Xperia X10 vs Desire

[GrenW]

I have a Desire, my wife has an X10. We've both had them for 4 weeks now. I've used mine more so am more used to it but I did set up hers and showed her how to use it as she'd not had a smartphone before. Based on using both phones most days over this period my opinion is.....

X10 - screen is bigger but is only just noticeable. It's also no better to look at.
X10 - camera is better
X10 - can wake up with home button

These are the only areas I think the X10 is better

X10 - interface is awful, looks pretty but becomes a pain after a while (too much blue!) and is slow. This is with no syncing
X10 - battery life is poorer. Had to do some serious fiddling around on my wife's X10 to get it to last the working day (hardly any syncing etc used anyway!)

Desire - fells better in the hand, better shape, feels much smaller
Desire - 2.1 is a big deal. I've not had an Android phone before but it makes a difference - apps and abilities
Desire - multi-touch is also a big deal for me. Pinch zooming in the browser is something I could not be without

 

[kezm]

i have a x10 and quite like mine thought it was awful on first day but you get used to it camera miles better than deisre thats why i chose it

 

[tomcat84]

Its a shame that not a single HTC phone comes with a 2-step physical camera trigger button on the chassis, like the X10 hase one.
Is there any other Android phone at all that has such a camera trigger?

 

[puppet_master]

I have a Desire, my wife has an X10. We've both had them for 4 weeks now. I've used mine more so am more used to it but I did set up hers and showed her how to use it as she'd not had a smartphone before. Based on using both phones most days over this period my opinion is.....

X10 - screen is bigger but is only just noticeable. It's also no better to look at.
X10 - camera is better
X10 - can wake up with home button

These are the only areas I think the X10 is better

X10 - interface is awful, looks pretty but becomes a pain after a while (too much blue!) and is slow. This is with no syncing
X10 - battery life is poorer. Had to do some serious fiddling around on my wife's X10 to get it to last the working day (hardly any syncing etc used anyway!)

Desire - fells better in the hand, better shape, feels much smaller
Desire - 2.1 is a big deal. I've not had an Android phone before but it makes a difference - apps and abilities
Desire - multi-touch is also a big deal for me. Pinch zooming in the browser is something I could not be without

I have an X10 and my wife has a Desire. She's had hers 2 weeks and I've had mine about 5.

My opinion is:

X10 - screen looks MUCH bigger and is visible is daylight (Desire is poor here). Altho there's not much difference in size, you notice coming off the X10 to the Desire that the screen is smaller.

X10 - Camera is WAY better. I wouldn't even call the Desire usable and the pictures of our daughter were just awful in comparison to the X10's. The video is also better than most entry level stand alone camcorders, where again the Desire's is just average for a phone.

X10 - Interface is beautiful but Timescape can be a bit laggy (only a few seconds) when you first open it, but this is understandable as it's pulling down data from Facebook, Twitter etc, but It's very smooth when it's finished updating.

X10 - Battery life was awful on both phones to start off with, but the X10 gets more use and still manages to last longer than the Desire.

X10 - Looks and feels more classy than the Desire. It feels great on your hand and manages to look bigger without actually being that much bigger at all (maybe due to the square edges).

Desire - yes it has 2.1 but I don't understand why this is such a "big deal". If I could choose, of course I would have the latest OS but I've yet to find myself wanting with regards to any apps or games. I'm actually struggling to see any real benefits, so it's no "big deal" at all.

Desire - Yes it has Multi-touch, but we both find it a bit gimmicky. I'm at a loss to understand how/why anyone would feel that it was something they "could not be without". Double-tapping to zoom is perfectly fine

Desire - Keyboard is exceptional where as the X10's is dire. Good job I was able to install the HTC keyboard on my X10 which now works just as good
The little track-pad is really helpful when typing where as the X10 is fiddley without it

As far as I'm concerned, there's a lot of 2.1 + multi-touch snobbery on these forums, but apart from these two things (or lack of them), The X10 is the best Android phone out at the moment.. and (imho) by quite a margin

-pup-

 

[brykins]

I think that in general use, multi-touch is pretty pointless. However as more and more developers start to bring bigger and more complicated games to the market, multi-touch will become more and more needed for game controls. Imagine a racing game where you had to turn left and right, and also speed up/slow down. You could be pressing two "keys" on screen at once. First person shooters as well.

