Head-to-Head: HTC HD2 versus iPhone 3GS (1)

To find out the answer, we have pitted the HD2 and the iPhone in a head-to-head contest.

 [1] Size and Weight:  The HD2 measures 4.74x2.64x0.43inches (120.5x67x11mm) (LxBxD) and weighs 157gm (5.54ounces) whereas the iPhone 3GS measures 4.5x2.4x0.48inches (115.5x62.1x12.3mm) (LxBxD) and weighs 135gm (4.8ounces).

 Winner:  Tie. There is not much difference between the form factor of the two smartphones except for the fact that the HD2 is slightly, but unnoticeably, heavier and bigger because of the bigger touchscreen it accommodates.

 [2] Display:  The HD2 boasts of a whopping 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen with 480x800 pixel resolution display while the iPhone has a 3.5-inch touchscreen with 480x320 pixel resolution display.

 Winner:  The HD2. The HD2 sports a whopping 4.3-inch WVGA capacitive touchscreen with 480x800 resolution display (larger than the one featured by its predecessor HTC Touch HD, which itself boasted of a generously-sized display). In other words, things like web browsing or watching YouTube videos are, not surprisingly, more enjoyable on the HD2 than what one could expect from iPhone's smaller 3.5-inch capacitive multitouch screen with 320x480 resolution display.

 [3] Camera and video recording:  The HD2 boasts of 5-megapixel camera with autofocus, LED flash and video recording (@30 fps) while the iPhone boasts of a 3.15-megapixel camera with autofocus and video recording (@30fps).

 Winner:  The HD2. On paper, the HD2's camera looks far superior to the iPhone, especially because the latter's camera is not accompanied by a flash. However, the video recording quality of both are similar.

 [4] Connectivity and Wireless:  Both the phones are quadband and GSM-based. Both the phones boast of 3G, WiFi, EDGE, GPRS and Bluetooth and both lack infrared port. However, the HD2 has a microUSB port which the iPhone lacks.

 Winner:  Tie. There's nothing to differentiate the two phones as far as connectivity and wireless features are concerned.

 [5] OS:  The HD2 runs on the latest Windows Mobile 6.5 platform whereas the iPhone runs on the proprietary iPhone OS 3.0.

 Winner:  The iPhone. The biggest drawback of the HD2 is simply its OS - Windows Mobile 6.5 browser.