iPhone vs. HTC Touch Diamond vs. Xperia X1... Fight!
By Thomas Ricker 
posted May 29th 2008 2:07AM
posted May 29th 2008 2:07AM
Update: Er, that's not the HTC Raphael, it's their Touch Diamond.
[Via WMExperts, thanks Al]
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Blasphemy!
People trying to convince people to NOT get an iPhone are about as effective as a preacher standing outside the door of a strip club and screaming: "Don't go in, there's breasts inside!"—Clak
More like the preacher standing outside his own church, saying "Don't go in, there's salvation!" Or breasts. Or something. Whatever. I hear you though, and I completely agree.
We see right through you, fanboys!
xoxo
My 3rd iPhone broke this week.
The first one would constantly freeze, leaving the spinning "wheel" (or whatever you call it) on the screen, and the only way to fix it was to let the battery drain. The Seattle "Genius Bar" could not repro the problem, and by the time I would get there the battery was drained, so they would not replace it even though it was under warranty. Because I still had 22 months on my contract, I had to buy a new one or pay a few $100 to get out of my contract.
With the second one, when I tried to install the 1.1.4 update, it froze and would not reboot. I went back to the "Genius Bar" where they said I tried to run a tool to unlock it, and would not fix it. I never ran any unlocking tool, and did nothing other than use the latest version of iTunes to communicate with my phone. They would not replace it even though it was under warranty. Because I still had 23 months on my contract, I had to buy a new one or pay a few $100 to get out of my contract.
Yesterday I was expecting an important call for a new job (I am an independant software contractor). When I got the call, every few seconds the audio would drop out. I pulled my sim card, put it into my old Blackjack, and called back without a problem. A few days ago I noticed that I was not hearing the click when I pressed the button at the top, nor was I hearing the "boop" sound when I plugged into the charge block. After playing around a bit, I discovered that if I used the iPod part of the phone, it would play a few seconds then the > arrow would switch to the pause icon and would not hear audio. Right now, I am thinking of paying the cost to get out of my contract. While the web browser was a great tool over my Blackjack (IE on mobile is not good), at least the Blackjack was reliable.
I have been critical of Apple products in the past. I have had 3 iPhones, 1 Touch (sold to a friend when I got an iPhone), and bought a Touch as a present for the GF (a Mac fan). The present will not connect to an older Mac Book because she is not running a newer version of OSX, and iTunes will not install.
The only problem with my Blackjack, was when my GF, while driving 70MPH, threw it out of the car during a fight and broke the screen. I am not impressed by Apple quality control. But I am sure you will say I am an Apple hating fanboy, and I am just ranting because I hate Apple.
Well I guess you can classify me as one of those blind fanboys of the iPhone.
The screens on those other phones are just too damn small and neither of them look as visually appealing to me as the iPhone.
The Xperia comes close and I may give it a chance if I see one in stores. However judging from those pics it looks like a hefty b*tch compared to the iPhone.
Nohone, your first phone broke with 22 months left on your contract, and your second broke with 23 months left on your contract? Please tell me where you can get such amazing phones that travel backwards in time!
And I'm sorry, but I find it hard to believe that an independent software developer like yourself didn't install *something* on his iPhone that he wasn't allowed to...
I also find it unbelievable that one would shell out full price for another iPhone TWICE after they kept breaking...
I call fake.
@ Matt:
So his a liar because he might have made a mistake typing?
You ever think that maybe he just likes the phone?
Also the "Genius Bar" are the stupidest people I have ever talked to and I wouldn't doubt if you walked into the Apple store and told them it was a firmware problem the first thing they would say is "Maybe you shouldn't have hacked it.".
The funny part about you assuming he hacked it is the fact that hacking it probably would have fixed it. Also would you think a software developer would be dumb enough not to unjailbreak it before taking it back?
@Matt
Wow, way to focus on his typo (the 22 months-23 months left on his contract). And your comment about his phone being able to go back in time was sooooooooo witty.
