Review: HTC Desire Vs. Google Nexus One

Overview:
We recently took a look at the HTC Desire, dubbing it "the latest version of the Nexus One, with a few more features under a sleek bronze exterior." But was this really fair to Google's poor old Nexus One, and are there enough differences between the two phones to make us stop talking about them in the same breath all the time? Let's go in depth to find out.

Showdown:
To come up with a winner, we've taken a look at each handset feature-by-feature. Both have a list of similarities and have each received a number of excited mobile phone reviews. So which should you buy?

Style
I wouldn't call these handsets twins, more two brothers 9 months' apart who you have to look at for a second at the family BBQ before you accidentally call them by each others name.

The Desire and Nexus One both have basically the same chassis, though the Nexus one is almost half a millimetre thinner (when comparing two similar phones- this counts!).

A more prominent difference is HTC's use of an optical joystick, instead of the old school trackball of the Nexus One. While I love the tactical feel of the trackball, it's a moving part that makes it the weakest point of a phone, often breaking down on people one year into a two year contract.

Seeing as each phone sports the same sleek looks, it's all down to practicality, and I'd rather my handset didn't collect dust under a little ball.

Winner: HTC Desire

Screen
Both phones have crystal clear 3.7-inch, 480 x 800 pixel WVGA AMOLED displays.

They both respond to the lightest touch with their capacitive touch screens, however the Desire comes with multitouch capabilities so you can pinch to zoom, whereas you need a Google firmware update to get this feature onto your Nexus One.

Before this update at the start of the year, Android users had to resort to "rooting" their handsets by gaining system-level access to the phone's software, run unsanctioned tethering apps, and swap the phone's software with a new ROM. Easier just to get the feature by taking your new phone out of the box.

Winner: HTC Desire by a pinch

UI
Here now is where the phones become as different as chalk and a different colour chalk. Both handsets run Google's Android OS, however HTC has masked the user interface with its own Sense UI.

Google's Nexus One runs Android 2.1 and shows the standard Android interface, which there's nothing wrong with, and offers a cleaner interface much like Google's stripped-back website. Some people like this, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Though when you get your hands on the features included with HTC's Sense UI, you may well forget about all those lovely blank spaces on the Nexus One's screen.

Sense looks interesting because there's a lot happening on your screen. You can access Friend Stream which provides smooth integration of all of your contacts from your phone book, Facebook, Twitter, Skype and Flickr letting you keep up to date with their latest happenings all in the one place.

You can also use Leap view to see all seven of your homescreens at once at the pinch of your fingers.

Winner: HTC Desire

Camera
What is usually an in-depth comparison will be on the short side here, with both the Desire and Nexus One sporting 5-megapixel cameras and each coming with an LED flash to light up every blemish on your mates' faces.

Winner: Tie

Noise Canceling
Now we come to an area where the older Nexus One really does have it over HTC's new baby. The Desire lacks the double microphone noise canceling feature you get with Google's handset, making it quite a noisy affair when you're calling someone from a busy street. Which, let's face it, is where a large number of mobile calls are made.

Winner: Google Nexus One

Battery:
Although both phones come with the same 1,400mAh battery, you may think this may just be another case of camera. But strangely enough, each handset sports different battery life times.

Keep your Nexus One on 3G standby and you get to look at your screen for 250 hours. Do the same with the Desire though and you get 360 hours out of the phone.

However it's not a clear-cut as that, as the Nexus One will give you up to 420 minutes of talk time on a fully-charged battery, while you'll only get to chat to your mum for 390 minutes on the Desire.

Seeing as you may want to actually use your phone, we're giving this one to the chatterboxes.

Winner: Google Nexus One

Final Verdict:
Both phones are worthy of pocket status, and all over the inter-web we've seen both excellent Nexus One and HTC Desire reviews. It really comes down to the UI with these handsets, and while the sparse approach is for some puritans, we feel you can't go past HTC's intuitive Sense UI.

Overall Winner: HTC Desire

Over To You:
Which phone would part with your cold hard cash for? Leave us a comment and let us know.

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