Smartphone Smackdown: HTC HD2 versus Apple iPhone 3GS (1)

Analysts believe it does.

Unlike other smartphones, the HD2 is being billed as a heavy-duty multimedia phone, whose rich features canmake any other smartphone look dumb.

And, that's not surprising because to begin with, the HD2 is a smartphone with the biggest touchscreen practical - it sports a whopping 4.3-inch WVGA capacitive touchscreen with 480x800 resolution display (larger than the one featured by its predecessor HTC Touch HD, which itself boasted of a generously-sized display). In other words, things like web browsing or watching YouTube videos are, not surprisingly, more enjoyable on the HD2 than what one could expect from iPhone's smaller 3.5-inch TFT capacitive multitouch screen with 320x480 resolution display.

The capacitive touchscreen also means that the HD2, like the iPhone 3GS (the latest from the Apple stable), allows you to pinch, flick and swirl your fingers across the screen for intuitive navigation. It also allows you to scroll, zoom in and out and flip through web pages, photos, spreadsheets and more.

The HD2, incidentally, is also the first Windows Mobile-based device to do away with a stylus for navigation and control.

Thanks to the ultra-powerful Qualcomm 1Ghz Snapdragon processor, the HD2 is also road-ready for mobile internet use. This is somewhat welcome news as so many of the latest-generation Windows Mobile-based phones have just 528 MHz chips. It also means the HD2 promises to respond faster than the iPhone, which is powered by a slower ARM Cortex A8 600 MHz processor.

The HD2 also boasts of a 5-megapixel camera with autofocus and dual LED flash, which means that the smartphone promises to capture better images than iPhone, which comes loaded with only 3.15-megapixel camera with autofocus (but no flash and no optical zoom).

But most, importantly, the HD2 is the first Windows Mobile-based device to come equipped with HTC Sense UI, which makes multitasking possible (unlike the iPhone).

HTC Sense UI, which is based on the principles: "Make it mine," "Stay Close" and "Discover the Unexpected," allows you to create his own environment, to conveniently communicate with contacts through multiple channels, while the innovative features make the difference between local phone and online disappear. HTC Sense slightly resembles the TouchFlo which we have seen on other models, but HTC Sense, which lets you create personal widgets and screens for your own personalization and is capable of multitasking, takes things just that little bit further.

The smartphone will also have integrated applications that connect directly for Facebook, Twitter and YouTube allowing users to access data more easily.

The HD2, which runs on the latest Windows Mobile 6.5, also promises to deliver "new customer experiences" through an easy-to-use interface (including large 'finger-friendly' icons that make item selection easier than on previous Windows Mobile handsets) and improved web-browsing capabilities.

Other amazing features about the HD2 are HTC Footprints (geo-tagging), Digital Compass and the NaviPanel and thanks to the large display screen of the HD2, maps are clearly visible and you can even replace a conventional GPS system with the HD2 while driving.

Other features of the HD2 include WiFi, GPS, HSUPA, 3G HSDPA, GPRS, EDGE, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, FM radio, HTML (Opera) browser (which promises quick, full-screen browsing with support for multiple pages), virtual touchscreen-based keyboard, G-sensor (like accelerometer in iPhone that senses if you rotate the device and changes the display to match), 512MB internal memory, microSD card slot, support for multiple audio and video formats, proximity sensor (to conserve battery life), ambient light sensor, FM radio, micro-USB connector, built-in stereo speakers and a standard 3.5mm headphone jack.

The battery life of the HD2 is also surprisingly good. The 1230 mAh Li-Ion battery has enough juice to power the phone up to 380 minutes (talk time) and up to 490 hours (standby time). In other words, you'll get a full day of average use from it.

The HD2's virtual keyboard, which comes with options for a full Qwerty, a compact Qwerty, or a standard 12-key phone keypad, is also pleasantly responsive and thanks to the predictive entry support, mistakes are ironed out automatically as you type a message.

So far, so good. However, the iPhone is no pushover and it has not held the No.1 spot among smartphones ever since it was launched two years back for nothing.

To find out the strengths of the iPhone and to see whether the HD2 can emerge the victor in the slugfest, click Smartphone Smackdown: HTC HD2 versus Apple iPhone 3GS (2) .