And I'm sure he just made up this whole story just to "get" Apple, when the much more plausible explanation would be that this is exactly what happened to him. I've had very similar experiences with the iPods I've owned. I have had 4 iPods completely crap out on me for no explicable reason, and all the people at the Genius Bar have done is send it in for a replacement.
I've had my iPhone for about a year now and while it has crashed a few times, (yes, they do occasionally crash) it has NEVER shown me a spinning wheel. I think nohone is talking about the spinning beach ball you see when a Mac freezes and I have never seen that on my iPhone. I don't believe nohone.
Software guys seem to have all the problems...
why cant you just be dumb like the rest of us?
My iPhone works fine... (until AT&T gets involved)
@ Wii60Warrior
How can you make that judgment? Both the Diamond and the X1 have a MUCH higher resolution than the iPhone so how can they not be as "visually appealing" (especially having not even SEEN either one)? Your blind faith based on lemming-like loyalty and not even as much as a personal observation or a quick peek at the specs personifies the term Fanboy.
Every time you activate a new iPhone you resigning that 2 year contract. So his first one would have been after owning it for 2 months. Then he replaces it with a second one activates it (thus resigning the 2 year contract) and it breaks a month later with 23 months left.
His statements made sense to me.
@FordGTGuy
yeah, how ironic with their job title. Genius. But you know, you don't have to be a mac fanatic to work there. You have to make money for Apple. But from the comments (and elsewhere), sounds like they're kinda arrogant, haughty, know-all and rude towards the customers, which I haven't experienced that - I'm not in the US. I think if they're accusing customers of unlocking their phones, the customers can probably speak directly to the store manager to sort the problem out.
Nick is correct and it is not a typo. Every time you activate a new phone, your contract starts over. I am really starting to see this as a unfair business practice and anti-consumer. They sell you a product that does not work long enough to get you through the 2 year contract, so you are perpetually locked in a contract. With other phones, I just pop out the sim card, and put it in another phone.
@Matt: No, I did not install anything on it. I like hacking things, but something as vital as a phone, when I do not have a land line, is not something that I want to mess up. They said they would not fix it because it was supposedly hacked, and was no longer under warranty. If it were the official SDK, then I would write software for it (which I can't, because I do not have a Mac). But as usual, attack me rather than saying maybe they have problems.
I was able to fix my latest problem, though. I had to restore the device, which lost a lot of text messages since I have not done a sync in a while.
@clak: have you ever thought that maybe I am turned off from apple because of the experiences I have had with their products? Yes, I like my zune, yes, I prefer windows over mac. But because I have had a bad experience with apple products, I am making it up?
I uploaded a screenshot of me typing this message to http://www.flickr.com/photos/27139051@N07/2533779589/ as proof
@happy_penguin: The wheel that I am talking about is that spinning fan thing letting you know that it is doing work - much like the hourglass cursor on windows. It appears in the middle of the screen, and when it has frozen it appears like it has drawn its self over and over. Holding the button on the top does not offer to poser down, pressing and holding the home button and the button on the top does not clear it. The good thing is the screen stays fully lit, so the battery drains quickly.
@nohone:
Are you talking about that thing that appears when you turn off the phone? That's literally the only time I've have ever seen it in the middle of the screen. and I've had my iPhone since October.
Clak, oh he got you bitch!
Seriously man, I hate you clak.
Awww, COME ON, a picture on Flickr doesn't prove he owns an iPhone. All it proves is he knows someone who owns a iPhone. Probably someone at his job at McDonalds. I'm supposed to believe that he took the Sim card out of his iPhone and put it into another phone, took a picture with that phone, uploaded the picture, pulled the Sim card out again and then finished his message after adding the url to the picture on Flickr?
A more plausible explanation is that he asked the deep fry girl if he could borrow her phone on break and then took the iPhone into a broom closet and took a picture of it.
And even if he is telling the truth, is Nohone really this desperate to prove he's had a bad experience with Apple? Damn, your hate is deep, my friend. Hell, the iPhone has the highest approval (%79) rating of any smartphone. Higher than even the Blackberry.
BTW, Nohone, does your manager at McDonalds know you've been on break all this time?
