A lot of people have been asking how the HTC Hero compares with the Apple iPhone 3GS. We shot both smartphones for a side by side comparison.
We’re pitting an iPhone 3GS 16GB with an HTC Hero and a 16GB microSD card. I borrowed the 3GS from @tjmanotoc for the photo comparison here (forgive the worn out Invisible Shield on the 3GS).
Now that we got that out of the way, the price of a prepaid 16GB iPhone 3GS is Php38,850 with Globe and the HTC Hero with 16GB microSD card is Php37,799 (Php33,999 + Php3,800).
The 3GS has a bigger screen at 3.5″ compared to the Hero’s 3.2 although both have the same resolution of 320×480 pixels. The 3GS has a faster processor — ARM Cortex A8 600 MHz vs. Qualcomm MSM 7200A 528 MHz for the Hero. Both have WiFi b/g, Bluetooth, GPS and 3G/HSDPA with the same speed rating but the Hero also supports HSUPA 2.0 Mbps.
The Hero has some edge over the 3GS — a 5MP camera vs. 3.15MP; 288MB RAM vs. 256MB; and the Hero also has 512MB ROM. While both the Hero and iPhone 3GS weigh the same at 135 grams, the former is a bit thicker 14.4mm compared to the iPhone at 12.3mm.
Of course, the 1350 mAh Li-Ion battery of the Hero is removable and user-replaceable unlike that of the iPhone. And did I mention the Hero can do multi-tasking while the iPhone cannot?
The Hero also comes in a variety of colors — Black, White (with Teflon coating), Brown, Graphite and Pink. The iPhone only has Black and White.
It’s really a close fight between the two with features and functionalities almost dead even. That includes a huge collection of apps for both the iTunes Store and the Android Marketplace.
@adrian
We’ll just hope that they would utilize that 1GHz Snapdragon proc to the fullest and not underclocked.
Why does the Nexus One remind me of the Verizon Eris (a Hero variant)
Don’t know if u guys are aware of the “Google Phone”, it think it will have a nice specs, you may want to check this out => HTC Nexus One http://www.product-reviews.net/2009/12/15/htc-google-nexus-one-unconfirmed-specifications/
Not yet released in US, but MIGHT be the iPhone killer when it comes out.
The phone is powered by a 1000MHz Snapdragon processor combined with Android 2.1 !
Forgot to mention its thinner than iphone.
Sweet huh?
I’ll go for iphone. Since android market has yet to be tested on Philippine soil.
;)
@tey: i know BB has that “just works” quality as well, but to say that it matches up with the iPhone? i don’t wanna go there just yet. :)
besides, considering how many more things one can do w/ an iPhone while still providing a great user experience (although i really don’t see how one can mess this up if you can only run one app at a time :D), i think we can safely put the iPhone above the BB. ;)
@jumper —
“…how everything comes together so seamlessly and awesomely – the usability, the apps – that makes for such a great user experience. if we’re talking about that, then i don’t believe there’s still anything yet out there that quite matches up with the iphone.”
— there’s BlackBerry :-)
@gel
Android is great. Why selling?
I’m selling my HTC Hero for 26k.. contact me if interested 0918-9123980
@pabs
No comment. -_-‘
Ang winner dito ay nokia 5800. he he he. Bukod sa affordable na, e, kayang gawin lahat ng mga nagagawa ng both iphone ang htc hero, like mabilis ang browser niya, kaya ok for internet browsing or answering emails kung nasa labas ako.Laptop ko , di ko na gaanong dinadala, mabigat kasi sa shoulder bag ko. Maganda pa ang sound ng mp3 player niya, compared to my ipod at 2 days ka bago mag charge.
Sinong winner dito?
@Andrew Mercado: Am green with envy sayo. Sarap naman video calls unlimited. Dito sa pinas, unlitxt lang masaya na kami. Babaw ng kaligayahan, no? He he
@macfanbois: Of course, the iPhone. Otherwise, magagalit ang high priest nyo from Apple. He he.
@ilove: yeah, i guess you’re right. the examples i gave doesn’t really work at all. hehe. i guess i was trying to make it too simple or whatever. i stand corrected. :)
in any case, i just want to clarify (or even emphasize) that i’m not saying the iPhone cannot multitask. it probably can (other phones w/ lesser hardware specs have it) but because it wants to keep things simple and, as you rightly pointed out, wants to avoid the (potential) issues and problems associated w/ multitasking (everything “just works”), it probably chose not to have it.
