HTC Desire vs Samsung Galaxy S

Nothing divides opinion like Android vs. Apple, but what about Android Vs. Android? Well, that's exactly what we're going to do in this instance. In one corner we have the HTC Desire. And, in the other we have the Samsung Galaxy S – arguably two of the biggest Android devices currently on the market.

But which is the better overall handset and, more importantly, which one is these high-end devices is worth investing your hard-earned cash? We take a closer look at the two Android-powered monsters.

Operating System
This one is very simple. The HTC Desire is now shipping with Android 2.2 on board and existing users on a growing number of networks can now upgrade their handsets to the latest iteration of the OS.

Unfortunately, Samsung Galaxy S users will have to wait a little longer – latest reports say September – before they can enjoy the benefits of Android 2.2 and all the optimisations and features it brings with it. Nevertheless, at least the Galaxy S will definitely be getting it – the same, regrettably, cannot be said for all Android smartphones, such is the tragedy hardware requirements.

Winner: HTC Desire

User Interface
HTC, with HTC Sense, has developed probably one of the finest UIs on the face of the planet – so much so, it's hard to think of Android without it. HTC's Sense UI has many appealing aspects, such as its gorgeous widgets – Friend Stream, News and Weather –, its level of interactivity and the level of detail that has gone into developing things like widget content and animation, as well as all the tweaks, such as 'view all homescreens', that crop up in each new addition of it.

Then there's the general look and feel of the UI, which is polished, colourful and intuitive. And, if that wasn't enough there's also its built in set-up wizard that guides you through every step of starting life with your new Android phone, from calibrating your touchscreen to setting up your Twitter and Facebook accounts and syncing your contacts – it's all there.

TouchWiz 3.0 is Samsung's customised skin for Google's Android OS and it isn't something to be scoffed at – even if earlier iterations of it were, well, a little dodgy. Generally speaking, TouchWiz 3.0 has a lot of cool features, which make it both extremely usable and very attractive. For instance, the applications menu has a horizontal orientation, instead of the usual vertical Android-type, which affords the user an even higher degree of customisation and organisation than is available on Sense.

Samsung has also included the four iPhone-esque hotkeys, which are always present at the bottom of the Samsung Galaxy S's screen – again, something Sense does not have. In short, TouchWiz 3.0 is a fine UI that looks good, is extremely customisable and dares to be a little different.

That said, it cannot really match HTC's Sense UI on the widget front and, even with widgets like Daily Briefing, this is an obvious dividing factor between the two UIs. And this problem is not aided in anyway with the addition of Samsung Apps either. Put simply, Sense UI has more to offer the user at the end of the day – both in terms of looks, usability and what's on offer inside.

Nevertheless, we have high hopes for TouchWiz and expect big things from it in the future.

Winner: HTC Desire

Displays
HTC devices, as a rule, usually have very impressive screens – remember when the HTC Hero first landed? Thankfully, the HTC Desire is no exception to this rule and features a 3.7 inch (480x800 pixels) AMOLED display, which upon its release gave everything from the iPhone 3GS to the HTC Legend a serious hammering. In short, the HTC Desire has a display that would satisfy even the most hard-to-please users.

The Samsung Galaxy S, on the other hand, features what's called Super AMOLED display technology and while it does have the same amount of pixels as the HTC Desire – 480x800 pixels – it boasts some technological improvements. For example, with Super AMOLED, the screen is reportedly 20 per cent brighter and there’s 80 per cent less sunlight reflection – and the Desire simply cannot compete with this.

And if that wasn't enough, the Samsung Galaxy S has a marginally bigger screen at 4-inches compared to the HTC Desire's 3.7-incher, which makes it the preferable device for viewing videos, browsing the web and generally looking the dog's when out on display.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S

Pricing
Probably one of the biggest things confronting a user before they buy a phone is price.

The HTC Desire can be obtained for Rs. 28,990. Granted, this is quite pricy for a device that came out back in April, but it is testament to just how good a phone it actually is – and there’s plenty of life in the ol’ dog yet too.

The Samsung Galaxy S is slightly pricier at Rs. 31,500, but when you consider how new it actually is – only about Rs. 2500 more than the HTC Desire isn't much at all.

However, on paper the HTC Desire is cheaper, so it is the winner in terms of cost.

Winner – HTC Desire

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