My Xperia X10

Last week, I sent my Xperia X10 off to blogger Guy Adams. In return he sent his HTC Desire to me and we’ve both spent the  last week in the great position of being able to compare the two devices. I’ve already put up some first impressions and 6 days later I am able to say that yes, the HTC Desire is a fantastic mobile phone and one of the most complete and rounded superphones I’ve ever tested. Where the X10 has a bite, some features, sex appeal and the occasional let-down, the HTC Desire is just a great all-round package. Nothing stands out as being wildly exciting compared to the X10 but then nothing seems to be a let-down either. The HTC Desire has to be the no-brainer, no-remorse choice in the superphone category right now.

These things stand out for me as being better on the Desire.

HTC Sense UI.

When I tried it on the HTC Hero last year I was immediately impressed at how well it rounded-off the whole package. Sure, most, if not all, of the features in Sense can be added to a stock build of Android but for the average customer, Sense provides a real advantage to the early days of ownership and is deep enough to be something you’ll miss if you go back to a stock version of Android. I’m really impressed.

Keyboard.

Although the Desire keyboard is just as sensitive, the software is way more intelligent. I don’t see myself making any fewer ‘hit’ errors but I do see the software picking out the right word when I’ve made a mistake. This is something I know I’ll really notice when I go back to the X10. Fortunately its a software issue that could be fixed but the next X10 firmware upgrade isn’t planned until Q3.

Double-tap-to-zoom.

While this might seem like a minor point, as a heavy user of the browser, this is bringing real time savings and improving usability. Funnily enough I don’t use pinch to zoom.

Battery Life.

I was worried that the Desire was using a lot of battery but clearly, in my usage scenarios, the Desire has better battery life than the X10. By hours. The same scenarios on the X10 would bring me only 9-12 hours where the Desire is just about taking me through the whole day. That’s a big difference.

I’ll also mention one potentially good feature too. The optical mouse pointer isn’t quite stable enough to be easy but it is better than fumbling around on a capacitive touchscreen trying to position a cursor in a text field. Some better software on this would make it even better.

Overall I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the Desire over the X10 to anyone.

Unless….

There are a few areas where the X10 shines and if these areas are important to you then you need to consider the X10 again.

Screen.

The screen on the X10 blows away the screen on the Desire in three important areas. Firstly, it’s sharper. There’s a strange ‘trick’ going on with the HTC Desire screen. [Details] It means that it produces text that doesn’t have smooth edges. If you haven’t used WVGA phone before though, don’t worry about it though because you’ll get used to it. The second issue is more important. Daylight visibility on the Desire isn’t impressive. Not only is the brightness lower but the transflective screen on the X10 helps in full sunlight. The auto-brightness on the X10 seems to work better too. Finally, there’s the size. It’s only 0.3 of an inch bigger diagonally but it really helps to make text more readable and reduces the need for zooming in web pages.

Camera.

Although I’m very disappointed with low-light photography on the X10, the Desire is worse. Yes, it has a flash but the lack of shutter release button is really annoying. Daylight photography appears to be worse too with the plastic lens creating blurs and fogging more than on the X10. Combine that with the poor sunlight readability and you’ve got a camera that really underperforms.

Others.

• I miss the leather case of the X10 (easily remedied of course)
• I find the X10 better to hold due to the lack of a slippery metal insert that you’ll find on the Desire. It’s lighter too.
• The video playback capability is better on the X10.
• In my usage scenario, the X10 was more stable. I’ve had four or five cases where switching from Wi-Fi to 3G data has resulted in Seesmic giving up on me for a long period of time.
• I haven’t tested it fully yet but in some cases over the last week I was left waiting for the GPS to lock. I have a feeling that it’s faster on the X10.
• Brand. I didn’t buy the X10 because of it but the Sony Xperia brand feels rather nice!

It’s the screen of the X10 that’s the big winner here though so if you’re thinking about ereading (books or web) daylight usage and web browsing, the X10 is better. The camera is a lot better, yes, but it’s not class leading so the need for a good mobile internet camera shouldn’t drive you to buy the X10. You should wait for the Nokia N8 for that.

It all makes it rather easy to summarize the fight between the Desire and the X10 because if you’re not interested in the screen of the X10, I don’t see a reason for you to buy an X10. The Desire is a more complete mobile phone and for most people, battery life and HTC sense will add more than you’ll lose through large-screen sunlight readability.

Will I buy a Desire? No.

Will I keep the X10? No.

NEITHER of these two devices fit my needs and the reason is, Internet photography. Internet photography is part of my work as a professional blogger and has become a hobby. Both of these devices fall short of requirements for me in that respect. While internet sharing is extremely easy, the results from photographs is not and that’s the main reason I’ll be selling the X10. (Contact me if you’re interested.) The problem now is that having had a taste of GHz-powered Android, I can’t let go. The integration with Google has been fantastic and has brought serious advantages. Half of me wants to step away and wait for the Nokia N8 which will bring high quality 12MP day and low-light photography into my pocket but I know that I’ll miss the fast UI and superb Google integration, Google marketplace, maps, buzz and other unique Google features.

This might seem unbelievable but I think I’ll drop back to my 2 year old Nokia N82 for a while. I’ll test the Nokia N8 when it launches of course and I’ll take a close look at the Dell Mini 5. in the meantime I’ll carry on working between my UMID BZ and Archos 5 until the right device comes along. What I’d really like is a 5” Droid or Evo as a MID. In that case, the N82 would simply continue service as my phone, navigation and camera device. A strange combo but one that would work better for me than buying a compact camera and EyeFi card.

My X10 will be back with me next week and I’ll write a farewell article. After that I’ll probably be stepping away from this blog so if you have questions, please ask over the next week.

Related posts:

1. HTC Desire Testing Has Started.
2. X10 vs Desire Review from Gizmag
3. Xperia X10 First Impressions. Part 2 – Good Stuff.
4. Xperia X10 is my primary phone…for now.
5. My N82 is Back. X10 Downtime. HTC Desire Coming.