Apple vs. Android, HTC Hero vs. iPhone 3Gs

27
July 2009
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We put the HTC Hero and iPhone 3Gs head to head to find out if the all powerful iPhone has finally met its match.

HTC have launched a new addition to their touch screen range and their most advanced android powered mobile to date. The hero may have matched the iPhone with a full multi touch screen display and a gateway to all the applications in the mobile market (Android Market) but why should you take a second look at the HTC Hero, when you could have the immense power of the 3Gs in your pocket? Here at Mobile Breeze we compare the two:

Software
First of all we took a look at the software, The iPhone runs on its new 3.0 os which is 2x faster than its predecessor and includes a copy and paste feature, a fascinating voice control function and a long list of functions. The iPhone offers minimal customisation to the main screen. Tiny rounded squares that represent applications can be drag and dropped wherever you want them and of course background wallpapers can be changed from a range of high quality images that the 3Gs displays brilliantly. HTC have finally dropped windows mobile and the Hero has inherited a fully customisable main screen running on its new android software. All you do is swipe across to 7 different screens which are covered in widgets of your choice such as calendar, favourite contacts, stocks, twitter bar, weather and a choice of 7 clocks. The hero allows you to change the layout of your phone to suit your lifestyle.

Winner: HTC Hero

Applications and Games
We all have that annoying friend that loves to show off their newest application whether it’s a game used to flick a fishing rod around a lake to catch fish with your finger or a device that turns your phone into a supermarket scanner! But which applications store offers the most for those days when you don’t feel like using your mobile to call people?
The iPhone offers an application store which recently hit 1 billion downloads. Applications are addictive and can soon end up costing you more than your monthly line rental. The iPhone offers a range of free applications also and you would normal expect these to be a 2d Pacman demo with one level however they really do push the boat out and free games are released very frequently. The graphics are great and the multi touch screen is very responsive which is perfect for game play. The Android market is still growing and may not have as many applications as the iPhone but everything is free! Which is great for us but lacks the developer skills that have been put it into the 3Gs. Applications are a lot more advanced on the iPhone and although on the Hero they are fast and free, the android market doesn’t match the applications store the iPhone offers but the future is looking very good for them and for us would be android converts.

Winner: iPhone 3Gs

Camera
The iPhone has had many criticisms for its camera, the guys at apple probably thought chucking us a video camera on the new 3gs would make us happy but it’s a flash function we all needed for all those grainy, dark images outside in the dark and in nightclubs.

The iPhone offers a 3 megapixel camera with an impressive touch to focus function which allows you to tap where you want the camera to focus and magically it will happen. Video camera has a helpful edit device which lets you select which part of the recording you want to keep and discards the rest.
The HTC hero has been presented with a camera with autofocus and lacks flash also however offers 5 megapixels. Both phones lack a shoot button on the side so you will have to use two hands if you want to take a photo without dropping your phone across sticky nightclub floor. (that’s if you even attempted it, without flash of course)
Conclusion is: Most of us are really vain and judge mobile phones solely by the amount of megapixels they have, show me a woman who means it when she quotes “size doesn’t matter” and I’ll show you a liar.

Winner: HTC Hero

Memory
You can’t carry your bulky external hard drive around with you everywhere so having a decent amount of memory on your mobile is an essential, especially when your phone boasts all the features of a computer anyway. The iPhone 3Gs comes in 16gb and a 32Gb variant which allows you to use it as a iPod also and give your old one to your dad who will never understand how to switch it off without leaving it on full blast until the battery eventually runs out. 32gb is a lot of internal memory, which brings me to the Hero: a mere 512mb. I didn’t know they still used Megabytes, you ask yourself? A microSD slot allows the HTC to be expanded up to 16gb which is helpful but doesn’t compare to the enormous internal storage capacity the iPhone offers.

Winner: iPhone 3Gs

Browser
Loading up web pages on the iPhone 3Gs is significantly faster than the previous 3g and images generally take seconds to display. The safari browser allows you to keep multiple web pages open at the same time. Zooming into pages is easy using a tap or pinch technique on the display and loading up YouTube videos are a much better experience than on the 3g however some people may not like the wait while its buffering to watch a music video. Rotating the phone allows you to turn the screen landscape but sometimes takes a few seconds to realise the 90 degrees. Sadly no flash support for the iPhone 3Gs.
The android browser takes the mobile web experience to a completely new level, supporting flash content, loading up pages quicker and displaying them faster than any previous HTC mobile. (we all fell asleep waiting for the G1 to load its pages.) We tried out the expedia.com on the Hero to test out the flash map they have on their site with the hero’s new flash supporting browser. In comparison, the iPhone does a good job of presenting web sites quick and visible but the HTC Hero has taken a bigger step in allowing us to view the full real web on our mobile phones.

Winner: HTC Hero

After comparing most of the important aspects of these mobile giants, we realised that although the iPhone 3Gs has everything you need in a mobile (well, almost Cough ‘Flash’ Cough) The Hero does an amazing job in competing with it so take a long stare at your iPhone and just think if HTC keep improving like this for their next mobile phone launch, will you be sending your precious iPhone away to get recycled ?

If you find we have missed anything important out or you to vote for your preferred out of the two then comment below.