 

[puppet_master]

I think that in general use, multi-touch is pretty pointless. However as more and more developers start to bring bigger and more complicated games to the market, multi-touch will become more and more needed for game controls. Imagine a racing game where you had to turn left and right, and also speed up/slow down. You could be pressing two "keys" on screen at once. First person shooters as well.

That's where hard keys come in handy

Can't say i've ever played on my DS and thought, "I really wish the screen was MT", and those games are far more elaborate than anything likely to appear on a smart-phone for some time yet

I stand by my opinion on MT... it's a gimmick

-pup-

 

[brykins]

That's where hard keys come in handy

Ah...but with the Android fragmentation, developers can't be sure whether your phone has any hardware buttons and where they are located. Eg, some of the buttons on my Hero were in a different place to the ones on my Desire, and with them being in a row, using them for steering, etc, would be impossible.

That's why developers will use on-screen controls I think, and that's where multi-touch is going to be more than the gimmick it is with the "normal" apps.

Having said that about the gimmick...I too thought that double tapping to zoom was fine. Until I actually got the pinch zoom on the Desire.

 

[brykins]

Oh dear - I mentioned Sony taking their time with updates. Now confirmed Q4 2010 (so around Xmas time!) for 2.1.....of course, by then we'll all be looking for 2.2 or 2.3 or whatever is next.

Shame, as it's not a bad bit of kit if you like the look of it.

(Sony Ericsson X10 family to get Android 2.1 in 'Q4 2010' -- Engadget)

 

[heingericke]

Received it 3 days early. The Desire looks and feels nice. Thanks for your replies.

 

[roopa.shastry]

hey justin!!
looks like you did good homework on xperia...need ur help please....its my first android fone n infact dont even know wht it is...and am doing my home work about it...please help me what can i do to make the best use of xperia as well android...ur help is really appreciated..
thanks a tonne again..
regards,
roopa

 

[hodders]

Keyboard performance:
Does anyone know if the X10 keyboard input has improved with recent handsets ?

Many thanks.
mark

 

[HustlinDaily]

I will admit that I have never actually seen either phone as neither are sold in the US (middle finger to my carrier, AT&T as both phones are available on our 3G bands). But I have read about both (there was one point I was set on the X10, and another point I was set on the N1 before finding the Liquid).

SonyEricsson is a great company (have had 2 of their dumbphones before and they were anything but dumb) and the X10 is a very beautiful and powerful phone. But so is the Desire.

That being said, by the time the X10 updates to 2.1 (reported in September), Froyo will be in its prime and we will be talking about Gingerbread. There is a strong chance the Desire could get Froyo (with full flash support, possible apps2sd and faster) around the time too.

I think the X10 is an amazing phone, I just would not take it over the Desire due to carrier support on updates (as Desire is probably HTC's international flagship phone).


Gonna go a bit off topic. Regardless, I am much happy with my Liquid. The 2.1 firmware update is nearly complete with the leak being on the web (and it has been working well for me, couple of kinks need to be ironed out but it has been good enough for daily use). Hopefully Acer will update it to Froyo next (and given how good Acer has been so far, there is a great chance of it happening). Being $200 cheaper than Desire/X10/Nexus while having pretty good specs, you can't get better bang for buck than that.

 

[gjlamb]

{snip} Popular opinion (which I agree with, mostly) is that Sense is currently the best custom UI on Android. HTC was the first to make Android phones, and remains one of the best, if not the very best, and nearly all HTC phones will always have xda developers to tinker with it and offer custom ROMs/hacks/themes.

I'm not too taken with Time/Mediascape, myself. Do you like blue a lot?

Personally I'm not that fussed with Sense. The Friendstream widget often doesn't show Facebook updates and Sense has actually crashed and restarted on me several times. As far as UI's on top of Android go, I much prefer MotoBlur. The Messages, Happenings and News widgets show updates/messages that I haven't read without me having to remember which I ones I have already read and scrolling over them again like Sense's Friendstream. I'm really hoping the Milestone 2 will be good otherwise I think I'll have to seriously think about heading back to the iPhone, at least with the same sort of use it lasts me 1.5 days (although the new one will have multitasking so may not be the same).

I've got a Desire at the moment supplied by work and the amount I use it, I have to charge it a couple of times a day to make it last. My main usage is calls, texts, emails, NewsRob (Google reader client) and Nimbuzz for chat. Even using a task killer, battery still drains really fast.

