HTC, the Taiwan-based smartphone making company, on Friday launched the Desire 728 in India with a mid-range price tag of Rs 17,990. The launch follows the handset's original release in China in September last year.

HTC is looking to tap into the mid-range smartphone market with its Desire 728. The new handset follows the lead of some recent launches by the company, such as the Desire 828 and HTC One A9 last month. HTC Desire 728 Dual SIM will be available across major retail outlets in the country starting next week.

"The new HTC Desire 728 Dual SIM brings distinctive design into a feature-rich smartphone, providing you with a great value smartphone which you can truly make your own. We want to provide a powerful, fully customisable experience to our customers, and the HTC Desire 728 Dual SIM brings this in abundance," Faisal Siddiqui, President South Asia, HTC, said during the handset's launch, Digit reported citing an official press release.

HTC Desire 728 specifications were revealed during the handset's China release. It features a 5.5-inch HD IPS display, 13-megapixel rear-facing camera with LED flash and a 5MP front-snapper. The Desire 728 is powered by a 1.3GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6753 processor, which is paired with 2GB RAM and 16GB memory that is expandable up to 2TB.

HTC Desire 728 supports 4G LTE TDD, suitable for Indian networks, and has a 2,800mAh battery that can deliver up to 21 hours of talktime. HTC has also equipped the new handset in India with company's BoomSound technology, which comes has Dolby Audio integration.

HTC Desire 728 Dual SIM will be available in White Luxury and Purple Myst colours. With its price tag, the handset competes against some of the worthy rivals like OnePlus X, OnePlus One, Moto X Play, Asus Zenfone 2 Laser, Meizu MX5 and Lenovo K4 Note.