTC Desire 310 smartphone will hit Taiwan sometime in April, but no specific launch date or pricing details are available at this point. Considering that HTC taunts it as a "maximum value" phone, the price is expected to be very budget-friendly. The company also failed to mention whether the handset will reach other markets as well, but we'll keep you up to date as soon as we learn more.