Samsung Galaxy S2 vs HTC Evo 3D vs Motorola Photon 4G - A Comparison

[ArmageddonX]

Samsung Galaxy S2 vs HTC Evo 3D vs Motorola Photon 4G - A Comparison

CPU:
Evo3D: 1.2ghz Dual-Core Snapdragon
GS2: 1.2ghz Dual-Core Cortex-A9
Photon4G: 1ghz NVIDIA Tegra 2

GPU:
Evo3d: Adreno 220 GPU
GS2: Mali 400MP GPU
Photon4G: GeForce GPU

Display:
Evo3D: 4.3" 3D qHD (rgb) LCD 960x540 Display
GS2: 4.27" (rgb) Super AMOLED Plus 800x480 Display
Photon4G: 4.3" qHD (PenTile) LCD 960x540 Display

RAM:
Evo3D: 1GB LP DDR2 Ram
GS2: 1GB LP DDR2 Ram
Photon4G: 1GB LP DDR2 Ram

Mass Storage Memory:
Evo3D: 4GB Internal Storage
GS2: Both 32GB & 16GB Internal Storage versions offered.
Photon4G: 16GB Internal Storage

Application Space:
Evo3D: 1GB Reserved for Applications
GS2: 2GB Reserved for Applications
Photon4G: 1GB Reserved for Applications

MicroSD Support:
Evo3D: Supports SD Cards up to 32GB
GS2: Supports SD Cards up to 32GB
Photon4G: Supports SD Cards up to 32GB

Rear Facing Camera:
Evo3D: Dual 5MP Cameras with dual-LED Flash
GS2: 8MP Camera with single-LED Flash
Photon4G: 8MP Camera with dual-LED Flash

Forward Facing Camera:
Evo3D: 1.3MP Forward Facing Camera
GS2: 2MP Forward Facing Camera
Photon4G: 1.3MP Forward Facing Camera

Traditional Recording:
Evo3D: 2D Recording at 1080p@30fps
GS2: 2D Recording 1080p@30fps
Photon4G: Recording 720p@30fps

3D Recording:
Evo3D: 3D Recording at 720p@24fps
GS2: 3D Recording not available
Photon4G: 3D Recording not available

Battery:
Evo3D: 1730mAh Battery
GS2: 1650 mAh Battery
Photon4G: 1700mAh Battery

Dimensions:
Evo3D: 5.00 x 2.60 x 0.47 (127 x 66 x 12 mm)
GS2: 4.93 x 2.60 x 0.33 (125.3 x 66.1 x 8.49 mm)
Photon4G: 5.00 x 2.63 x 0.48 (126.9 x 66.9 x 12.2 mm)

Weight:
Evo3D: 6.00 oz (170 g)
GS2: 4.09 oz (116 g)
Photon4G: 5.57 oz (158 g)

Operating System & User Interface:
Evo3D: Android 2.3 with HTC Sense 3.0
GS2: Android 2.3 with Samsung TouchWiz 4.0
Photon4G: Android 2.3 with Motoblur "Lite"

Bootloader Status:
Evo3D: Unlocked
GS2: Unlocked
Photon4G: Locked

I have been using this little comparison list for my own decision making process between the two phones. I was hoping to share it to stimulate a respectful discussion & maybe help somebody else make a decision as well.

If I have any of the Specifications written incorrectly please inform me and I would be happy to update this original post. Thank you.

 

[Shocky]

The Cortex A9 looks faster in benchmarks done so far, Mali 400 MP is faster and also Galaxy S II comes with 1GB of DDR2 memory, is it still DDR memory in the evo 3d?

Also it's LED backlit SLCD screen, I don't know what SLED is, who made that up? OLED still has a clear advantage.

It's 1080p@24fps vs 1080p@30fps and 5MP vs 8MP, unless you care about 3D Galaxy S II is the winner here.

Galaxy S II has more storage, 2GB for apps, I think Evo 3D has 1GB for apps.

Depends what you want really, Evo 3D has 3D "yay", slightly higher resolution screen and a marginly better battery

 

[ArmageddonX]

Ok I updated it.

 

[EarlyMon]

Also discussing some of the memory tech at - http://androidforums.com/htc-evo-3d/338280-4gb-enough.html

The Sammy employs LPDDR2 by the way.

