Smartphone shoppers with an inclination for Windows Mobile are about to be faced with a really serious problem later this year -- our favorite kind of problem, in fact. In the QWERTY arena, the
Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 and various incarnations of the
HTC Raphael are setting up to go head-to-head in a battle royale (ironic, since both are
made by HTC) that will pit VGA against WVGA, WinMo 6.1 with TouchFLO against WinMo 6.1 with Sony Ericsson's custom "panel" interface, and 7.2Mbps HSDPA against 7.2Mbps HSDPA. If that ain't an even fight, we don't know what is, and we think that it'll probably come down to carrier availability for a good number of folks that are hoping to score one on a contract discount. Anyway, the::unwired has unearthed a full spec sheet for the T-Mobile-branded version of the Raphael, the
MDA Vario IV, and the hearty 256MB of RAM and 512MB of ROM are just two of the many line items worth drooling over. A little competition never hurt anyone, eh, Sony Ericsson?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
TareX @ Jun 1st 2008 8:48AM
-Screen:
Xperia wins with it's widescreen display.
-Keyboard:
Raphael wins. It has directional keys, and an extra row for numbers. (no need to switch Fn)
-Software:
Raphael wins. Sure the panels are amazing, but WM needs a GUI more than it needs multiple start screens.
-Form factor:
Xperia's widescreen + arc display makes it a a winner.
-Power:
Xperia's battery is 1500 mA
So between both, I'd rather have...... the widescreen. The battery is an extra plus. I'd definitely miss Raphael's TouchFLO 3D, but the display is what really matters to me.
AT the end of the day I'm getting the HTC Dream, so maybe someone else serious about either of these phones could give them better thought.
Surur @ Jun 1st 2008 10:36AM
Yes, they dont both have VGA. The Raphael has a 2.8 inch 640x480 screen, while the Experia has a 3 inch 800x480 WVGA screen, same as for example the Eeepc.
Davide-NYC @ Jun 1st 2008 11:05AM
The 800px wide screen wins IMO. Hopefully some 'cooked' ROMs will be released for the X1 and we can all have the best of both world in terms of software.
Alex @ Jun 1st 2008 12:10PM
This is a tough choice. Here in the U.S., it will definitely come down to carrier availability.
David @ Jun 1st 2008 12:24PM
I agree, so anyone care to speculate on which one at&t is getting? seems to be the X1 at this point.
Christian Walters @ Jun 1st 2008 12:28PM
Wait a second here, the Rapheal is a Smartphone? I thought that it was a Pocket PC(IE touchscreen) device? And what about the X1, isnt it supposed to be PPC?
Alex @ Jun 1st 2008 12:44PM
It is a touchscreen device. It runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro.
Christian Walters @ Jun 1st 2008 4:11PM
are you sure about that? It doesnt have an Soft Keys which are a MUST for a touchscreen device, and it has a HOME and BACK button, which are a MUST for a Smartphone sevice...methinks the rapheal is a Smartphone, not PPC
MasterCKO @ Jun 1st 2008 6:19PM
It's definitely Pro.
Christian Walters @ Jun 1st 2008 6:23PM
That does not matter, you have too look at the device itself. A device WITHOUT SOFT KEYS that has instead an ANSWER, END, and HOME and BACK keys falls under the Smartphone category.
af241 @ Jun 1st 2008 8:42PM
The HTC Raphael is WM6.1 pro. It's a PPC with touchscreen support. As for the Home and Back buttons, at the moment If you press the home button fromany window it goes to the home tab of the HTC's TouchFLO 3D and ifyou press the back button while on TouchFLO 3D it goes to the next tab. Same as HTC Touch Diamond.
Long Story short: It's more or less 18mm (w)Touch Diamond with 256 MB RAM and 512 MB ROM, slide out Keyboard, Micro SD slot and without 4GB internal storage
Locke @ Jun 1st 2008 12:34PM
What's with the Z and Y keys? Is that a standard European thing I don't know about?
Gwailo @ Jun 1st 2008 12:48PM
What's this permanent question about QWERTZ keyboards, is this a U.S. thing?
