HTC vs iPhone

Any time soon your network provider will phone saying your contract is soon to expire and you can upgrade to a new phone.

Now there is probably one question you are asking yourself if you after a new super-handset smartphone, should I go for the iPhone 4 or is the HTC Desire the mobile for me? Well, take a little look at our spec-off and ease your mind.

Dimensions

Winner: iPhone 4
115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3mm, 137g
Loser: HTC Desire
119 x 60 x 11.9mm, 135g

Nobody wants a fat handset weighing down their jacket on one side, making unsightly lines in one trouser pocket or taking up precious handbag space, and the battle between the two top phones here presents an interesting conundrum - is it the weight that bothers you or is it the size? While the iPhone is a shade heavier, it is considerably thinner.

Display

Winner: iPhone 4
3.5", 960 x 640, 326dpi, TFT-LCD
Loser: HTC Desire
3.7", 480 x 800, 240dpi, AMOLED

The screen is one of the most important battlegrounds when you're talking about touchscreen smartphones and one advantage the Desire has over the iPhone is that it's bigger and not by an awful lot either. A 3.7-inch display is a significant advantage but ultimately, it pales to the quality offered by Apple - certainly on paper, anyway. The higher resolution and pixel density on the iPhone screen, and while it lacks AMOLED, that Retina display should, says Apple, replicate reading on paper.

Engine Room

Tie: iPhone 4
Apple A4 CPU, 512MB
Tie: HTC Desire
Snapdragon CPU, 576MB

Both phones have a very similar spec under the hood with 1GHz processors at the helm. While the iPhone has Apple's ARM Cortex A8, the Desire uses Qualcomm's Snapdragon platform.

Battery

TIE: iPhone 4
7 hours 3G calling, 300 hours standby
Tie: HTC Desire
6.5 hours 3G calling, 360 hours standby

Both batteries are the size they need to be to run the components inside them from dawn till dusk. Smartphone designers tend to be looking for a one heavy day's use on a single charge.

Storage

Winner: HTC DESIRE
32GB microSD + 512MB
Loser: iPHONE 4
32GB

The HTC Desire wins this one, mainly because while the main 32GB quota is the same the HTC Desire technically has more memory and you get the ability to swap out micro SD cards, where you can't with the iPhone.

Price

Winner: HTC Desire

Loser: iPhone 4

The iPhone 4 is the priciest kid on the block. There's no two ways about it. But then, if you were really concerned about money, you might not be looking at a top of the line smartphone anyway. You'll get better deals on the Desire.

Conclusions

Choosing a phone is never a cut and dry decision for someone else to make on your behalf, but if you have to make a call on these things, then one would say that the iPhone 4 is a better phone than the HTC Desire. 90 per cent of the planet would prefer to have an iPhone 4. It will suite their needs better, but there's going to be plenty of folk out there who'd rather have the flexibility, the cheaper price and the higher level of originality that HTC, Sense and Android offer. What you have to ask yourself is which is the one for you.

I'm part of the HTC desire crew and am very happy with my decision.