Is iPhone 4 your best buy?
November 16, 2010
The iphone 4 is being challenged by the HTC Mozart. How do the phones compare?
The iPhone 4 is an elegant handset with stunning technology. It is easy to use (no need to read the manual) and it has a long lasting battery much improved from the iPhone 3GS. However, there is a new smartphone, the HTC 7 Mozart, that appears to be impressing the marketplace and challenging the iPhone’s fanbase. The HTC 7 Mozart is slim, lightweight (130g), with triangular rubberized top and bottom segments, brushed aluminium smartness and a serious feel compared to the slightly heavier (137g) iPhone 4.
The HTC Mozart is based on the Microsoft Windows phone 7 operating system and it has only just recently been launched in the UK. This smartphone from HTC has a number of excellent features and specs to its advantage, but can it really match the lure of iPhone 4? This article aims to objectively compare the two handsets in five areas: making a call, sending an email, taking a photo, internet browsing and downloading apps.
Making a call
Your Apple iPhone 4 has an impressive talktime of 372 minutes (much improved from their earlier models) with excellent sound quality, the handset contains a noise-cancelling microphone making it easy to hear your call even during loud background noise. A swipe of the home screen lets you search for contacts, select and tap to choose a landline, mobile or FaceTime video chat. However, when Apple placed the antenna around the edge of the phone it causes reception problems when the phone is held in a certain way. This means we cannot give the iPhone 4 full marks for its basic task of making and receiving calls.
The HTC 7 Mozart processing and performance speeds match the iPhone 4. the screen display of 480 x 800 pixels 3.7-inches S-LCD capacitive touch-screen compares well with the iPhone’s 640 x 960 pixels 3.5-inches LED-backlit IPS TFT capacitive touchscreen. Mozart offers up to 360 h (2G)/ up to 435 h (3G) of stand-by time and iPhone 4 gives up to 300 h (2G)/ up to 300 h (3G) stand-by time – Mozart wins. This number of pixels per inch provides a ‘retinal display’ as it surpasses the point at which the eye can detect individual pixels. But, if we consider talk-time, iPhone 4 is ahead – Mozart giving 6h 40 min (2G)/ up to 5h 30 min (3G); whereas Iphone 4 gives a chatter availability of 14 h (2G)/ up to 7 h (3G). When making a call with Mozart, you find contacts in the People app called ‘hub’. Profiles include a photo and updates from social networks. A plus, you can ‘pin’ favourite contacts to your home screen.
Sending an email
With an iPhone 4 you open the email app and tap an icon to bring up a blank message. A chunky querty keyboard fills half the screen available and leaves limited space to write your message. Some users find the spelling checker over helpful which is a minus. Mozart uses a Windows phones email app which has a clean, business-like interface. The touchscreen keyboard was the best – this new smartphone has obviously learnt from its rival’s failings.
Taking a photo
The iPhone 4 has a 5Mp camera while the Mozart has an impressive 8 Mp. The iPhone 4 camera has an LED flash, a backlit sensor, and an integrated 5x zoom. The lack of a dedicated shutter button makes the phone slow to snap but the photos, once achieved, look terrific. You also have a second front-facing camera. The video calling ‘FaceTime’ feature is an interesting option that only works on wi-fi. One-touch keys will send your photos as emails or picture images but there is no quick way to post them to Facebook or Twitter.
The Mozart 8 megapixel camera with Xenon flash, autofocus, and 720HD video recording should more than satisfy the keen photographer with a resolution of 3264 x 2448 pixels. Hit the shutter button and the phone moves swiftly into camera mode. Look at your ‘Pictures hub’ to admire your photos and then share them on Facebook and enjoy automatic uploads to your free online account.
Internet browsing
The iPhone 4’s Safari browser has a Google searchbar built in. Pages load quickly and the phone is wi-fi capable for when you are in a wireless hotspot. There are useful tabs for News and Image searches. The phone runs on Apple’s impressive operating system iOS4 which will ultimately allow a host of new capabilities, not least the ability to multi-task by running several applications at once.
Mozart does not use Google but Microsoft’s Bing search engine – you hit the magnifier icon and the results are similar to Google’s. Hold the Windows button down for voice-activated searches.
Downloading Apps
No-one can beat Apple Store for games and apps – the choice is mind-blowing with about 300,000. After crediting your iTunes account, downloading and installation is really easy – just enter your password. The iPhone 4 is available with either 16GB or 32GB of internal memory, this gives you room to save all your favourite music tracks but it lacks an FM radio.
Windows Phone Marketplace currently only offers about 1,000 apps – they work smoothly and you are able to try out games before buying.The large display is perfect for those of you who like to be entertained (Xbox Live Gaming) especially when coupled with the handset’s Dolby Digital surround sound.
Conclusion
This article has attempted an unbiased review of the merits of Apple iPhone 4 when compared with the latest HTC Mozart handset. Iphone 4 has much to recommend it to seasoned smartphone users and apart from its camera’s capabilities it tips the scales in its favour – no surprise there then! However, the word is spreading among the techie’s that the Mozart is a serious contender with a great fresh new user interface, great camera and fantastic web browser. Perhaps that accounts for the Sunday Times Ingear Tech & Net journalists Mark Harris and Matt Bingham opting for HTC 7 Mozart in their Xmas stockings?
Let us know what you think?
Apple iPhone 4 PAYG can be bought from Apple for £499.
Visit the three website for iPhone 4 PAYG and reconditioned handsets at competitive prices.
visit the t mobile website to buy PAYG iPhone 4 handsets
Visit the Orange website as the HTC 7 Mozart is available now for £399 PAYG or consider a free handset with monthly deal.
Comments
Got something to say?