If we forget about Apple for a second, two of the undoubted big names in the mobile phone market are HTC and BlackBerry. Recently, these two esteemed manufacturers have launched high-end phones that are destined to be the pinnacle of their range. HTC has given us the dual-core Sensation phone complete with a large screen and unmatched power, while BlackBerry has now introduced the Bold Touch, a phone that perfectly combines a full keyboard with a high-quality touch screen. So which format stands out, the modern smartphone or the traditional business phone?
One clear advantage HTC has over BlackBerry in this comparison is looks. Despite not being particularly innovative in the design department, the Sensation is still an attractive phone. At 126.1 x 65.4 x 11.3mm, the measurements are still a bit on the large side, but given the screen size on offer, this can be forgiven. The problem with the Bold Touch is that BlackBerry has had to go back to the vertically styled phone that has served them so well over the years. They dabbled with touch screen devices with the nice looking Torch range of phones but ultimately without success and have therefore reverted to the format users usually prefer. The problem here is that a phone that houses more than 30 physical keys will lose a bit of its appeal in the looks department. Despite its clean touches and refreshed design, the HTC will always win in a beauty contest. One area where BlackBerry gives the Sensation a good shot is when it comes to display technology. At almost 2 inches larger and with a resolution of 540 x 960 pixels, you’d imagine this would be very hard to beat. The 480 x 640 found in the 2.3-inch on the Bold Touch works with more pixels per square inch, however the HTC uses its S-LCD panel to great effect, resulting in an incredibly vivid and peppy image. . This is in contrast to the more outdated TFT technology that BlackBerry has chosen to stick with in this case.
If we were to look at the comparative speeds of the two phones, then the HTC Sensation would be ahead of the Bold Touch. The BlackBerry certainly impresses thanks to 1.2Ghz which is actually the same speed as the Sensation’s chip. Where the HTC has a clear advantage, however, is that its processors feature dual cores that allow the phone to handle multiple tasks without putting unnecessary strain on the phone. For this reason, the Sensation runs at a faster speed than the Bold Touch, however, it should be noted that the BlackBerry is actually very impressive in this area, but it doesn’t quite measure up to the exceptional HTC phone.
It is very difficult to compare these two phones as customers would normally go for a device with a large touch screen or a device that offers a Qwerty keyboard. Despite the obvious differences, these two phones are great phones, but the top-spec Sensation stands out in most departments; however, if you’re looking for a messaging device, then you won’t go wrong with the Bold Touch.