 

[Slug]

Identical threads merged.

 

[HustlinDaily]

The good news is X10 got root earlier today on XDA so maybe you guys can get 2.1 earlier (maybe Sony will leak some beta roms for you guys).

 

[grainysand]

As far as UI's on top of Android go, I much prefer MotoBlur.

Crazy. I haven't met too many people who think Motoblur is anything but a blight upon the glory of Android.

I've got a Desire at the moment supplied by work and the amount I use it, I have to charge it a couple of times a day to make it last. My main usage is calls, texts, emails, NewsRob (Google reader client) and Nimbuzz for chat. Even using a task killer, battery still drains really fast.

Stop killing tasks.

 

[brykins]

I've got a Desire at the moment supplied by work and the amount I use it, I have to charge it a couple of times a day to make it last. My main usage is calls, texts, emails, NewsRob (Google reader client) and Nimbuzz for chat. Even using a task killer, battery still drains really fast.

I had the same problem.

Try this. Menu -> Settings -> About Phone -> Battery

On this screen you'll see "Up Time" and "Awake Time". Awake time ought to be a LOT less than Up Time. Mine were the same, meaning something was preventing the phone going into sleep mode.

Download "Spare Parts". Go to "Battery history" and in the top selector, choose "Partial Wake Usage" and it tells you what is keeping your phone awake. My guess is it's your IM client (mine was Ebuddy). Have removed that for now and it's doubled my battery life.

(Oh, and I use a task killer)

 

[Smg]

There is no better overall phone and i'm sure most of us are happy with the phone we chose whether that be the X10 like me or the Desire.

X10's Better Points:

Awesome Camera.

Awesome Screen ( As in Bigger / Shows Colours Properly / Has more Pixels )

Awesome Design (Subjective but i think its the best looking TS phone around)

SE's 1.6 is alot better than the "Stock" 1.6 i had on the G1.

And recently the X10 has been rooted so it probably won't be too long now until us X10 users could just put 2.1 / 2.2 on before SE pull their finger out.


Desire's Better Points:

2.1 straight out the box ( Live wallpapers woo lol )

Sense UI

Multitouch ( Although i think this is one of the most overated features on phones )


Therefore it all comes down to whats more important but for me having better hardware and knowing that software can be updated by either rooting or waiting for SE was the better option.

 

[kredyty]

I had the same problem, couldn't decide, but 5 minutes spend in phone shop and I have no hesitation. Desire wins. X10 is just not good enough, much less intuitive and screen is less responsive. Amazing, as they've worked on it for last 5 years...

 

[Stick]

I have a HTC Desire and it's amazing. My friend has the X10 and my screen looks soo much sharper

 

[HustlinDaily]

Yeah the Desire screen has 16M colors while the SE screen has 65k colors (Liquid is right in the middle with 256k colors). Also Desire is AMOLED.

X10 has greater resolution but Desire has better quality there.

 

[brykins]

Yeah the Desire screen has 16M colors while the SE screen has 65k colors (Liquid is right in the middle with 256k colors). Also Desire is AMOLED.

X10 has greater resolution but Desire has better quality there.

Think that the X10 screen IS capable of 16M colours, but it's Android OS 1.6 that limits it to the 65K. The 2.x upgrade that Sony might release towards the end of the year ought to solve that one.

 

[Smg]

Yeah the Desire screen has 16M colors while the SE screen has 65k colors (Liquid is right in the middle with 256k colors). Also Desire is AMOLED.

X10 has greater resolution but Desire has better quality there.

Actually i much prefer the X10's Screen the Amoled is too pixelated and it shows colors incorrectly like white's looking pinkish.

Also the X10 screen is only 65k colors for the moment because of 1.6 but once its been rooted or when SE give us the update then it will be 16 million colors.

Plus then theres the fact the X10 is probably the best screen i've used in sunlight where as its the complete opposite for Amoled screens.

 

[HustlinDaily]

That is pretty weird. The Liquid comes with 1.6 and supports 262k colors (not 100% sure if that is entirely true as I upgraded to 2.1 the day I got my Liquid).

 

[hitokiri]

hi, im new here. actually just changed myself from the apple fanboy to android fan boy
regarding to this topic i think it will b pointless to compare this 2 phones cz everyone has their own interest n opinion abt what they like n what they didnt. its just like u comparing mercedes n bmw
and for me i'm going to get the experia x10 tomorrow