@rsa1 – I make the video calls direct from cellphone using fring app and my family members back in phils video call me from PC using skype and all of these calls are free unlimited because “all-you-can eat” internet data plan. So, i am optimizing the data plan where ever i go i use video call whether i’m in office or at home.
Now, i’m not sure if the same scheme also being practiced by TELCOs from our country Phils. which is tethering on an unlimited internet data plan.
So, we can avoid the use of smartphone for standard voice calls and 3G video calls which is very expensive.
who makes video calls anway
@ryan – Actually, i’m having this smartphone Samsung i8910 right now and i can say everything works smoothly. Samsung finally make it right. That’s why i don’t need to carry separate camera, camcorder, mp3 player, I mean all-in-one gadget for me.
Processor speed is at 600 MHz. Fring app works fine i’m using it for video calls via skype & take note on 3G/HSDPA. Up to sawa video calls because i subscribed to unlimited internet plan here in Saudi and i just switch internet from smartphone to laptop just a click of bluetooth, it’s very convenient.
@Andrew Mercado
with all that power, I’m assuming that this phone runs slow, is it? Samsung phones are either a hit or a miss. Touch Wiz interface definitely lags, even with their speediest phone the Jet. Not sure about the Galaxy though.
In terms of the ‘it just works’ category, the iPhone ranks high. It can do its function well albeit only one at a time. It will be interesting to see how they will try to implement multitasking (if ever they do)
@iamupset
X10 shows a lot of promise as a great Android phone but for now videos of the pre production models show the interface to lag. Hopefully they’ll fix it before they release it. The Xperia X1 was a little bit of a letdown since the Panels UI was slow.
@iamupset – consider Samsung Omnia HD (i8910), unmatched in almost all hardware features such as 1280 x 720p HD recording, 8MP camera with almost all the digital camera features plus geotagging, 5.1 virtual dolby surround, AMOLED capacitive touch screen 16M Colors, HSDPA 7.2Mbps & HSUPA 5.76Mbps, A-GPS, DLNA compatible, 16GB on board memory plus up to 32GB expandable.
Only the O.S. is the weak point because it’s based on Symbian S60 5th edition but for me it’s ok because we mostly grew up with SYMBIAN interface.
Plus by the way, you can use this smartphone as internet modem to your laptop via blue tooth, it’s very cool feature.
these two phones despite costing close to Php40,000 with all their features and you still can’t even make a video call.. tsk tsk..
i’d rather wait next year, i hear a lot of new more cooler phones are coming out, like ericsson’s xperia x10. more android phones and more nokia phones with capacitive screen with an updated UI.
best bang for the buck for me this year is still the nokia’s 5800 (with the updated firmware), it only cost Php13,000 and you get most of the features of these high-end phone including push email(albeit, it has a resistive screen, stylus and lacks kinetic scrolling),not too mention you can also do FREE video web calls, super sulit =)
@Jumper
With all due respect sir (or ma’am?), maybe you’re just trying to point out what’s the opposite of multi-tasking but your analogy doesn’t quite tell the truth about what the iPhone can do as the iPhone can play iPod music while surfing through Safari, or opening the facebook app and other applications, you can make a call and browse the web at the same time, and many others. When it comes to basic multi-tasking which consists of opening major applications (quite subjective though) and basic phone operations, the iPhone can do it. Majority also of the applications I use saves my input (or instance) if I need to go open another application like when I’m trying to post a status update and exit the facebook application to access my YM or notes, when I open the facebook application my unposted status update is still there (same as having unsent messages in each conversation when you exit “messages”). I can also run voice memos while opening other applications and record sounds from the other application (ofcourse with the ambient noise of the surrounding). However these examples involve the built-in apps (some partially) of the iPhone OS. Other applications may behave otherwise especially on games (to the disappointment of gamers). If you think about it, the amount of RAM on Hero is not that big of a difference as with the iPhone 3GS and the iPhone can do multi-tasking more openly if only the OS permits. But Apple didn’t because they don’t want to hear a lot of complaints about slow performance and crashing applications like what you get with most of the other phones out there that can openly do multi-tasking (although you still get crashing applications and slowed down performance on the iPhone due to bugs which is almost always present in every application).
@yuga
Stand corrected but still i think it’s one sided based on the perspective of an iphone user
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