I'm due an upgrade in about a weeks time and these are the 2 phones I've got it narrowed down to – fancy Android and both seem to get very good reviews. HTC Desire is older and more 'established' but the Samsung seems to have more bells and whistles on it than anything else – which makes me think it is more future-proof as the competition will soon be offering the same. It's going to be a 2 year contract so future-proofing is a requirement – I'm a techie at heart and like playing with stuff so I'm suspecting if everything catches up with the Samsung in 7 months time I went with the HTC I'm going to be most unhappy.

Only drawback with the Samsung that I can see is it doesn't have a Flash for the camera – that is the only thing making me not 100% certain on it.

Has anyone got real-time experience of both phones and if so, can you let me know what you think of each and which one you think is better? (I'm thinking the Samsung but I know as soon as I get it I'll 'need' to take a picture where a flash is needed and it'll annoy me).

Thanks.

Was Samsung mentioned on the Gadget show when they were comparing the new iPhone to the Desire / Motorola etc?

I had the same thoughts as you re futureproofing tho my phone change was a few months ago so went with the Desire and have been very happy, I know you want feedback from people who have experience of both though so I shall shut up! 🙂

Id get the gslaxy s although it is the pricier option screen is amazing.

Id get it in shot over the iphone 4 too

Iphone isn't a consideration as it's not that great – the marketing would have you believe it's god's own device but reality suggests it's no better than the competition (worse in some cases); is tied to an app solution that although has thousands of apps, doesn't let you get in amongst it all (which I like to be able to do). Also the marketing from Apple drives me mental so I'm not looking at the Iphone.

Maxray, although I'm hoping for people who have used both, I'd appreciate your thoughts on the unit anyway.

Thanks.

Desire is generally very good but having a few issues with mine:

1) Camera lens scratched very easily – replacements very hard to get.
2) Speaker quality is dire.
3) Mine is dropping signal then not getting it back again until I take the battery out.
4) Also drops internet and doesn't get it back again.
5) Internet occasionally freezes.
6) It won't turn off – have to remove the battery.

*hijacks*

Am in a similar quandry but Desire v Experia…any comments?

Desire

Much better OS, better processor, more modern

Experia

Much better camera
Smaller

The Samsung feels very plasticy & cheap compared to the desire.
Having previously owned a Samsung phone, i'd never have one again as their customer support is shockingly bad.
Desire is in short supply at the moment, but the Desire 2 is on the way. 😉

I originally had the Xperia on my radar but after some chats with users and shop folk, was put off by the real bad battery life…even after an update it's apparently not that great.

Desire and Galaxy apparently can go 2 days easily without a recharge so I'm more interested in that.

Any idea when the Desire 2 will be out? Where do I find out more? It might be the one that ticks all the boxes…bugger, I hate phone upgrade time!

i got a galaxy s yesterday. first impressions- it's incredible. really really fast, the screen is superb and if the only thing holding you back is the lack of a flash then just get one.
most reviews i read were critical of it's looks (in as much as they said it felt light and flimsy compared to the desire) but tbh that isn't an issue for me. i'll be sticking a silicon or gel case on it anyway, but i don't think it's that flimsy regardless.

if you look up benchmark tests comparing the SGS with desire, X10, iphone4 etc the SGS is usually way in front.
plus, android 2.2 is going to be rolled out for it on all networks in the UK next month. the desire doesn't look like it'll have the same quite so quickly.

just got a Desire, did have an iphone, i think its great. there is alot more to play with the the apple. mine was unlocked so its just had the 2.2 froyo treatment and it now loads web pages (on wifi) super fast! battery life isnt great but all in all its a top phone (and it makes phone calls 😯

I have the old Galaxy (i7500, Galaxy S is i9000). Great phone but, the Support from Samsung is diabolical. Android is stuck at 1.5 (unless you go for unofficial 'leaked' ROMs, then you can get 1.6, or go with homebrew ROMs where half of the stuff doesn't work yet). The bundled PC software is broken out of the box and hasn't been fixed in several months. Samsung don't give a toss about this handset for reasons best known to themselves, supposedly a 'flagship phone' at launch.