You wasted $150,000 on an education you coulda got for a buck fifty in late charges at the public library—Will, Good Will Hunting
And now start the personal attacks. Clak, you truly are first class all the way. Attacking me for being the #1 Apple hater, when you, yourself are the #1 Microsoft hater, and a lying one at that. Now I work at McDonalds? But how would I know how to do all that SIM card stuff if I am a stupid, Apple hating, Microsoft loving, fry cook?
I know that not all Apple fans out there are not like you, but you give every single one of them a bad name.
Nohone @ May 29th 2008 2:51PM
@happy_penguin: The wheel that I am talking about is that spinning fan thing letting you know that it is doing work
T-Bone @ May 29th 2008 3:18PM
@nohone:
Are you talking about that thing that appears when you turn off the phone? That's literally the only time I've have ever seen it in the middle of the screen. and I've had my iPhone since October.
I think I remember seeing it when I had the hack installed, like restarting springboard or something but other than that, I only remember seeing it only on power down. As I said, I didn't even see it the few times my iPhone crashed.
Nohone: I have no idea why you would see that at any other time because in the year I've had my iPhone I don't remember any incidents of it other than when I mentioned.
@Abuzar, I appreciate the support, but don't go down to Clak's pathetic level. Many people around here know what a little nothing he is, and he is only digging himself deeper.
Man, I'm not trying to do down to his level. Reading his comments makes me so angry though. Seriously, I'm a difficult person to piss off, but this random dude here(clak) only has to write one sentence.
Seriously, his logic is SO DAMNED FLAWED. I hate people like that.
Diamond is a much better name than Raphael.
Any would you please stop comparing everything with an Apple product? I'm serious. I'm very interested how an Xperia X1 will go against a toaster.
As far as bread toasting goes, you'll be disappointed to find that the Xperia X1 could only work once, before needing replacement...and a fire extinguisher.
That toaster is probably more technologically advanced than an iPhone.
but Apple dosnt make toasters so u wont find it here :x
Xperia goes toast, Toaster wins xD
I think "Raphael" has a rather affluent ring to it. Very dignified. It's also hard NOT to love a Diamond with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard.
i like turtles!
i
The fanboy force is strong with Jesse
Yeah! And stop breaking the RSS feeds! You made me have to actually navigate to your site, bastards.
Didnt' you hear??
Apple is introducing the iToaster next week!!
w00t!
but that looks like Touch Diamond to me
It is the Touch Diamond, not the Raphael.
Here is the source of the pictures on CNET Asia. There are plenty more here also.
http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/handhelds/0,39001709,62041882,00.htm
For a handheld device that must be carried in the pocket, the iPhone (and iPhone 3G) is starting to look rather large.
Tactile keyboards are best. None of this touchscreen crap.
not unless it has hapatic and audio feedback
no comparison. nothing, i repeat NOTHING can compete with the iphone
Can the iphone multitask with 3rd party software?
"nothing, i repeat NOTHING can compete with the iphone"
...not even Jesus.
Donatello is pissed
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/ninja_turtles.png
Why bother have the iPhone there, it's not even at the same level as the Raphael or Xperia X1 (from specs and early previews)
...oh wait, this is Engadget; carry on.
That's like saying why bother putting a 50 cent coin next to phones.
What the hell are you whining about?
The post characterizes the iphone as "portly" and lacking. It's pretty weighted in your favor, buddy.
You that nervous about Apple's presence?
Exactly absurdio, so why have it there?
i say iPhone for now because im more used to the apple UI. but once Android comes around, HTC for sure.
Yep, that's the Diamond with no keyboard, no way is that the Raphael!
The Xperia X1 is obviously the better choice in that sandwich, i mean look at how thick that slab of plastic, i can already taste it.
Are you sure that's not just a Touch Diamond? Whatever... excellent phones this year.
Which US carrier is getting the X1 anyway?
Take that Nokia!
LOL, Nokia's 14 month old N95 still trumps all of them on specs.
Disgraceful.
iPhone can't do military time so Diamond wins hands down.
That's odd, my iPhone says it's 00:56 right now. How about that...
So, Where can one purchase one of these phones?
