Upside

Most of the features found on the Nexus One are in the Desire, too. You get a 3.7-inch AMOLED display with a screen resolution of 480 x 800 pixels, as well as a slim sub-12mm chassis. Connectivity options are also plentiful in the Desire with support for HSPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and A-GPS for satellite navigation.

Performance-wise, the Desire seems to have some improved specs compared with its older twin. While they both contain the 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, the Desire has more RAM at 576MB, 64MB more than the Nexus One. A reason HTC may have done this is to accommodate the Sense UI software which requires a little more system memory to run smoothly.

HTC Sense is a big selling point of the Desire. This is absent on the Nexus One because Google uses it to showcase the vanilla Android software. HTC’s custom software gives the user more widgets and a deep integration of social-networking services into the address book. The popularity of this custom interface is evident as we’ve seen enthusiasts’ attempts to install it into the Nexus One and even the Motorola Milestone.

Other standard features in the Desire include a 3.5mm audio jack, accelerometer for screen orientation and a proximity sensor that will turn the screen off when you are making a call.

Aside from those, this Android 2.1 smartphone also comes with some special features. For example, you can mute the ringer by simply flipping the phone face down. Also, certain settings and data such as text messages and bookmarks can be backed up onto the microSD card.

Downside

One of the most obvious exclusions in the Desire is tri-band HSPA support. Designed for the European and Asian markets, this smartphone works in the 900MHz and 2,100MHz bands, but not 1,700MHz as used by T-Mobile in the US. Users who travel frequently to the US and need 3G support there may be better off with the Nexus One.

Outlook

Currently, Google ships the Nexus One only to Hong Kong and Singapore in Asia. One of the best things about the Desire is that it will be widely available as HTC will have full control over where it will be sold. Furthermore, partnerships with operators will allow subsidies, making it more accessible, price-wise–though we don’t expect this to be extremely low, given it’s a high-end product. We expect to see the HTC Desire in stores and from operators starting Q2.

John Chan