HTC has officially unveiled its new Desire EYE double-sided camera smartphone and it looks like the rumors were spot on with this selfie powerhouse.

The HTC Desire EYE offers a new photography experience, taking the whole selfie trend to the next level with a whopping 13-megapixel front shooter, the same as the rear camera. In terms of hardware, meanwhile, the new Desire EYE is on par with the One M8 flagship, and that says quite a lot.

Hardware specs

The HTC Desire EYE sports a 5.2-inch display with a full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and packs a 2.3-GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor under the hood, paired with 2GB of RAM. Other specs include a minimum of 16GB of internal storage capacity, with other configurations reportedly available, as well as microSD card support for additional memory. In other words, save for the larger screen size, the spec sheet so far is identical as the one for the HTC One M8.

On the other hand, while the specs may be on par with the flagship, the design is definitely on par with the HTC Desire family. This means that the HTC Desire EYE doesn't have that premium look of the One M8, but that doesn't make it any less impressive.

The strength of the HTC Desire EYE lies in the camera department, as the smartphone aims to up the ante in this aspect. The rear camera features a 13-megapixel sensor with a 28mm wide lens and an f/2.0 aperture, while the front shooter has a 13-megapixel sensor as well, albeit smaller at 22mm, but with a higher f/2.2 opening. Moreover, the front camera of the Desire EYE comes with auto focus, zoom features, and a dual LED flash, which is unprecedented for a smartphone front shooter.

Software

The new HTC Desire EYE is also impressive in terms of software, really aiming to blur the lines between a mid-range handset and a high-end powerhouse. HTC's video editing app/social hub, Zoe, is on board, as is an entire suite of software features specifically designed to make the most of the smartphone's double-sided camera experience.

Such features include face tracking, Split Capture, Crop-Me-In, Voice Selfie, Face Fusion, Live Makeup, and more. Most of these are self-explanatory by their name alone, but the Crop-Me-In feature deserves some special attention. This tool will allow users to take a photo of them with the smartphone's front camera and crop it in the photo taken with the rear shooter. This should be really helpful for those group shots when someone has to take the photo, but you'd like for everyone to be included.

Availability

The HTC Desire EYE will make its way to the U.S., EMEA, and Asia starting later this month, but the company has yet to offer exact pricing and availability details.

To learn more about this, find HTC's press release at this link, sign up for more notifications regarding the Desire EYE here, or read more about the HTC EYE Experience at this link.