As you might see, touchscreen phone interface is strongly making its way as the main control scheme in the majority of smartphones and even regular cell phones. While it was used in mobiles prior to iPhone, Apple showed the world that touchscreen interface can be used as an easy and original alternative to regular buttons. Even if you are an anti-Apple fanatic, it is hard to disagree that iPhone, with all its flaws, was a big step forward in user interface - with many other companies now adopting the same control scheme as iPhone's thumb control. The idea of using stylus as a needed part of interaction between user and his gadget becomes more and more outdated nowadays, with devices like iPhone approving that touchscreen can be controlled by only your thumbs, with no stylus at all. Looking as Apple making step after step to dominate the market with its upgraded iPhone 3G, companies like HTC and SonyEricsson decided to renew their device lineup and to produce some interesting iPhone rivals. And while HTC already made many attempts to compete with iPhone with its Touch lineup, many of them don’t came even close to the iPhone. They lacked iPhone's sleek user interface, its big and bright screen and many more. Now, both HTC and SonyEricsson understood that to make a powerful iPhone rival they must focus on multimedia side of their devices. So, recent products from these companies, HTC Touch HD and SonyEricsson XPERIA X1, were made with all those things in mind. And in this comparison we would like to describe and compare all of those three touchscreen smartphones: iPhone 3G vs. HTC Touch HD vs. SonyEricsson XPERIA X1.
Appearence
Design is a very questionable point of comparison, but at least we can describe the exterior looks of these devices. All three phones were made in black colors, with iPhone you can choose between black and white back panels though. Sizes are almost completely the same, with X1 being the thickest (16.7 mm), iPhone 3G - tallest (115.5 mm) and Touch HD - widest (62.8 mm). HTC Touch HD is heaviest than others (146.4 g). Complete specifications are:
Touch HD - 115 x 62.8 x 12 mm; 146.4 gXPERIA X1 - 110 x 53 x 16.7 mm; 145 g
iPhone 3G - 115.5 x 62.1 x 12.3 mm; 133 g
Unlike iPhone and HTC Touch, XPERIA X1 is a slider, with full QWERTY keyboard hidden under the screen. It is slightly curved when opened, no idea if this is only a design move or somehow improves usability. iPhone traditionally lacks any navigational buttons, so does the Touch HD. However, SonyEricsson devise has a full set of front buttons, which are shaped in triangles (somehow resembling Nokia Prism) - two soft keys, dial / reject, button for opening Start menu, Ok / close and navigational button in center.
Overall, all three smartphones look stylish and interesting, so it is only a matter of taste which one has better design.
This article originally appeared at - gadgets-reviews