As for DDR vs. DDR2 - remember, DDR2 can have twice the speed, it needs to - it's got higher latency than DDR. All we know about the Snapdragons is that embedding RAM (eDRAM) on the newer SoCs.

Without arguing GPU tech, I expect the SGS2 to win in many graphics benchmark shoot-outs over the Evo 3D because the Evo has more pixels to update. (Precisely the reason it seems that the iP3gs beats the iP4 in many of raw graphics benchmarks.)

As for the battery being bigger in the Evo 3D - maybe it has to be, with (again) more pixels to update and any additional processing when viewing or shooting 3D. So - it's not the battery size that I'm looking at, its the lifetime between charges for everyday use. The SGS2 is already getting praise for that, but we'll have to see on the Evo 3D after it's in people's hands.

I believe the recording spec you have is incorrect - I believe it's 30 fps @1080 in 2D, 24 fps @720 in 3D for the 3vo.

And remember - a full frame of 1080p video is approximately 2 MP (1920x1080), so the 5 vs. 8 MP difference in cameras for vid is moot.

The vid quality is going to be ruled by quality of encoding (to H.264), quality of sensor (not MP size), and the lens itself. If the sensor quality or lens quality is low, then megapixels only serve to amplify video noise and thus lose clarity, not increase it.

We know now that the Sensation (the 3vo's 2D cousin) records audio in stereo so perhaps the 3D will as well. Any improvement in HTC's audio recording will be a welcome step up!!

I can't wait until we see both phones in the same markets (US, UK/France/Europe) to get some side-by-side user feedback.

I trust an actual user over a report any day of the week.

I favor the 3vo because I favor Sense, otherwise, these both look pretty top-notch on paper.

Anyway, those are my opinions.

 

[Passport]

when does the S2 come out and will it ship unlocked? The lack of camera flash is one of the main things holding me back from getting the S1.

 

[EarlyMon]

Which country are you in?

 

[Passport]

I'm in the States right now, but I need a phone that works everywhere with local SIM cards.

 

[ArmageddonX]

I updated the original post to reflect the information. Thank you very, very, much.

 

[EarlyMon]

I'm in the States right now, but I need a phone that works everywhere with local SIM cards.

I think that's AT&T (or TMo?) then - I've not seen official dates yet, sorry.

Pretty sure they'll continue here in the states to have unsigned, unencrypted bootloaders.

 

[EarlyMon]

OK, it's official, it's LPDDR2 on the 3vo - spec download here: Qualcomm Document Center - Snapdragon MSM8x60 / APQ8060 Product Brief

 

[thedosbox]

Hardware is irrelevant if the software doesn't do what you want. In my case, solid Exchange support is important enough that I would only consider the HTC phone.

While I might drool at the hardware specs, I wouldn't buy either of these as they are too big for one-handed operation.

 

[Shocky]

Every site I've looked at states 1080p@24fps for the Evo 3D, where does it say 30fps?

 

[EarlyMon]

