HTC Droid DNA vs Windows Phone 8X
HTC used to be the top smartphone manufacturer in the USA few years back before Samsung got hold of that title. However, that hasn’t slowed them down because we are seeing some awesome and diverse smartphones from HTC these days. The specialty about HTC was that they reached diverse corners of the market by differentiating the operating system. HTC incorporates both Google Android and Microsoft Window Phone in their flagship products and let them play for themselves. Since they had Windows Phone smartphones even few years back, their design didn’t stumble on awe like the Nokia’s Lumia series did. However, these smartphones are certainly inspiring and serving. Today we will consider two smartphones from HTC; one running on Android and the other running on Window Phone 8X. HTC Windows Phone 8X has been announced for some time and due to be released this month while HTC Droid DNA was only announced this month. Apparently this was announced in Japan under the name of HTC J Butterfly on October, but Verizon has taken it’s time to introduce this to the USA market. We have no information about an international version of this smartphone though. Let those worries aside, we will compare HTC Droid DNA and HTC Windows Phone 8X side by side and help you to make your purchasing decision clearer.
HTC Droid DNA Review
Usually, each flagship device from individual manufacturers has some unique and innovative feature they use to boast in marketing campaigns. Obviously this feature or features may not be that innovative or unique, but if they can conduct a good marketing campaign, people will perceive them as innovative products. In the case of HTC Droid DNA, however, this is not the case. HTC certainly boasts about the 1080p full HD display panel and that is a very good feature to emphasize in this handset. HTC Droid DNA has 5 inches Super LCD3 capacitive touchscreen featuring a resolution of 1080 x 1920 with a provoking pixel density of 441ppi. As we mentioned, this strikes as a controversial step to many analysts out there, and it is worth to check their views on the matter. The argument they are making is that you won’t really feel any difference when you have a screen with a pixel density of 441ppi and a screen with a pixel density of 300ppi. This according to them is a phenomenon of the human eye, but recent researches prove this to be wrong and it is implied that this misconception of the human eye cannot distinguish between a 300ppi screen and a 441ppi screen is encouraged by the announcement made by Steve Jobs when they introduced Retina display. Certain studies carried out implies that the human eye can distinguish a display panel with a pixel density up to 800ppi pessimistically and even more than that if you are optimistic about the calculations. Summing all these technical information in to Layman’s terms, we are trying to imply that 441ppi display panel is not a feature that doesn’t serve any purpose.
Now that we have established that, let us look what more Droid DNA has to offer. HTC Droid DNA is powered by 1.5GHz Krait Quad Core processor on top of Qualcomm APQ8064 chipset with Adreno 320 GPU and 2GB of RAM. The operating system in use is Android 4.1 Jelly Bean which will obviously be upgraded to v4.2 very soon. We can’t deny the fact that this configuration itself is very lucrative and bears the characteristics of a smartphone that can reach the top of the market. If you take a close look at the specs, you can see that HTC Droid DNA has the exact raw hardware as of Google LG Nexus 4. The internal memory is fixated at 16GB with 11GB of capacity available to the user without the ability to expand using microSD card. Now let us consider two aspects connected to the massive display panel. To enjoy the true HD display panel, you will need to have the capacity to put 1080p Videos at your liberty. 11GB is still a large capacity, but when you consider all of your other requirements like the photos and recorded 1080p videos, power users may find the memory restriction daunting. The second aspect is more favorable which is the performance of the GPU and CPU needed to recreate vivid graphics on a 1080p full HD screen at such a high pixel density. If there’s any configuration capable of doing that, I’m sure that is the Snapdragon S4 hence HTC’s choice is correct. However, they would have to address the problem of battery draining in powering up such a massive display panel. We’ll get in to that subsequently.
At a glance, HTC Droid DNA is really thin and stylishly attractive. It is also very light compared to the usual phablet range scoring a weight of 141.7g. HTC will release a CDMA edition as well as a GSM edition of Droid DNA while enabling users to enjoy Verizon’s super-fast 4g LTE connectivity. Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n adapter ensures continuous connectivity even when you’re out of range from your LTE network. As usual, it comes with DLNA and the capability to host your own Wi-Fi hotspot to share your internet connection with your friends. HTC has decided to include a 8MP camera in Droid DNA as the main snapper. It has autofocus and LED flash along with simultaneous HD video recording and image capturing. The new video stabilization engine promises better video captures than before with 1080p HD video recording at 30 frames per second. The front camera is also a 2.1MP wide angle camera that can capture 1080p HD video @ 30 frames per second, which would enable you to enjoy your video conferences immensely. The battery is relatively small at 2020mAh, and we are waiting for official announcements on how it would perform throughout the day without draining excessively.
