Smartphone Wars: Palm Pre versus iPhone versus BlackBerry Storm 2 versus HTC Hero and the winner is...(2)

Now that the stats are out, the first phone to be automatically disqualified is BlackBerry Storm 2. Why? Because though the phone boasts of features that are present in other smartphones, Storm 2 is surprisingly weightier than others by at least 25 gms. Of course, 25 gms can be termed negligible but RIM has clearly failed in the "light-on-the-pocket" department.

Besides, though Storm 2 is an improvement on the original Storm on various aspects such as improved SureTouch technology (in Storm, the touch interface was terribly clunky, with a mechanical display that sunk into the casing when pressed. The Storm's screen also moved up and down, like a see-saw, when you typed or pressed anything but was a delayed haptic feedback. This generally meant that you had to wait for the upswing before pressing again and became a speed texter/emailer's worst nightmare. RIM improved on that and has unveiled a a new SurePress solution based on an electronic system that requires less physical pressure, as well as supporting multi-key actions), improved camera, improved battery life, more on board memory, addition of WiFi and more durable side keys and offers customers "the best email experience" on the market, it still lacks the teeth to challenge other smartphones in the ring.

Why? Because the selection of BlackBerry apps remains limited, and its SurePress technology, which required the user to press down on the screen instead of gently touching it as in any other touchscreen device, is not for everybody (most users are likely to take time before they get used to the electromagnetic pulse generated every time the screen is "clicked").

Now we are down to three and you guessed it right - HTC Hero is the next to go.

Though HTC Hero is a solidly built phone with sturdy scratch-proof glass screen, a long-life battery, a reliable Qwerty keyboard that matches the best for responsiveness and auto-correction, and acknowledges each press with a useful haptic vibration, supports flash video, and ranks high in form factor (there are minimal amount of buttons), the 16-bit color is underwhelming and the difference between it and others like iPhone and Palm Pre are noticeable when watching high quality video clips.

And, like Storm 2, HTC Hero runs on Qualcomm 528 Mhz processor whose performance, though decent, is not great. There is still some lag when opening and switching applications. The lag is especially noticeable when the accelerometer doesn't work right away when browsing the Internet.

Besides, though HTC Sense system, which is based on Android OS, lets you create personal widgets and screens for your own personalization and is capable of multitasking, yet it hogs a lot of memory, makes the smartphone slow and the result is a poor battery life.

Moreover, with a puny 256MB internal storage, the microSD slot placed awkwardly under the back cover and no sign of an Android app for Amazon's MP3 store, it's a major disappointment.

There is also a lot of room for improvement in HTC Hero's music player. Though HTC has upgraded the software since the Magic to include coverflow-style graphics, and on-the-go playlists are relatively easy to compile, yet, it pales in comparison to iPhone.