HTC
Wildfire S

The HTC Wildfire S was unveiled at Mobile World Congress in February 2011 as the successor to the original HTC Wildfire. Positioned as an affordable, entry-level smartphone, it was designed to appeal to a younger demographic and those looking to move from a feature phone to the Android ecosystem without the bulk or cost of the flagship Desire or Sensation models. At the time of its release, the Wildfire S was one of HTC’s smallest handsets, measuring just over 10 centimetres in length. Despite its diminutive size, it felt remarkably premium thanks to HTC’s signature design language, featuring a soft-touch plastic finish, a curved metallic-look bezel, and a reassuringly solid build. Unlike its predecessor, which was often criticised for its low-resolution screen, the Wildfire S featured a much-improved 3.2-inch HVGA (320 x 480) display, providing the clarity needed for modern apps and web browsing. The device was powered by a 600MHz processor and 512MB of RAM. While modest even for 2011, it could run Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) overlaid with HTC Sense 2.1. This software combination was a major selling point, offering the "Leap" pinch-to-zoom homescreen overview and highly customizable widgets that made HTC phones famous for their user-friendliness. The Wildfire S also featured a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with an LED flash, situated on the rear alongside a distinctive speaker grille. In keeping with its "lifestyle" positioning, HTC offered the device in a variety of colours beyond the standard black and silver, including white, purple, and pink. Though it was eventually superseded by the HTC Desire C, the Wildfire S remains a significant device in HTC's history. The Mobile Phone Museum has several HTC Wildfire S units in its collection, but the phone shown in the picture is a rare prototype version.