Yes, there's something more outside North America and no, it's not a standard European thing. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qwertz and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AZERTY
jrk @ Jun 1st 2008 3:56PM
yeah, the qwertz is for germany.. as in, this phone is for t-mobile, which is a german carrier.... hmmmmm.
just try a standard french keyboard, then you'll really get messed up (azerty)
Rene @ Jun 1st 2008 1:44PM
For me (and many T-Mo subscribers) its simple really:
Ralph: No 1700MHZ radio
X1: 1700MHZ radio
XPERIA wins by defualt if you are a T-Magenta USA user who wants 3G in your currently slow EDGE-y life...
oliver hart @ Jun 1st 2008 1:45PM
(ironic, since both are made by HTC)
since when does htc make sony's devices for them????
and i thought what seperated a pocket pc from a smartphone was more than a touchscreen. am i wrong or arent the pocket pc's specs better?.
ive been looking forward to both of these and im torn. Ive always had an htc device and im a bit unsure about buying a sony...
would someone please clarify the "both are made by htc" and the "smartphone" issue, arent these pocket pc's???
derX @ Jun 1st 2008 2:46PM
The whole PPC v. Smartphone was how Microsoft differentiated between touchscreen and non touchscreen devices with WinMo 5. For WinMo 6, it seems, they make this difference clear with the "Pro" distinction for non-touchscreen ones...if I have it right. All PPC are smartphones, Microsoft just has you conditioned to think if they aren't explicity called PPCs, they are without touchscreens. They both have them.
Now, although the Xperia is branded by Sony Ericsson, it's actually manufactured by HTC (this info is via the link in the post, btw). This is pretty obvious when you observe the X1 and HTC Diamond side-by-side.
MasterCKO @ Jun 1st 2008 6:20PM
"Pro" is for the touchscreen enabled WinMo, btw.
derX @ Jun 1st 2008 8:23PM
Thanks, MasterCKO, 'twas a mistake.
David @ Jun 1st 2008 2:20PM
PocketPC is a PDA (Microsoft's brand name), therefore both X1 and the HTC Vario are "Smartphones" with Windows Mobile 6.1.
Sony contracted HTC to build the Expiera X1 : http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/10/no-wonder-sony-ericssons-xperia-x1-is-so-good-htc-makes-it/
HTC's roots are in manufacturing and designing phones for other companies, much like Quanta and other Taiwanese manufactures are contracted to build Apple, Dell, Lenovo (etc.) notebooks side-by-side.
TareX @ Jun 1st 2008 5:59PM
Just to clarify:
SE designed the entire phone inside-out. They only employed HTC as a "factory", for their good reputation in build quality.
SE seems to stress this fact so people don't think HTC 'made' the phone, and SE just sticked its name to it. This is far from the truth.
Alex @ Jun 1st 2008 6:37PM
Yeah, after thinking this over, I'd say I'll go with the X1. Widescreen, HTC-built, Sony-designed, and the supposed existence of a possible future 1700 MHz-rocking version. I'm also hoping they got the whole graphics-acceleration thing down. Obviously the build in that theunwired.net video was in the earlier stages, but that thing was begging for some acceleration. Here's to hoping HTC and Sony get the most out of that Qualcomm chip set and give us a 1700MHz version to boot.
BChau @ Jun 1st 2008 7:23PM
Hard choice indeed. The HTC Raephael does support TV-OUT. So I can take it to a broadroom and use that to do presentation by connectiong to a data projector. Resolution is probably 640x480. It would be nice if the output resolution can be 1024x768 though.
discount bob @ Jun 1st 2008 11:22PM
Hey, you keep what you do in the broadroom private.
Freddy2Fred @ Jun 2nd 2008 11:07AM
So... which carrier is it gonna be on? AT&T or T-Mobile? And if its on T-Mobile, is it gonna support T-Mobile's 3G service on that phone?
fyreblazer @ Jun 2nd 2008 11:11AM
It'll come down to availability in the US which means X1 will win by default because I'm betting the Raphael doesn't come out until next year here.
Moot point, I want the HTC Dream, but will take either an X1 or Raphael depending on which is out and has a better price.
Erick @ Jun 2nd 2008 7:58PM
I want the XPERIA but since it will run SE things, will it work with the software from HTC like home plugin, Audio Manager??