None of this probably applies to the Galaxy S, but there's a large contingent of people on androidforums.com saying they'll never buy a Samsung phone again.

plus, android 2.2 is going to be rolled out for it on all networks in the UK next month. the desire doesn't look like it'll have the same quite so quickly.

Except that the desire 2.2 came out on monday. And the unofficial one has been out over a month.

From a nerd point of view I like that the desire has a massive load of people doing custom roms and rooting /hacking them. I am absolutely someone who fiddles with my toys mind.

Desire also has HTC Sense 'skin' which I like. Plus other random useful apps and enhancements from HTC. Oh yeah also I broke the digitizer on my hero, also from HTC, and got a spare from eBay dead easy. As the Samsung isn't as popular you may have trouble getting parts if you need them.

I'd go for the HTC, that's who Google got to build their Android phone and they should know.

i've got the Legend (nicer looking desire) and the wifes got a galaxy.

Without a doubt the htc is the better phone, more responsive, better screen, easier to read in high sunlight, the list just goes on.

there is no option,

now if your on vodaphone get the legend as it's the sex.

little smaller that the desire but much nicer to hold.

oh and it got 2.2 this morning 🙂

I'm on Vodafone…will check the Legend out…thanks.

Problems now – one says Galaxy S and the other says Desire…bugger.

Looking at the Legend it seems to be similar to the Desire so same comments about future-proofing I guess…but it also has a flash for the camera…also standby/talktime is slightly lower than the Galaxy S…hmmm, I think I'm still swaying towards the Samsung…

mine and wifes phone both have to be charged at night. that's the rule of smartphones.

I bought a spare battery as back up for my Desire.
I also switch off auto syncing when out and about – doubles the battery life.

There's plenty of tricks to improve battery like. Disable WiFi / Bluetooth / GPS, disable background syncing, disable 3G networks.

It's annoying that you have to, why buy a smartphone if you have to switch everything off? For me though, if I get to the end of the day then that's good enough, it gets charged overnight. I'll switch everything off if I'm going to be away from the mains for 24 hours, eg going to a festival or something. Arguably though, in that situation I'd want to take a cheap phone with better battery life rather than risk losing several hundred quid's worth of handset.

Cougar – going to an all night stag do on Friday (!) and will be taking my old W995!

GF has the SGS. On spec Samsung Galaxy is THE best phone out there at the moment. Fastest processer (same as the iphone and a dedicated graphics chip IIRC). However, the HTC's Sense UI is much nicer to use. The SGS does feel a bit plasticy but it's not as flimsy as you would expect. Desire is a lot tougher feeling. The SGS's 4" screen is brilliant, clear and big which is very handy when typing but bad for portability.
If you can hold off a couple of months then the Desire HD or 2 is out but it will be pricey.
BTW my GF hates(hated) phones and technology in general but she wont let her SGS out of her site.
all IMHO of course.

joemarshall – Member

Except that the desire 2.2 came out on monday. And the unofficial one has been out over a month.

ah, i was talking about the all-network simultaneous release of 2.2 for the SGS compared with the staggered, flawed ongoing desire upgrade(s). that's all i meant.

Surf-Mat – Member

Desire is generally very good but having a few issues with mine:

1) Camera lens scratched very easily – replacements very hard to get.
2) Speaker quality is dire.
3) Mine is dropping signal then not getting it back again until I take the battery out.
4) Also drops internet and doesn't get it back again.
5) Internet occasionally freezes.
6) It won't turn off – have to remove the battery.

I have the Samsung Galaxy I5700 (Spica/Portal/Lite) & have had issues 2, 3 & 4.

xherbivorex – Member

joemarshall – Member

Except that the desire 2.2 came out on monday. And the unofficial one has been out over a month.

ah, i was talking about the all-network simultaneous release of 2.2 for the SGS compared with the staggered, flawed ongoing desire upgrade(s). that's all i meant.

Ther's a bit of an issue with Samsung & T-Mobile about the 2.1 update for the Galaxy i5700. Samsung say it's up to T-Mob, T-Mob say it's up to Samsung.

I gave up waiting & flashed mine with a ROM from Samdroid.net 😆