IPhone 3G vs Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 vs HTC Touch Pro

I am so sure I am not the only going mad trying to decide which of these smart phones to get.

Sadly I have been trying to change my phone for the past 18 months and just didn’t find any that will fit the bill. And now 18 months later I am finding way too many options.

IPHONE

I have been eying the IPhone ever since it came out. I was unable to get it as it was carrier bound and only available in the US. This is the reason why I even waited 18 months to change my phone hoping they will release it in my country in just another 2 months. Well all those 2 months have added up.

And finally the Iphone is available unlocked in Hong Kong for around $800.

PROS

• Great looking phone
• Amazing Interface
• As far as I know the Iphone still has the best touch screen plus the multiple touch gestures, etc and is great in terms of speed.
• App Store
• Graphics Accelerometer.
• Orientation sensor works fast

CONS

• No Bluetooth
• No Video Recording
• No out of the box exchange support
• No self service battery replacement option
• No memory expansion slot.
• Still not available in my country. Will have to find a way to get an unlocked version from Hong Kong
• No physical keyboard

In other words a lot of missing stuff. But I still drool over the phone when I see it. If you could take the performance from IPhone and add the missing features, this would be the perfect phone! Although for most people it still is.

IPhone info at Apple.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X1

After getting sick of waiting for the IPhone to arrive, I started looking around for a similar if not better option. And this is when I found the Xperia X1 (not yet released) a few months back. Apparently I have a tendency of falling for stuff that is either not released or not available for purchase.

This phone is what I call perfect! Well almost.

It has all the features I want plus a few more. Seems like someone has finally thought of adding it all in the same phone. The only missing option is a graphics Accelerometer. I figured one can’t complain with the feature set the phone offers.

So I started following this phone set to release in Q4 of 2008.

It has finally launched in October in Sweden, Germany and UK. However, launched does not mean in the market. A few people have it in their hands in Sweden. Most are still waiting in the UK where the final date keeps getting pushed further and further. Other countries like the US, Australia and the rest will get it either by the end of 2008 or early 2009. Wanna bet which one?

PROS

• Great set of features. Covers 95% of what I want.
• The 9 Panel Interface which is a skin for Windows Mobile looks great.
• Expandable memory using a Micro SD card.
• Several input options using touchscreen, stylus and a physical keyboard which slides out.
• 800×480 screen resolution. The best out of the lot!

CONS

• No graphics accelerometer. You need to either open the keyboard or press a button to change the phone orientation from portrait to landscape mode.
• Phone is too new. Not many reviews out there. And the ones that are available are pretty mixed. Some love the phone and say it is fast and easy to use. Others claim it is laggy. In that sense it is still a risk to pre-order. Not to mention the earlier you get it, the higher the price.
• Very pricey. That is if you are looking at the unlocked version which is on average around 500 pounds or around $800.
• Can’t say if the keyboard is any good without trying it out.
• I can get it from the UK only if it comes in the market before Nov 15.

In other words I have fallen in love with this phone and am 85% convinced on buying it.

Check out the Official Website.
Check out the feature set at Sony Ericsson’s website.
SIM Free available for pre-order for 500 pounds at Sony Ericsson’s official E-Store.

HTC Touch Pro

If the above two options weren’t enuff, I decided to take a look at HTC Touch Pro.

WOW! The 3D Flo interface looks pretty impressive.

PROS

• Almost as strong a feature set as Xperia.
• Graphics Accelerometer. Senses phone orientation. Unlike the Xperia, the display automatically changes from portrait to landscape mode.
• Already available in the market.
• Less expensive than Xperia.

CONS

• Not too sure about the keyboard. The keys look more spaced out on the Xperia. However, some people prefer the Xperia keyboard while others like Touch Pro.
• The interface is pretty snazzy but I’m just wondering if it will get old with time. As a designer I know jazzy snazzy looks great to start out with but fizzles out with time. So is the Touch Pro interface one of those?
• Orientation sensor only works in some areas of the phone and the menu in landscape mode is not the same as the one you get in the portrait mode.
• Screen is slightly smaller than Xperia with a lower resolution.

Check out the product features at HTC’s website.

So Which One…?

The question now becomes which one.

IPhone is the first to go out of the picture. Mainly because of its missing features and the fact that it won’t be easy to get the unlocked version from Hong Kong.

The battle is between Xperia and Touch Pro.

I started reading as many reviews and watching as many videos as I could find on both phones.

The screen size and resolution on the Xperia is bigger and better. From the pictures and videos, the Xperia keyboard seems better to me. And I love the way it slides out.

The more I look at Xperia, the more I fall in love with this phone. The more I look at Touch Pro, the more I think I will get over the very WOW interface.

For now Xperia is the WINNER for me.

Now here’s to hoping it gets released in the UK before Nov 15 and for under 500 pounds – the lower the better.

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If you own any of these phones, I would love to hear your experiences and thoughts. And if anyone has done a live comparison of the final versions … that is just fantastic and we are all waiting to hear from you.

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Update: As you can see from my next few posts on the subject, I did end up getting Xperia and very pleased with the phone