Let's get it started! The Third Annual Smartphone Round Robin officially begins NOW! For the first week we're taking a look at Windows Phone and seeing how it compares to our very own Android. From an Android standpoint, there's definitely a lot to learn from Windows Phone, from having multiple form factors to developing apps for different versions and screen resolutions to HTC and more, there's just so many similarities.
I've started a thread over at the WMExperts Forums to gain a better understanding of Windows Phone and am especially eager to learn more about this powerful smartphone platform. On another note, if you want to lend a helping hand to Crackberry Kevin, he's asking questions about Android in the Android Central Forums as well. Remember, to enter our win a smartphone contest you have to participate in the forum discussion (details here)
After the jump, you'll see my hands-on video with Windows Phone with a whole lot of help from WMExpert's Phil Nickinson. We've also got great comparison pictures that showcase both platforms' flagship devices. The two Windows Phone devices we used, the AT&T Tilt 2 and HTC HD 2, are amazing pieces of hardware, how do you guys think the software will hold up?
Find out in our hands-on video after the jump!
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16 Comments
The HTC HD2 looks nice!
lol, it runs Windows.
The video don't work.
I think it looks great and does a lot of good stuff (customization, etc.). Still hesitant to make the jump...
What weather is that?
How do you get the weather on your home screen like in the picture it shows here? Looks like a Sense UI thing..
How So? please be more specific...what can your android do that a windows phone doesn't?
besides Goggles becuase that is still in beta.
These are great WinMo phones, but the OS is just too outdated for me...
Weather widget : Weather widget donate
Calendar widget : Pure calendar (I am the dev)
I like the idea behind this "showdown". Too bad not that much was shown of the WinMo. I agree that home screen and weather widget look nice, but that's not exactly what I use the phone for, so I don't understand why so much attention was focused on that.
And I'm still not convinced to WinMo. And the reason is shown on this video at around 7:25. Once you leave the nice and comfy UI crafted by HTC, you get this. Crappy, tiny UI widgets that come straight from Windows 3.1 circa 1992. Not only does it look horrible, but is hard to use in normal mobile phone usage scenarios. And forget about using your thumb for that.
Over and out.
Use a WM phone and you will see that they are not as bad as blogged about. They have come a long way. WM and Android have many similarities. Far from Windows 3.1.
i personally think that htc should have hardware like the hd2 for android...its like they build super sexy hardware for windows but not for android...
The first problem WM has is perception (bashed by blogs that have legacy WM use). Android which in my opinion has many similarities with WM (HTC Sense) is the new phone O.S. darling of blogs it also has very good Marketing. WM is not the iPhone in forms of User Experience but WM6.5 and HTC are really working towards making the WM user experience much better. "Windows 3.1 circa 1992" it is not! If most people actually use the devices instead of reading about them they will see. The functionality and hardware for many of the WM devices are astonishing especially the Touch Pro 2 and HD2. I am not a WM apologist and they do have some work to do. Android and WM have many similarities with looks and feels depending on carrier. But with the right tools and changes with WM7 as well as good marketing of hardware and functionality of WM6.5 /WM7 all the fortunes can turn around very quickly.
I agree that perception of WM is rather bad, but there are reasons for that. Before companies like HTC took matters in their own hands and started implementing massive customizations, the vanilla WM was (and still is) just horrible. It's an OS that uses desktop-like UI ideas and mechanisms on a much smaller device. It just doesn't work well (unless you really enjoy using stylus). Thank god for customizations and sane application developers that actually know how to make usable mobile UIs. And IMHO, applications are where WinMo really shines. Android will need a lot more time to get such high quality apps. And the last WM device I used was HTC Diamond (and I was not impressed).
OK... I'm going to come clean before I get started with this. I've been a long time WinMo user who decided to take a leap to the Hero when it came out. About two weeks later (before my return option was up) I returned it and got a Touch Pro 2. I'm not regretting that choice. I'm currently running a WinMo 6.5.3 custom ROM which is as smooth and finger friendly as the Hero, but with the smooth integration of a decade of experience that MS has in the phone market. Its true. This should have been released two years ago. Its true MS is late to the game, but I couldn't find one area other than the new Google Maps and perhaps the Web Browser services that Android really beats WinMo. Being able to build and flash custom ROMs and have sites like XDA and PPCGeeks (which both also support the Android devices) make customizing the winmo phones easy and cool.
It would be great if someone could do a comparison with the 6.5.3 and Android 2.1 for comparison purposes. I think WinMo would come out fairly well.
Thanks for the review and I'm looking forward to future comparisons.
Interesting review. Windows Mobile still has to convince me, but it looks darn good and runs on great devices.