The smartphone market is seriously hotting up coming into the end of the year. We’ve had some awesome smartphones released this year and it looks like a pattern of one comes out, another is on it’s way. Choosing one is a dilemma in itself, as more or less it’s your partner for 18-24 months.
So the two lucky one’s we’ve picked out the hat to do battle are… the flagship Nokia N8 and the beautiful HTC Desire HD.
Head to head – 3 Key areas – Simple. Lets go.
Feel Me – Ergonomics and Design
Nokia N8
Pick the Nokia N8 up and it feels like you just picked up a solid piece of kit. Curved on the sides and hard edged at the top and bottom. A smooth matt finish gives you a healthy grip, the only downside to the design is the ever present camera which sticks out a few millimetres from the back. Ergonomically not ideal, but after extensive use something that you would have to get used to. Still, it doesn’t stop you sticking your finger on the lens while you hold the phone.
Another slight mishap is the main button placed on the bottom corner. For one handed use it’s comfortable only for the right hand. This Nokia doesn’t serve the lefty’s well.
Apart from these two misgivings the Nokia N8 is built like a rock, and in battle you would trust it next to you. Built to last the full length of your contract don’t expect it to fall apart any time soon.
HTC Desire HD
An altogether different feel to the Nokia N8, the HTC Desire is one big ass smartphone. You feel every inch of that plush HTC exterior quality rubbing against your palm. One downside of the size is if you have small hands you may struggle a little for one handed control. Wider than your usual phone due to the 4.3 inch touchscreen, sometimes handling the HTC desire is like handling a small tablet, however it still fits in your pocket – so it passes the mobility test.
The camera lens at the back sticks out slightly and depending how you hold the phone you could find your finger rubbing against the lens. Apart from this minor element the Desire HD is a joy to hold, looks and feels like a million dollars, and at only 11.8mm it’s a portable luxury that you will find yourself taking out at any opportunity.
Use Me – Usability and OS
Nokia N8
As with most smartphones now, you have the choice of multiple home screens, 3 in fact. We think thats enough to get by, unfortunately the widgets take up the entire width of the screen due to the Symbian ^3 OS. Meaning you probably will have to use all 3 screens to fit everything in. Still, this limited layout is a far cry from the older no widget version so we’re satisfied with the progress. Even with the new operating system it feels like a Nokia and who hasn’t used one of them before?
The keyboard is a let down on the Nokia N8, with the keyboard covering the whole screen so you can’t view what your typing. This feels like an afterthought and with the old school alphanumeric keyboard layout (portrait view) it feels a little ancient. On a bight note the touchscreen is more responsive, with multitouch in the web browser, email and gallery. The capacitive touchscreen is a welcome feature compared to the previous resistive touchscreens on previous Nokia phones. This brings it more in line with it’s competitors as the Symbian 3 OS is an improvement on older Nokia phones and previous Symbian versions. But it is still a way off Android and the iPhone OS which lead the race. We were expecting more from Symbian 3.
HTC Desire HD
This is a beast of a smartphone, and not just by size and it’s staring glare from that 4.3 monstrous screen. Using the latest Android 2.2, the Desire HD is a pleasure to use and is a more polished job that it’s predecessor. The touch is smooth and is closest we’ve seen to the iPhone touch capability. Smooth transitions between screens which follow your movement is typically HTC. Everything flows nicely and using the Desire HTC is not clunky considering all the different functions it has. The social network stream is a handy little feature. Integrating a live feed while also syncing your contacts with their Twitter and Facebook accounts, meaning you also get their latest update displayed when they call you. A nice touch.
If you’re one for the simple life, the massive wealth of features on the Desire HD could be a tad to much. But if your a feature junkie and want everything for your money’s worth then the HTC Desire HD is seriously packing a heavy load.
Some reader feedback:
Zorxd – “Even if the N8 had android, the specs are much worse than the DHD. But of course the N8 supports much more networks with its pentaband radio. That’s the only advantage I see.”"
Bonerp – Symbian vs Android….no contest. Thats why I’ve had both Desires.”
