Rumors do turn into reality and the Nexus S, the successor of the Nexus One, is now available and today we’re going to Face it Off with the HTC Desire HD. The Nexus S is the first smartphone to offer Android 2.3 Gingerbread as it’s operating system,the latest and greatest OS from Google. The Nexus S, like the Nexus One, is sure to be a favorite with smartphone geeks but will it match up with the more main stream Desire HD with HTC Sense, 8MP camera and 720p video capture. Read on to find out.
Build Quality – Desire HD
The Desire HD offers an aluminium case that surrounds the entire display and most of the back of the handset with a nice texture coating to give it a very solid feel. In your hand the Desire HD feels the way you would expect when spending the money needed to purchase this high-end smartphone.
The Nexus S offers the usual Samsung build seen on the Galaxy S. There is a high grade plastic rim around the curved display and the battery cover is made of a rubberized plastic with a nice metal accent around the camera lens. While light the Nexus S does not offer the same quality materials you’ll find on the Desire HD.
Display – Nexus S
The 4” Super AMOLED display on the Nexus S is the same Samsung display found on the Galaxy S and it still looks great. It’s bright and very easy to read and my only complaint is there can be some color distortion when watching videos. There tends to be a blueish tint when watching videos which color wise isn’t realistic when compared to the LCD display on the Desire HD. However with that said I still prefer the curved display on the Nexus S. The Nexus S comes with a fingerprint resistant coating on the display but I didn’t find it to resist finger prints any better than the Desire HD.
Camera – Desire HD
The Desire HD 8MP camera offers good clear snapshots with accurate colors and clarity. It also offers Face Detection which is missing from the camera on the Nexus S. The pics taken with the Nexus S lacked in color and sharpness and in my opinion didn’t compare to those taken with the Desire HD.
The Desire HD offers 720p video capture compared to the WVGA video of the Nexus S. While I didn’t find the Nexus S video recording all that bad it didn’t compare with the Desire HD. The Nexus S offered less in depth of color and sharpness when compared to the video shot by the Desire HD.
Operating System – Nexus S
There wasn’t an instance where the Nexus S didn’t open an application quicker than the Desire HD other then the YouTube test. Web pages, navigating, and applications opened up quicker on the Nexus S. While the difference wasn’t all that great the Nexus S is just plan faster.
UI – Desire HD
This category also has a lot to do with personal preference but I like the new HTC Sense vs the Android UI offered on the Nexus S. While both handsets can be customized the Desire HD comes with quit a few more options than the Nexus S because of HTC’s Sense. If HTC’s Sense widgets aren’t to your liking than the Nexus S with the Android UI should work just fine for you. I simply prefer the HTC Sense UI.
Web Browser – Nexus S
The Nexus S loaded all of the web sites quicker as well as the CNN video. The Desire HD wasn’t far behind but the Nexus S was always there first. I do miss the fact that the Nexus S doesn’t re-wrap text automatically but that’s something I can live with for a quicker browser. Both handsets offered very smooth scrolling and good touch response.
Winner – Draw
I know, what a pussy can’t you pick a winner? I think it depends on the type of smartphone you need when picking a winner between these two. Both offer advantages, the Nexus S is more for the smartphone geek and the Desire HD the smartphone connoisseur. The Nexus S is a bare bones high-end smartphone with the ultimate OS and blazing speed but without all of the eye-candy the Desire HD offers and you can’t really call the Desire HD slow or sporting a funky OS. Ergo a draw.
Side note – I’m always drawn to owning a Nexus handset knowing whenever Google updates their Android OS I’ll be one of the first to have it and a chance to play with it. As always I look forward to your opinion so don’t be shy.
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