HTC Desire vs iPhone 3G: My Verdict

It’s been around half a week since I have been using HTC Desire. I was very much happy with the initial impressions of the device. But, there is a big difference between playing around with the device and actually using it in my day-to-day schedule. So, I totally replaced my old iPhone 3G with HTC Desire for a couple of days after preparing it over the weekend.

Before going through preparation process (which include applications I’ve installed) comments on “Things I May Love” and some of “Things I love on iPhone” from previous post.

• People (Contacts): Two words – absolutely amazing. Linking of contacts with exchange and facebook works seamlessly. Love it.
• Google Calendar Sync: Very helpful. I don’t have to connect it to my computer to sync anymore. Can’t possibly forget any events and reminders
• Integration to social networks: Great. Uploading photos to twitter/facebook/flickr is piece of cake. Even uploading a video to youtube is very easy.
• Adobe Flash: Visited a few websites, which looked fine except veoh. I couldn’t watch any video there. Not sure what is the deal.
• FM Radio: As I mentioned before, the reception is pretty weak. But, works flawlessly if the signal is strong. Anyway, I don’t think I will be using it much.
• OTA Software Updates: Still waiting for Froyo to be available for Desire.
• Lock text message to prevent deletion: I should have labeled it as “Things I love” in the first place.
• Pattern-based Screen Lock: This one has turned out to be a disappointment. Even if I enable it, the default screen unlock (slide down) doesn’t go away. So, I have to unlock my screen twice. I hope HTC will fix this in next update.
• Voice recognition: Did not use it that much but, mostly it is accurate.
• DoubleTwist: As it turns out, it’s neither the most convenient nor the fastest music syncing I have seen. It takes too much time to refresh iTunes playlists (Maybe my library is too big but, I am looking for a worthy alternative to iTunes, right?). So far, copying the music directly to SD has been convenient.
• Keyboard Accuracy: Now I am pretty sure that iPhone keyboard is far more accurate than the one on Android. I have tried HTC IME mod and swype. None of them made any difference. I still hope a little bit of practice will do it right.
• Battery: Battery life is less than half of what my iPhone delivered. I don’t think it’s Google Talk because Android seems to be using most of it (more than 90% in some cases). I will try different suggestions from guys at xda developers forum to increase it.
• Scratch-proof Screen: I assumed that all the high-end phones come with this feature now because iPhone has it from the beginning. But, sadly, I was wrong. I’ve got scratches on my screen and I hate it (who doesn’t?).

I went through Android Marketplace and downloaded all the alternatives to the applications I was using on my iPhone. I found android counterparts for some of them, alternative applications for some and some cool stuff that wasn’t available on iPhone. So here goes the list and comparison of all the applications I have on both phones.

Android Counterparts of the Apps I was using on iPhone:

• Twitter: Official twitter client for iPhone was probably most opened application on my iPhone. Even though I am using peep as a widget, I installed official Android Twitter application. It is very different from its iPhone counterpart and lacks some features as well but, it simply works!
• Foursquare: Another application I loved on iPhone. It is almost same as its iPhone counterpart on Android.
• Dictionary.com: Sometimes, I get an urge to read literal meaning of some word. To quench that thirst, I kept it on my iPhone (Evidently, I am too lazy to open the browser). The best thing about it was, it worked without active internet connection. Sadly, it is not the case in its Android counterpart which requires internet connection. I am not sure whether it’s worth it.
• Facebook: Almost same as its iPhone counterpart. I don’t use it much so, it doesn’t matter that much.
• Evernote: Exactly same as its iPhone counterpart. Works for me
• Boxee Remote: I use it once in a while when I am too lazy to get up to my keyboard.

(Better or worse) Android alternatives to iPhone Applications:

• EboBirthday (Alternative to Birthdays on iPhone): It is a birthday reminder application and it works well. It would have been better if it read birthdays from facebook, too. Considering it is free (compared to $2.99 for Birthdays) it does the job very well.
• Astrid Tasks: (Half-alternative to Awesome Notes): It is a task list application with pretty good feature set. Awesome Notes is kinda awesome but, I can ignore the fact that it only does less than half things Awesome Notes does considering it is free. Edit: Astrid Tasks has improved a lot since I originally wrote this. It just may be better than Awesome Notes now.
• Shazam (Alternative to Midomi Soundhound): Again, a free alternative to an excellent paid application. Sad thing is, it can’t identify live songs or hums.
• Scoreboard (Alternative to ESPN Scorecenter): This one is not exactly convenient to use but, it’s an improvement over ESPN Scorecenter.
• Settings Widget (Alternative to SBSettings): I used SBSettings to quickly turn on/off radios or kill processes. Android has got a built in Home Widget that does the same work. Nothing like it.

iPhone Applications I could not find on Android Market:

• IMDB: I couldn’t even find any good alternatives. Being a movie buff, one of the must haves for me. Edit: Available in Android Market now.
• eBay: Being an occasional eBayer, useful. Edit: Available in Android Market now.
• Big Cinemas: Big Cinemas being the only multiplex in Mangalore, the city where I live, I used it every weekend to check out show times. I would love to have it on Desire.

(Awesome) Applications that are missing from iPhone:

• Barcode Reader: Amazing piece of work. I love it when I don’t have to search Android Market for application that I just read a review about. Just flash the QR Code and I am good to go
• Google Goggles: Still experimental and slow but, very cool application to have. (I don’t know if it is cool enough to use to impress girls )
• ES File Explorer: Yes, a file explorer. Beat that iPhone..
• Google Talk/Lattitude: If you are into these services, these apps run in the background. You’re constantly annoyed/spied by friends
• Google Earth/Sky Map: Not so useful but, cool pieces of work.

So, HTC Desire is overall as good as it gets over good old iPhone 3G. It is way more snappier, friendlier and cooler than iPhone 3G. Beside, now that Apple has discontinued it, I chose perfect time to upgrade. The only shortcomings are battery life, keyboard accuracy and lack of application availability. But still, they are not deal-breakers for me.

I haven’t tried my hand in custom ROM yet (heck, I didn’t even root it yet ). Once I get enough time, I will start developing on Android. Meanwhile, I am sure ROM chefs will work to remove all the pain points.

P.S.: If anybody have a suggestion about alternatives to apps I want or any other cool applications, feel free to contact me.

Update: Now that I’ve got a couple of deep scratches on my Desire screen, I know that all the high end smartphones don’t come with scratch-resistant screens. Added it to the list.