We've been hearing about the HTC Ville, which should be set for an announcement at Mobile World Congress next month, since November of last year. The guys at HTC Hub recently spent some hands-on time with this upcoming mid-ranger and shot some video showing what it's all about. Prepare to be underwhelmed.

The original video (found at HTC Hub) has been made private, so we found an alternative.

Considering the low video quality, it's hard to say exactly what has been changed in Sense 4 compared to previous versions, aside from the pretty animations. There is one thing certain though - it still looks the same. In fact, at first glance, we thought the Ville was running Gingerbread - until they showed the version information, that is. It's hard to believe that ICS can go from the elegance and beauty offered by the stock experience to... this. We'll admit, Sense used to do a lot of good for Android. It looked great and brought useful functions to handsets. The problem is, while Android has evolved into a more mature OS, Sense has stayed the same version after version. That tired black bar with the same old green battery icon? Please. That looks awful compared to stock ICS. Hell, it didn't really didn't even look as good as stock Gingerbread. Every little bit of Android seems to be skinned with Sense 4 (much like previous versions), taking away most of the things people love so much about stock ICS.

If you're still interested in what this device has to offer, here is the (rumored) full spec list:

  • 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon
  • 1GB RAM
  • 4.3-inch qHD display
  • 8MP rear camera, VGA up front
  • Android 4.0.1 with Sense 4

The Ville is rumored to be slated for an April release, but we'll have to wait for the official word from HTC at MWC next month.

[HTC-Hub]