As always Apple is 2 steps ahead of the competition. And in 10 days Apple will prove again that all other offerings pale in comparison to the iPhone when the 3G is revealed. Rest assured that Apple is making an iPhone with a physical keyboard, it is just they take the time to perfect the product, rather than ship out GARBAGE to play catch-up with another product.
iPhone, its all you need...
Buy Apple iPhone
Obey!
so....the iPhone is perfect because it WILL have what others ALREADY have.......ok........
yeah, um... logic does not work that way. I wonder what features most phones have/will have as standard in the future will be missing from the 3G iphone...
You guys are right, because most phones have built-in iPods, multi-touch, and full internet browsers. Damn it to hell, the iPhone is so behind!
This isn't about freedom; this is a slaughter. If I'm gonna get my balls blown off for a word, my word is "poontang"—Animal Mother, Full Metal Jacket
@Clak im not saying the iPhone isnt awesome, in fact if you read my post above, i voted iPhone. My point was that his argument was poor and that the iPhone does have its shortcomings. when it comes to OS iPone no contest (until Android that is). but with hardware its way behind (and dont give me multitouch crap, yes that is amazing, what i mean is things like 3G and GPS.
on a side note oe huge advantage of on screen keyboards is the ability for layout customization, i use Dvorak, so this would be a huge plus for me.
yeah. because any other smartphone can't play music... or have a full web browser... yeah, the iphone did that first!
seriously... almost everything the iphone does smartphones have been doing for years... hermes? magician anyone? just to name a couple...
Apple doesn't perfect anything. The engineers place their designs on the alter of Steve and if he does anything other than fire them it is good enough for market...
What a brainwashed prick!! Finishing your comment by OBEY ? And that did not made you realized you were simply a fanatic that OBEYs every Apple's single move! And having the guts to insult FAR MORE advanced phone and even stating that APPLE IS ALWAYS 2 STEP AHEAD...made me wonder... Are you ignorant of the facts or simply and purely dumb ?
Do you actually think Apple invented the mp3 player or the touchscreen ??
Like i said elsewhere...my FOUR YEARS old HTC Universal is still more advanced than your i-crap! And guest what...they must have stole their touchscreen from apple i guess?
You freaking fanboy. Apple DON'T INVENT their product; they take what others made and simplify it to make sure it has less problems with the unit instead of always innovating and correcting those issues like others.
APPLE is only good for the marketing strategies and for the stability of their Operating software.
For the price you paid for you shiny PHONE with a screen you should be ashame!! Compare what you can get to the same prices and the specs.
Buying an mp3 player with a phone at that outrageous price! Or maybe you just bought as visual art since we both know it's not doing much besides shining and let's you brag to your friend: "look at my PHONE !! I paid a shit load of money for it ! It doesn't do much...but guess what !? It's shinny!!!
i think the editors at Engadget make these posts just to spark debate and fanboy wars.
You forgot to add "and substantially boost their web traffic and subsequent revenue."
I don't really have a problem with that (we all gotta eat) although it does sometimes make for unnecessary news articles. At least there's plenty of amusement to go around!
Until the successor to the N96 comes out, I'm sticking to my old reliable $50 BlackJack :]
i dont have an iPhone but... please dont compare an "OLD" phone with new phones, wait 'till the new one hits the streets and lets see the real comparison, because i want to see how it stacks up against the diamond, to see what i will be buying :-D
of course Iphone looks portly because the other two r inspired by iphone
That doesn't make any sense.
adobochicken "of course Iphone looks portly because the other two r inspired by iphone"
Umm, hate to break it to you, but the HTC's Touch design hit the FCC long before Apple's iPhone did.
I hate that ignorant people think everyone's trying to copy the iPhone. Apple's only great independant achievement with the iPhone is the multi-touch and the way their browser works. EVERY other aspect is "copied" from older phones and PDAs.
Heck, Multi-Touch isn't even an Apple invention, the are just the first to use it with a phone/half-baked PDA.