See Me – Camera and Video Record
Nokia N8
Nokia can be admired for one thing, producing great camera phones like the N91, N86 and the N95. These still stand strong today in photo quality, but this is 2010; enter the Nokia N8 and it’s gargantuan 12 megapixel camera. Bundled with Xenon flash and, mechanical shutter and well renowned Carl Zeiss lens. This is the feature Nokia have trusted to get them back on the smartphone playing field, and it’s one area in which the Nokia N8 stands tall. The N8 takes marvellous natural shots, capturing detailed images which leaves the user to create inspirational photography shots. At low light it’s impressive still, even with some noise affecting image quality the camera does a fine job. Switch on the Xenon flash, and behold some very impressive night shots whether it’s from 6 feet to 6 inches.
Video capture on the Nokia N8 shoots in 720p at 25fps. Unlike some competitors which shoot at 30fps, it does tell with slight clunkier videos (if you’re picky). A built in micro-phone captures sound to a great standard, even in loud or crowded environments it takes in the sound and delivers a clear output. As a added bonus the built in movie suite lets you edit your recorded videos and save your mini movies for playback. On that note, you can connect the Nokia N8 to your TV via HDMI and watch your videos on the big screen. The video capture is sound, but with some room for improvement. Overall the camera does a extremely well done job, it’s a photographers camera phone dream, delivering an excellent return for money on it’s key feature.
Some reader feedback:
NZtechfreak - ”The main times the resolution is a pain is document display and browsing, 640 pixels wide is a pain, because you’re scrolling a lot more to read/see your content (compounded by the lack of zoom+reflow in the Nokia browser). Video will look fine on the N8s screen though as you say.”
Dynomot - ”Video does indeed look fine, even relatively low quality downloads from the BBC i-player look OK. Ripped DVDs in divx format look great.”
HTC Desire HD
What’s the Desire HD packing? To be exact an 8 megapixel camera, 4 megapixels less than the Nokia N8 but one of HTC’s most advanced cameras to date. No Xenon flash here but it comes with a dual LED flash which is rather slow compared to the Xenon, on the plus side it doubles up as a torch (saves using those useless torch apps). It boasts touch to focus which is impressive when wanting to capture certain elements or contrast of the setting.
This is a 8 megapixel offering from HTC and we could say we expected more, no we will say we expected more specially from a phone titled HD. Being very critical some shots do look camera phone style, then again this is a camera phone. In overcast or low light conditions some images look processed but with added options of exposure, contrast and sharpness you can alter the quality of the image a great deal.
Video record is good but not as expected from the upgrade. The HD version uses LCD rather than the original Desire’s OLED which offers a much brighter display, though the LCD technology is crisp in detail. With added Dolby Mobile make your movies come to life with some clear sound. One trick up it’s sleeve is that it also has the ability to connect to your TV for playback like the Nokia N8. Although it doesn’t do it by HDMI cable, instead it uses wireless DLNA technology to stream your recorded videos. It’s not quite as quick as the Nokia N8′s wired version, but the wireless version is a lot more convenient, and just looks cool.
Lets Conclude
Ok we’ve looked at 3 key areas, what’s to conclude… simply it falls to a matter of opinion and personal preference on these two smartphones. Usually one can be classed as better or worse but in this case it’s very closely matched.
Looking at the 3 areas, with the first being how the phone feels as a device and the ergonomics it was close with the Desire HD slightly edging it, just. In terms of this it just felt better, due to the stylish design and feel, though smaller handed users will beg to differ as it could act more like a tablet than a phone.
The usability of both phones is more than good enough to satisfy most smartphone users. Here begs the biggest difference with the Desire HD’s Android OS easily outscoring the Symbian ^3 OS. With the amount of features and options on the Desire HD, the Android OS allows fast flowing usability which the N8′s Symbian ^3 OS cannot match. Compared to the Android, Symbian just feels clunky even though it’s a leap forward for Nokia, it’s not quite there yet. HTC scores this one.
Lastly the imaging, and just like the previous usability area it’s easily decided but in the way of the Nokia N8. It’s leaps and bounds ahead of the Desire HD. Offering enough ability for casual photography bordering on the line for some serious image creativity. A win for Nokia on this one, considering this is the feature they based the phone on you can’t expect anything less.
So a hell of a head to head from these two. If you want it broken down in layman’s terms:
Want a stunning camera phone offering multimedia tools and great video playback, then choose the Nokia N8.
Want a fully loaded feature packed smartphone which is draped in coolness, then choose the HTC Desire HD.