HTC Windows Phone 8X Review
HTC has injected a vivid blue and violet color to this attractive smartphone. It also comes in Graphite Black, Flame Red and Limelight Yellow. The handset is somewhat in to the thick side of the spectrum although HTC has disguised it with the tapered edges which makes others perceive it as rather a thin smartphone. It comes with a unibody chassis which we can complement due to the aesthetically appealing design. It is powered by 1.5GHz Dual Core Krait processor on top of Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon S4 chipset with Adreno 225 GPU and 1GB of RAM. The handset is powered by Windows Phone 8X as indicated by the name. However, Windows Phone 8X didn’t have a completed build of the operating system just yet so we won’t be able to talk about the aspects of the OS right now. What we can guess is that the handset would have acceptable performance matrices with the high end processor it has.
One of the things we didn’t like about HTC Windows Phone 8X is its stagnating 16GB of internal storage without the option to expand it using SD card. This may well be a deal breaker for some of you out there. However, the handset comes with Beats Audio Sound Enhancement; so, a premium audio quality can be expected. It has 4.3 inch S LCD2 capacitive touchscreen display featuring a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels at a pixel density of 342ppi. It is moderately weighed at 130g with evenly distributed weight, which feels good in your hands. Unfortunately, Window Phone 8X doesn’t feature 4G LTE connectivity which might be an issue when competing with rivals. Compensating that, HTC has offered NFC connectivity along with Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n for continuous connectivity alongside 3G HSDPA connectivity. This smartphone has 8MP camera at the back with autofocus and LED flash with the ability to capture 1080p HD videos. The front camera is 2.1MP which is impressive and HTC guarantees a wide angle view with 1080p HD video recording from the front camera, as well. The battery size is 1800mAh with which we expect to have a talk time around 6 to 8 hours.
A Brief Comparison Between HTC Droid DNA and HTC Windows Phone 8X
• HTC Droid DNA is powered by 1.5GHz Krait Quad Core processor on top of Qualcomm APQ8064 Snapdragon S4 chipset with Adreno 320 GPU and 2GB of RAM while HTC Windows Phone 8X is powered by 1.5GHz Krait Dual Core processor on top of Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon S4 chipset with Adreno 225 GPU and 1GB of RAM.
• HTC Droid DNA runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean while HTC Windows Phone 8X runs on Windows Phone 8X.
• HTC Droid DNA has 5 inch Super LCD3 capacitive touchscreen display featuring a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels at a pixel density of 441ppi while HTC Windows Phone 8X has 4.3 inch S LCD 2 capacitive touchscreen featuring a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels at a pixel density of 342ppi.
• HTC Droid DNA has 8MP back camera and 2.1MP front camera that can capture 1080p HD videos at 30 fps while HTC Windows Phone 8X has 8MP camera that can capture 1080p HD videos at 30 fps.
• HTC Droid DNA is bigger, thinner and heftier (141 x 70.5 mm / 9.78 mm / 141.7g) than HTC Windows Phone 8X (132.4 x 66.2mm / 10.1mm / 130g).
• HTC Droid DNA has 2020mAh battery while HTC Windows Phone 8X has 1800mAh battery.
Conclusion
Comparing two smartphones that run on different operating systems is not an easy task. We can break it down to two sections. We can compare the raw specs objectively and determine which would be better. Then we can experiment with our conclusion by carrying out benchmarking tests on these two handsets. However, the second approach may not give absolute results given the benchmarking software will be running on two platforms and hence their characteristics may largely differ. So, we will only discuss the hardware aspects of these two smartphones and give you the chance to determine how these hardware specs materialize in your hand. One good thing about this comparison is that there won’t be any manufacturer biasness given both smartphones is from HTC. However, the operating system biasness will be there in your mind. HTC Droid DNA is undoubtedly the superior handset of these two when you look at the raw specs. It has a better processor and a better memory along with a better GPU compared to that of Windows Phone 8X. Droid DNA also has a better display panel which is the best in the industry right now offering 1080p full HD resolution at 441ppi pixel density. That been said, the rest of the decision will hang on your hands as we directed before. Let your preference play on these two respective operating systems and pick the one that feels better for you.