I think you have it the other way around ! HTC Makes the unit for maybe 60% of every carriers' phone. Of course...Apple marketed ONE PHONE - ever!! and it's now the others that have been producing phones with touchscreen for a few years now that stole apple's design! Wow! It's must be so easy to live in a world like yours! Keep being blinded by your own beliefs instead of actually finding FACTS.
forget to mention my comments was for that adobochiken head!
Did not see that Mr. Stormm already replied! I fully agree with you !
Those apple fan sometimes should try not to worship apple as their god!
They obviously never seen any technology from taiwan and hong-kong because they'd forget the name apple in a jiffy !
your right tactile feedbacks are cool although i havn't used one. would love to!
your left tactile feedback is even better
MORTAL COMBAT!
I'll admit it; I'm an Apple fan-boy. Always have been, always will be. That not withstanding, I actually prefer the form factor of the Diamond, and UI wrapper HTC have crammed in there would seam - superficially anyway - to address all the issues I had with Windows Mobile on my old O2 Orbit.
I'd also wish to point out that comparing an 18 month old handset with models about to ship, is a tad redundant. Of course the new handsets are going to cram more into a smaller space. Hell, even non-Apple handsets 18 months ago were cramming more into a smaller space than the iPhone. If nothing else your doing so just emphasises the pedestal the iPhone has been raised to without any functional merit. As far as I'm concerned, what Apple did was change the way we think about mobile UI design, and for that I commend them. What they didn't do, is give us the perfect handset.
The iPhone came out last summer, so it is way less than 18 months old (more like 11 or 12). And even though the current version of the iPhone is older, it is still possible to do a high level comparison (particularly by looking at phone thickness) by comparing the EDGE iPhone to the 3G Touch Diamond and X1, and comparing the touch-screen only iPhone to the QWERTY lovin' X1.
They've been in the wild since last summer, but the fully functioning handsets were seen as early as January '07. And I dare-say the specs on the device were set long before that. So comparing like for like, product-cycle for product-cycle, it's 18 months, give or take.
And of course you can do a form-factor comparison, between the handsets, but if Apple were to build a v1 iPhone with today's available technology, you can guarantee it'd be slimmer and/or smaller. So if your complaint is that the handset feels chubby by today's latest and greatest standards, my response will always be "no poop, Sherlock!"
I'm still waving the HTC Diamond flag, by the way ;)
Aside from an allege cosmetic change, not much HAS change in terms of software on the new iphone, so the comparisons are valid!
ok ok ok im a recently converted apple lover i have a iphone (amongst other apple products) and i love it right now i dont see anything better plz dont flame me but geez enough with the comparisons like im getting tired of seeing the iphone, case mods, overly pixelated pics, case moldings, look if its not steve jobs himself saying "look b**tches iphone with 3G,(i could care less about gps) renew your contract switch to at&t or vodafone or whatever, hope you didnt buy the old one yesterday" give it a friggin' rest
and as far as people saying that pocket pc's have been doing what the iphone is doing now for awhile come on dont give me that i can download opera mini crap you cant even use it as a primary browser plus i hate that when i used to type on my tytn ii i had to go to another window then type then press ok then click login or whatever i just wanna type press enter and be on my way and windows media player sucks the interface is ugh crappy and all the other media players i downloaded for my tytn ii were not so swell either and i refuse to pay for core media player (i think thats the name)and thats why i wont buy most of these phones while ill admit they do seem pretty sexy and i would love to have them but eventually i will see the windows 6.1os maybe 7 will convert me back over...... till then iphone ftw
your self-admitted apple fanboyism together with your aversion for punctuation makes me squeal with delight.
spendless on apple, tech and mor awn inglish classes pAUL eVANS.
@ ajfarson: Excuse me? You're reading isn't so hot either; you're miss-quoting, there.
@ Paul Evans
That was part of the joke! Don't you get it?
I have an iphone and it is essentially useless if you work for a living and want to use it for anything other than looking hip like Stevo... Permaybehaps the June update with exchange integration will change my mind... but I see a Diamond in my future... Sleek, stylish, business savvy, and can hold my tunes. Sounds like HTC/MS powned the apple to me.
