In this post, I going to do a side-by-side comparison between between the HTC Desire and the Samsung Galaxy S.
The Samsung Galaxy S is pretty new in the market and do not have as much coverage as the HTC Desire, but the Samsung Galaxy S is quickly picking up popularity after it’s launching. On the other hand, the HTC Desire has been getting a lot of attention for being the protege of the Google Nexus 1.
So let’s put them in the ring and get into action as we do a face-off between these 2 smartphones.
Round 1 – Design
Right, the first round is always about the appearance. As the Samsung Galaxy S gets the best of Korean detailing and technology and design, the HTC Desire from the Taiwanese manufacturer is not doing pretty bad either.
Both phones are of candy-bar slimline design with the HTC Desire having much more similarity in weight and size to the ever popular Apple iPhone 3G. The Desire has got matte finishing with 3.7 inch AMOLED screen.
The Samsung Galaxy S has got a huge 4.0 inch Super AMOLED and it weighs much lighter than the HTC Desire. It has got a metallic gloss finishing and feel very “plastiky”.
Although I prefer the design for the Samsung Galaxy S more but somehow I just don’t feel very save with it as it’s too light and can be quite slippery if you do not have a good grip. The Galaxy S is slightly too big for even a guy’s palm like mine. I guess a good rubber casing is a must for the Galaxy S if you don’t want your phone slipping off your grip.
As for the HTC Desire. I like the rounded corners, and the overall industrial design feels a bit more “solid” than the Galaxy S, although it’s a close run thing.
Round 2 – Performance
Both phones run Android. Both have lightning-fast processors (the Galaxy S a Hummingbird/Power VR, the Desire a Snapdragon/Adreno). Both loaded with Raging Thunder 2, a 3D racing game. I know Quake 2 would be a much better bench marking game and I’m sure many others have done this comparison using Quake 2. I just wanna try a much different approach.
Both supports the game pretty well but after prolong usage, the HTC Desire begins to lag and game play becomes jerky.
Round 3 – Interface and Usability
As both phones are running on Android, the interface and usability is almost the same. The HTC Desire has got physical buttons for Home, Menu, Back and Search. It’s a much straight forward than the Galaxy S which only comes with 3 touch-sensitive buttons which are Home, Menu and Back.
I truly love the animated Homescreen for the HTC Desire especially the weather widget. When it’s a rainy day, theres some raindrops on the Homescreen and a wiper sweeping across the screen. The Samsung Galaxy S spots a more familiar look with it’s iPhone-like Homescreen look.
Both comes with 7 customizable Homescreens with Live Wallpaper which is pretty cool pretty cool designs. The HTC Desire’s main Homescreen starts from the middle with 3 more Homescreens on the left and on the righ. The main Homescreens for Samsung Galaxy S starts from the far left with subsequent Homescreens scrolling in from the right.
Although the HTC Desire has got a much prettier Interface, for some reason, I still prefer the Samsung’s interface.
Round 4 – Camera
For this round, we have an obvious winner. The Samsung Galaxy S still wins hands down. Although both comes with 5 megapixel camera an multimedia playback capability, the Samsung Galaxy S is by far more superior than the HTC Desire. The 4.0 inch Super AMOLED screen of the Samsung Galaxy S is enough to be a clear winner.
The HTC Desire only records video in 800 x 480 WVGA quality. On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy S records video in 720p HD quality! Besides that, the Samsung Galaxy S also features TV Out via it’s 3.5mm head jack which allows you to display presentation and watch HD videos on a bigger screen.
The Samsung Galaxy S also features a front VGA camera for video call and for self-photography. The only downside to the Samsung Galaxy S is that it doesn’t have a built-in flash.
Round 5 – Storage
The Samsung Galaxy S comes with built-in memory of 8GB/16GB. The memory is extendable via MicroSD up to 32GB. The built-in memory can is essential for the Samsung Galaxy S with it’s HD video playback capability. A 720p HD video file can easily take up 3GB or memory and can take up memory space pretty easily.
The HTC Desire depends on extended microSD memory for that extra storage space. It only supports up to 16GB though. The HTC Desire comes with a 2GB microSD in-the-box.
Without having to say much, we can clearly see who is the winner in this round.
Round 6 – Battery
Both phones boast up to 6 hour of talktime with 3G enabled. I’m a social media addict and I use social network apps quite heavily. Both phones were installed with the same social network apps with almost the same frequency of usage.
The apps and functions that I usually used are FourSquare, Twitter, Facebook, SMS, Camera and Email.
A full charge in the morning before leaving to office, both phone only last me until late evening. It’s advisable to bring along a spare USB data/charge cable to office or else you’ll be out by nightfall.
Conclusion
Both phone shows great potential and superiority but there could only be one winner. Although I like the HTC Desire as much, I still prefer the Samsung’s huge display and HD video playback prowess.
Read the other reviews on Samsung Galaxy S:
