CNET's mega touchscreen showdown

By Joseph Hanlon on 03 September 2009

Showdown

Choosing a touchscreen smartphone is getting more and more difficult. A year ago you could buy an iPhone and feel safe in the knowledge that you were buying the best touchscreen available. But can the same be said now?

Aside from what a phone looks like and how easy it is to use when making calls or sending messages, there is a growing range of different functions you'll want to consider before jumping in and buying one or the other. Do you plan to use the phone for business? Will you use it regularly to watch videos or take photos of your friends?

Stepping into the ring for this touchscreen showdown are four of the most interesting touchscreen smartphones of 2009, including one yet-to-be released handset, the HTC Hero. We've broken this contest into three rounds, a review of the hardware, a look at media support, and a final round that breaks down applications, web browsing, social networking and business productivity.

Hardware

Apple iPhone 3GS

Samsung HD Icon

Nokia N97

HTC Hero
Screen size 3.5-inch 3.7-inch 3.5-inch 3.2-inch
Resolution 320x480 360x640 360x640 320x480
Touchscreen type Capacitive Capacitive Resistive Capacitive
Multi-touch Yes No No Yes
Physical keyboard No No Yes No
Processor 600MHz 600MHz 434MHz 528MHz
RAM 256MB 256MB 128MB 288MB
Storage 32GB 8GB 32GB 512MB
MicroSD No Yes Yes Yes
HSDPA 7.2Mbps 7.2Mbps 3.6Mbps 7.2Mbps
HSUPA No 5.76Mbps No 2Mbps
Wi-Fi Yes Yes Yes Yes
A-GPS Yes Yes Yes Yes
Bluetooth V.2.1 with A2DP
(headset support only)		 V.2.0 with A2DP V.2.0 with A2DP V.2.0 with A2DP
USB Proprietary connection Micro USB Micro USB Mini USB

Even a quick scan of the table above shows these smartphones are very evenly matched. There are a few differences in processor speed and RAM, and some slight variations in screen size, but overall these are phones with similar connectivity options and external sockets.

We've given a point to the phone with the best specification in each of the rows, or multiple points where phones had matching specs.

Topics: hero, iphone, mobile phone, n97, touchscreen, hd, icon, yes, showdown, app

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Comments (27)

  • Karizma commented on 10/09/2009 22:55 Report abuse

    WOW .. !!! What an achivement, IPhone can change ringtones after more than 2 years of first release.
    A 7 years old phone could do that. This is what i do not like about iphones, they are incredible but "Crippled" devices, i have one 3GS, I realy miss the Customisability of nokia on it.
    Yep.. looking forward to N900

  • pauls commented on 10/09/2009 15:36 Report abuse

    yey!!!! iphone now can change ringtone...finally... firmware 3.1.. $1.29 a pop for each ringtone..

  • sephx commented on 09/09/2009 08:50 Report abuse

    i've used it,n i dont really like itunes..u cant use iphone for storage unlike other mobile. nokia n htc always comesup with firmware update aswell not just iphone..sure iphone is fast it bcoz it cant multitasking which important.. but u cant really compare the phone unless u used all the phones n test all the features. which i prefer Hero..

  • GizmoGod commented on 09/09/2009 02:34 Report abuse

    Add Nokia N900 to the list and all the mentioned will look week and feeble, its size and flash video can be a problem for some, but its a monster of a device. Nokia seems to be getting back to the business, alot of things depend on OVI store too, as Appstore has come a long way

  • Bearz commented on 07/09/2009 23:32 Report abuse

    Iphone 3gs should have been the clear winner for the speed, operating system, app store, Itunes store and more. Sure samsung looks big and hd but i bet they couldn't have great firmware updates like apple. It comes down to content and what the phone has and the longterm. Apple have more than a million apps and only have the one button, the home button. to many buttons just suck. Sure no flash disk with the iphone or sd slot but who cares. it has 32gig. You cant marl a phone on specs alone you need yo look at content like xbox better than ps3, because of the content.

  • O2user commented on 07/09/2009 10:37 Report abuse

    In the past I bought a very expensive HTC/O2 and it became fault after only 6 months. The company told me to fix it you have to sent it to us for at least 2 months to check whether there is a problem or not. I will never ever buy HTC again. Choose a good brand.

  • my HERO commented on 06/09/2009 07:32 Report abuse

    for me i think hero, but i've seen samsung screen like WOW!!! it is far from other mobile screen, really like the amoled display.

    iphone is the best for responsive (built with samsung proccessor)but cant send music or files through bluetooth, cant customize UI (unless jailbreak), and battery is bad.

    nokia is the best for camera 5mpxel with dual led

    but hero is fast,responsive,customizable,easyto use

  • vee commented on 06/09/2009 07:21 Report abuse

    of course HTC hero....android unlike windows mobile which too much lag....and unlike iphone which android user interface is customizable. android fast, multitouch, and many other cool stuff... Symbian..hmm...not even close...

  • mob commented on 06/09/2009 00:14 Report abuse

    yeah yeah samsung again.... always biased towards samsung.

  • Dinuka commented on 05/09/2009 22:51 Report abuse

    hi, gotta agree with Marcus's comment.

    I also want to add, I had a Samsung Omnia before (although not the same as the HD phone, it is relatively close), i had to say it was great at first but after a few weeks i was bored. Problem is that Samsung don't have application or the support that Apple has.

    Now i have a iphone, and loving it.

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