Before you apple fanboys start foaming at the nostrils and beat me up with your hippie sticks... I own macs and I love them... but I hate the iphone. Yes it is true you don't have to sniff Job's hole ALL THE TIME... He has plenty of worshipers he won't even miss you. Think for yourselves for a few mins each day, then increase slowly over time. eventually you will have an original thought.
((Hides behind macbook pro))
Sure if you're part of larger business with a phat IT infrastructure, you're a fool to buy an iPhone, though 2.0 may well change that. But I disagree that the iPhone is a flat-out numb-nut choice for *all* business users. I'm self employed, I use Apple's Mail for email, iCal to manage my diary and Address Book to keep track of my contacts. I used an Orbit for a year-and-a-half and it was a pain in the beutox [sic] to get it to reliably sync, not to mention needing to shell-out for third-party apps for the pleasure. If a handset does exactly what you need it to do, I don't see the problem. The iPhone is that for me - currently.
At any rate, I've already laid my cards on the table, I prefer the stylings of the HTC's Diamond.
I have always thought the iPhone was too big and that the people who used them were as smug as the people who use any other Mac product. Hope as much as you like but the 3G iPhone isn't going to have the umph the original had. Just iPhone 1.5 not 2.0.
Apple product.
ugh....where is my 3G iPhone already?
why compare just the looks...why not the features???
feature?! okey...
iPhone does not have a VGA screen.
iPhone does not have bluetooth file transfer protocol.
iPhone does not have replacable battery.
iPhone does not have MMS.
I am a Mac User, Apple Fanboy. but I won't buy an iPhone, and probably won't buy 3G iPhone if these features are still absent on the 3G...
apple doesn't put a lot of feature in on purpose, the reason is so that they can make a new version later with a few more new features and all the apple fanboys will upgrade no questions asked and its the same process over and over again. rather than putting them in all once which would be the logical thing to do, they make more money this way
That's only just-about true of yui's VGA screen, and the battery points. The other's can be rectifyed with firmware updates, which Apple tends to give away free.
And in any case, Apple's strategy when it comes to consumer products is to concentrate on a handful of core features. Take the iPod; I lost track of people complaining when it first came out that it was missing an FM tuner, voice recorder, replaceable battery, et al... if your assertion was correct, we'd have seen Apple packing more and more of those 'missing' features in. They simply havn't. So I don't quite know what you're basing your comments on.
Paul Evans makes a good point. Apple doesn't always add on a ton of those missing features. Take the iPod shuffle. Apple and Steve just said, "screw them, we're not giving them a screen. Those idiots that buy our products will eat this CRAP up." He was right.
Now about my HTC Touch I've been using for the past year. It doesn't have multi-touch but then again do I really need it? I use that thing to usually pass the time watching TV and movies on the go via either my SlingBox or Orb. Do I really need the multi-touch? I can't remember the last time I needed to run up to my TV or the front of the theater and touch the screen with my grubby fingers so I could pinch it.
If you look carefully you can see the front facing camera on the iPhone has been photoshopped out! Could this be the first 3G iPhone in the wild?
Hmm... This doesn't really work as a comparison of looks and dimensions. iPhone/Touch Diamond works, X1/Raphael (or Touch Diamond Pro or whatever it's gonna be called) works.
I'm not saying it's a bad thing to do this, just the other comparisons would be more valid.
Hmm..
This is probably nothing but on the iPhone it says something "-3G"
Usually doesnt it say EDGE or the carrier?
@ Nohone
1. You didn't HAVE to get a new iphone, you could have gotton any unlocked GSM phone that supports 850mhz GSM.
2.You should have called Apple instead of going to a Genius Bar.
@yui
Jailbeak and you have 2 of those things.
The iPhone doesn't even look "sexy" like fanboys say. It looks like a thick slab of touchscreen. Oh yeah, and a lot of other phones have better screens, touch or otherwise. It'll always be a popular phone because of Apple's iPod empire and the "hip" hype created by all the Apple commercials. But it's nothing really special, when it comes right down to it.
...again; it's 18 months old. A year and a half ago, there were few handsets out there that could compete with the iPhone's screen. Here's £1.50, go buy a perspective.