HTC has announced that its mid-range Desire 601 smartphone will be sold exclusively in Australia through Vodafone.
The 4G-capable Desire 601 is described by HTC as "a premium experience at an affordable price point". It will be sold on a wide range of Vodafone plans and will be available in retail stores from tomorrow.
The device has a large 4.5in screen with a qHD resolution of 540x960, is powered by a 1.4GHz dual-core Snapdragon 400 processor and has 1GB of RAM.
It also borrows some features from HTC's more expensive One range, including dual, front-facing speakers called BoomSound, a HTC Zoe video mode and HTC's BlinkFeed home screen software.
Vodafone's General Manager of Devices, Katie Turkal, said the HTC Desire 601 is an affordable device that doesn't sacrifice too many features.
"If you want an affordable 4G phone with an advanced camera, great sound and loads of other great features, this is definitely a device you should check out.""We are pleased to be able to offer it exclusively to Vodafone customers."
While not a pre-paid smartphone, the Desire 601 comes at a time where 4G devices are slowly trickling into the lower end of the market.
Telstra currently sells its own-branded Frontier 4G Android phone for $199, while Optus sells the LG Optimus F5 ($299).
Vodafone ranges the HTC One SV ($299), but currently doesn't allow pre-paid customers to access its 4G network.
The HTC Desire 601 runs the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean operating system but is skinned with HTC's Sense UI.
Sense-exclusive features include the ability to shoot three-second HTC Zoe video files, a video highlights reel with preset themes and HTC's BlinkFeed home screen.
The latter allows users to pull in content from a variety of pre-selected sources including social media accounts.
The HTC Desire 601 will be available on a range of Vodafone's 12 and 24 month plans. It is available on the Vodafone $40 plan over 24 months with no extra handset repayments.