Comparing High-End Smartphones by HTC, LG, Samsung and Nokia

I guess many of you are familiar with that terrible feeling when you don’t know which smartphone to choose in a certain category of devices.

In these posts of mine I’ll try to compare several high-end smartphones manufactured by HTC, LG, Nokia and Samsung, released in 2010-2011. I think the HTC Desire should be included in this category, together with the LG Optimus 2X, the Nokia N8 and the Samsung Galaxy SL. So let’s compare the main features and the prices of these smartphones to understand which one is the best choice for you.

Screen sizes – All of the mentioned smartphones work in both 2G and 3G networks, but I guess it’s the only thing they have in common. The biggest screen (4 inches) among these devices belongs to LG Optimus 2X and the Samsung Galaxy SL. Both have 480 x 800 pixels resolution. Next comes the HTC Desire with its 3.7-inch (480 x 800 pixels) display, and the Nokia N8’s display in only 3.5-inch with a resolution of 360 x 640 pixels.

Camera – No doubt, the strongest camera in this category belongs to the Nokia N8 – it’s a 12MP camera with Carl Zeiss optics, auto-focus and Xenon flash; it can take pics at 4000×3000 and shoot 720p@25fps videos. The Optimus 2X’s camera is 8MP with auto-focus and LED flash; the photos it can take are a bit smaller — 3264×2448 pixels, but it can shoot videos at 1080p@24fps and 720p@30fps. The HTC Desire and the Samsung Galaxy SL have weaker 5MP cameras with auto-focus that take pictures at 2592 x 1944 pixels and 720p@30fps videos.

Platform – Everything is very easy here – the Nokia N8 runs Symbian^3, and the other smartphones run Android.

CPU – The HTC Desire, the LG Optimus 2X and the Samsung Galaxy SL have 1GHz processors, while the Nokia N8’s processor is only 680 MHz (though it doesn’t mean it’s too weak).

Memory – The HTC Desire has the biggest amount of RAM that ensure the device’s performance — 576MB (and 512 MB ROM). The LG Optimus 2X comes with 512MB RAM, then comes the Samsung Galaxy SL with 478MB RAM, and Nokia is the last in this category – it has only 256MB RAM. I should also mention that all of these smartphones support microSD cards up to 32GB.

Battery – A powerful smartphone needs a powerful battery. And among these four smartphones the most powerful battery belongs to the Samsung Galaxy SL – it’s a Li-Ion 1650 mAh battery. The LG Optimus 2X is the second with its Li-Ion 1500 mAh battery, and the third is the HTC Desire (Li-Ion 1400 mAh). Nokia is again the fourth – it’s battery is only 1200 mAh.

Prices – The last (but not the least important) point is the price. Let’s compare the prices from Amazon. At the moment the most expensive smartphone among these four is the LG Optimus 2X – it costs $439.99. The HTC Desire comes next — $384.94 (was $799.99 once). I didn’t manage to find the Samsung Galaxy SL today on Amazon, but as far as I remember it cost about $400. And the Nokia N8 is $379.00, discounted from $549.00.

By the way, the situation with the prices is slightly different in the European market (according to Amazon.de) – the Nokia N8 is the most expensive smartphone there (€345), then comes the LG Optimus 2X (€333), the HTC Desire (€319) and the Samsung Galaxy SL (€291).

So let’s try to summarize what we have here. If you want a smartphone with a big screen, you should probably choose between the LG Optimus 2X and the Samsung Galaxy SL. Also take into account that Samsung’s smartphone is cheaper than LG’s one and has a more powerful battery.

If the screen size isn’t that important for you and if you want a device with a powerful camera, the Nokia N8 is your choice. And if you want a powerful processor with the biggest amount of RAM, the HTC Desire is what you need.

In my next posts I’ll try to compare some mid-range, low-end, musical and slide-out smartphones, so don’t miss them.