Funny! This one has it backwards! HTC Evo 3D CDMA Vs Samsung Galaxy S2 Review

Sprint Unleashes the HTC EVO 3D | PCWorld

Stereo video requires more processing - it will have the lower framerate and be in keeping with BD framerate of 24 fps for movies - not the other way around as later tech blogs would have it.

~~~~

PS - I've been known to be wrong before. Earlier I'd gone along with the 1080/24 720/30 stuff - see - http://androidforums.com/htc-evo-3d...vo-3d-qhd-3d-dual-core-smp-2.html#post2658770

So - I could be entirely wrong here. I just don't trust the half of what the tech blogs suggest as truth.

If you guys want to peg the 3vo at 1080/24 until there's some kind of proof, I won't argue.

Movies on BD in 1080p do tend to be 24 fps. Not saying I'm ok with 24 fps, I'm just saying what's out there...

 

[dan330]

1GB LPDDR2 Ram -|- 1GB LPDDR2 Ram

4GB Internal Storage -|- 32GB Internal Storage

1GB Reserved for Applications -|- 2GB Reserved for Applications


ok you techs.. can you please dumb it down for me.. why the reserved for apps are there???


4gb .. but only 1gb for apps
32gb ... but only 2gb for apps

why?? why cant we use the whole damn thing???
what will the rest be used for? music and pics?

can this be changed with a mod from a Dev????

 

[EarlyMon]

The rom is partitioned for system, data, cache, apps, the radio driver(s) and the bootloader - and it's not uncommon for the makers to leave a bit unaccounted for (probably for future updates).

Devs sometimes repartition things on some roms, kernels or other mods. Sometimes they'll even move a bit of the Android memory off the rom and over to the SD card, and sometimes the makers configure them that way out of the box. (This is not the same thing as apps on the SD card like in Froyo.)

The rom space can't be used for all apps. You definitely need room for Linux, the Dalvik Virtual Machine (the thing that makes it Android, not just Linux) and data.

 

[cds0699]

The Samsung Galaxy S2 might be a phone I'll actually buy for retail since I used my upgrade on the Epic 4G.

 

[dan330]

The rom is partitioned for system, data, cache, apps, the radio driver(s) and the bootloader - and it's not uncommon for the makers to leave a bit unaccounted for (probably for future updates).

Devs sometimes repartition things on some roms, kernels or other mods. Sometimes they'll even move a bit of the Android memory off the rom and over to the SD card, and sometimes the makers configure them that way out of the box. (This is not the same thing as apps on the SD card like in Froyo.)

The rom space can't be used for all apps. You definitely need room for Linux, the Dalvik Virtual Machine (the thing that makes it Android, not just Linux) and data.

i understand that.. but the point is...

from 4GB they only give 1gb for apps... and from 32GB they only give 2GB for apps... so they need the rest for android crap???

android crap.. ok... let say it needs 1GB.
what happen to the rest?

I would like as much as the ROM given to apps as possible.
we do have SDcard mem for our own personal data: music, apps, ap2sd......

 

[EarlyMon]

I can't speak to the veracity of any of these claims until actual users verify them for me (you know my trust of most blogs).

For Sense 3 - I seem to recall that beast alone is up to something like 600+ MB. And 3D apps and buffers? I've no idea what they're setting with that.

As I recall, the Evo had something like 350 MB set aside for apps. So, rom quadruples here, but we need to lose some bytes for 3D and Sense, giving us about a tripling of app space. In some universe that doesn't seem too bad.

What the 32GB is partitioned for on the SGS2, I've no idea. Somebuddy we can trust like Shocky who owns one needs to fill that one in for us.

 

[Shocky]

What the 32GB is partitioned for on the SGS2, I've no idea. Somebuddy we can trust like Shocky who owns one needs to fill that one in for us.

I only have the 16GB version, 11.50GB total for internal sd, 2GB for device storage.

 

[EarlyMon]

So - please help me understand, because the SGS2 specs confuse me to no end.

I understand the Nexus S - big memory, no SD card.

Does the SGS2 have a separate SD card?

If so - are you saying that the big internal memory is partitioned so some of it is used like an SD card?

And if true for both, you have like an sd card-1 (internal) and then sd card-2 (external)?

(And for those who want even more confusion - a new thing in rom memory tech today is eMMC - embedded MMC - read: embedded memory that indeeds interfaces like a multimedia card (SD card).)

 

[dan330]

so of the 16gb.. you are missing 2.5gb.. which android is using...

and the 2GB is some line in the sand.. they picked for us.

 

[EarlyMon]

Not arbitrarily - as I understand it, the new TouchWiz is like Sense 3 in that it's a big step up in features and usability and quality - therefore, probably needs more room, I'd imagine.

~~~~~

edit - you're talking about app space, not line in sand for android space - nevermind - sorry, misunderstood!

 

[ArmageddonX]

As far I understand the S2 has both 32gb internal memory AND an SD slot that supports up to 32gb. For a maximum of 64gb. I could be wrong, but that's my understanding...

 

[MrDrumngun]

I would say that the only thing the S2 has over the 3D is storage and maybe a bump up in processing speed.

 

[ArmageddonX]

I would say that the only thing the S2 has over the 3D is storage and maybe a bump up in processing speed.

That's the conclusion I'm drawing too.
The phones are almost exactly the same on paper on a basic level.

I think it really comes down to:
When do you need a phone?
and;
What is your brand preference?

Evo3D is looking more and more like a June release.
S2 probably Fall or Winter depending on Carrier.

HTC Sense vs Samsung TouchWiz

Another great reason to choose Android. Even within the phones we have there are so many choices for the tailor made experience of your choosing.