Pocketnow has come up with some real world scenarios in order to test the subjective speed of various smartphones. Rather than relying on benchmarks and specsheets, they time how long it takes someone already familiar with the phone’s user interface to do certain common tasks one might do with a smartphone. These are recorded on video and posted to their site. Two of the results so far I think are particularly telling.
First, the results from the current hotness, the new HTC Diamond:
- Open email, contacts and calendar: 8 seconds
- Open Google Maps: 6 seconds
- Open a previously-saved web favorite: 15 seconds
- Find and play music from a specific artist: 23 seconds
Now, let’s look at the results of the same test for the Palm Treo 800w:
- Open email, contacts and calendar: 2 seconds
- Open Google Maps: 2 seconds
- Open a previously-saved web favorite: 5 seconds
- Find and play music from a specific artist: 8 seconds
So on average, the "tired, stale" Treo 800w is over three times faster than the shiny HTC Diamond. Personally, I’d rather get stuff done than look good waiting to do it.
2 Comments
Jeff, the test is not really fair with the Diamond. They tested with the normal WM paths (Start -> Programs, etc.) therefore dispensing with the work that HTC has put in making the TouchFlow3D a faster interface.
Since TouchFlow3D is one of the distinctive features of the Diamond I found it would be just fair to use it (or at least publish both results).
I am not shure if event then it would beat the Treo, dedicated keys are always a very fast way to navigate (at the expense of pocketability and screen size, in most cases).
Anyway, great work, and for a long time (I read your site since your dillema was the buying of a Tungsten C or something like that).
The problem here is that this test really isn’t intended to be an apples to apples comparison. Or maybe the problem is that is is. It all comes down to how you define apple.
The point of this test is to compare the raw speed of each smartphone when used as designed for common smartphone tasks. Could I speed up the Diamond by disabling TF3D? Sure, but as you say, that rather defeats the purpose of getting a Diamond in the first place.
Conversely, I could pretty up the Treo 800w by adding Spb Mobile Shell and using finger gestures to move around, but again, this runs contrary to Palm’s design philosophy for the device. Treos are built to be as efficient as possible and squeeze as much speed out of Windows Mobile as they can. (I’m reminded of a Starfury squadron patch from Babylon 5 showing one of the oddly shaped fighters with the slogan “Ugly, but well hung”)
We’re not comparing hardware here, really. We’re comparing user experiences. And in that context, PocketNow’s tests are entirely valid. If you want speed, get a Treo. If you want pretty, get a Diamond. Nothing wrong with either choice, it just comes down to preference.
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