I have a few tests to go through with each of the devices (Xperia X10, Nexus One, HTC Desire), then you can come to your own conclusions to which is better overall. I’ll throw in my thoughts just to give you an idea.
So hit “Read More” to get into it!
Overview
Just to set the record straight of what device is running what and so forth.
- Sony Ericsson Xperia X10i (Unbranded)
- Android 1.6
- Baseband: 1.0.16
- Kernel Version: 2.6.29
- HTC Desire (Telstra)
- Android 2.1
- Baseband: 32.30.00.28U_4.05.00.11
- Kernel Version: 2.6.29
- Google Nexus One (Unbranded)
- Android 2.1 (CM)
- Baseband: 32.26.00.24H_4.04.00.03_2
- Kernel Version: 2.6.33.3
Each device has the same 1GHz Snapdragon CPU but with different amounts of RAM, each device will have it’s strong and weak points.
Let’s get into it!
Contents
Network
In for this test, I’ll do a speedtest over the networks as well as over WiFi to see which device is faster.
They are in order of Optus -> Telstra -> WiFi
Xperia X10
– 
– 
Desire
– 
– 
Nexus One
Note: 3G isn’t working on my N1, so I can only do the WiFi test, sorry.
Speaker Loudness / Quality
For this test, I played the same song (Muse – Neutron Star Collision) across the devices to see which had better speaker quality and loudness, without distortion.
Xperia X10
The Xperia X10 was quite loud, and didn’t distort during more full on parts of the song, but it sounds like the speaker is being played out of a tin can. There is a massive lack of bass, which makes it almost painful to listen to. It’s quite a let down considering Sony Ericsson’s phones are usually very multimedia based.
Desire
The Desire has a very full/rich sound. There is more bass which makes it sound clearer, but it isn’t as loud as the X10. I much prefer this over the X10
Nexus One
The Nexus One is very much the same as the Desire due to it’s hardware being almost identical. Clear, full & very nice to listen to.
Browser Speed
The Browser Test was completed by getting of each of the devices to visit Browser Load Time Stopwatch to see how long it would take to load the page. Each device was using the same WiFi connection.
Xperia X10
16.002 Seconds (Click on image for larger version)
Despite longer loading times, the X10’s display makes it easy to read text from a distant zoom settings. Whereas the Desire & N1 are harder to read when zoomed out.
Desire
13.637 Seconds (Click on image for larger version)
Nexus One
13.413 Seconds (Click on image for larger version)
Startup Test
Pretty straightforward test this one. Boot up the phone, and time it until it has completely booted.
Xperia X10
Startup time: 34.9 seconds.
Desire
Startup time: 58.8 seconds.
Nexus One
Startup time: 43.1 seconds.
Benchmarking
With this benchmarking, I just had each phone run BenchmarkPi & Linpack to gather the results.
Xperia X10
- BenchmarkPi
- 6856ms
- Linpack
- 4.135 MFLOPS
- Benchmark
-
null null null
Processor ARMv7 Processor rev 2 (v7l) Linux BogoMIPS 664.53
Memory RAM 274608 Memory SWAP 0
Graphics
Total graphics score;22.749748
Draw opacity bitmap;7.725386;MPixels per sec
Draw transparent bitmap;6.1891813;MPixels per sec
CPU Whetstone
Total CPU score;496.848
MWIPS DP;35.11236;MWIPS(DP)
MWIPS SP;41.85852;MWIPS(SP)
MFLOPS DP;4.4961786;MFLOPS(DP)
MFLOPS SP;5.8619056;MFLOPS(SP)
VAX MIPS DP;25.776737;VAX MIPS(DP)
VAX MIPS SP;24.944239;VAX MIPS(SP)
Memory
Total memory score;317.87982
Copy memory;288.85037;Mb/sec
Filesystem
Total file system score;87.093704
Creating 1000 empty files;5.488;sec
Deleting 1000 empty files;3.804;sec
Write 1M into file;2.8058362;M/sec
Read 1M from file;172.41379;sM/sec;
SD card perfomance
Creating 250 empty files;5.376;sec
Deleting 250 empty files;4.552;sec
Write 1M into file;41.322315;M/sec
Read 1M from file;166.66667;sM/sec;
Desire
- BenchmarkPi
- 3143ms
- Linpack
- 6.61 MFLOPS
- Benchmark
-
HTC HTC Desire telstra_wwe/htc_bravo/bravo/bravo:2.1-update1/ERE27/171554:user/release-keys
Processor ARMv7 Processor rev 2 (v7l) Linux BogoMIPS 662.40
Memory RAM 407900 Memory SWAP 0
Graphics
Total graphics score;26.907843
Draw opacity bitmap;9.538891;MPixels per sec
Draw transparent bitmap;6.918919;MPixels per sec
CPU Whetstone
Total CPU score;662.6978
MWIPS DP;50.65856;MWIPS(DP)
MWIPS SP;52.246605;MWIPS(SP)
MFLOPS DP;6.032299;MFLOPS(DP)
MFLOPS SP;8.652224;MFLOPS(SP)
VAX MIPS DP;33.14035;VAX MIPS(DP)
VAX MIPS SP;33.40154;VAX MIPS(SP)
Memory
Total memory score;313.08676
Copy memory;284.49503;Mb/sec
Filesystem
Total file system score;63.702538
Creating 1000 empty files;12.466;sec
Deleting 1000 empty files;4.974;sec
Write 1M into file;1.5777848;M/sec
Read 1M from file;126.582275;sM/sec;
SD card perfomance
Creating 250 empty files;6.956;sec
Deleting 250 empty files;14.008;sec
Write 1M into file;36.900368;M/sec
Read 1M from file;208.33333;sM/sec;
Nexus One
- BenchmarkPi
- 3065ms
- Linpack
- 7.095 MFLOPS
- Benchmark
-
HTC Nexus One google/passion/passion/mahimahi:2.1-update1/ERE27/24178:user/release-keys
Processor ARMv7 Processor rev 2 (v7l) Linux BogoMIPS 662.40
Memory RAM 395284 Memory SWAP 0
Graphics
Total graphics score;28.508915
Draw opacity bitmap;10.143636;MPixels per sec
Draw transparent bitmap;7.293447;MPixels per sec
CPU Whetstone
Total CPU score;698.18585
MWIPS DP;52.77045;MWIPS(DP)
MWIPS SP;55.0055;MWIPS(SP)
MFLOPS DP;6.6500983;MFLOPS(DP)
MFLOPS SP;9.248034;MFLOPS(SP)
VAX MIPS DP;35.42859;VAX MIPS(DP)
VAX MIPS SP;34.88929;VAX MIPS(SP)
Memory
Total memory score;333.38382
Copy memory;302.9385;Mb/sec
Filesystem
Total file system score;91.62842
Creating 1000 empty files;6.296;sec
Deleting 1000 empty files;4.663;sec
Write 1M into file;2.524615;M/sec
Read 1M from file;181.81818;sM/sec;
SD card perfomance
Creating 250 empty files;8.476;sec
Deleting 250 empty files;6.52;sec
Write 1M into file;37.037037;M/sec
Read 1M from file;238.09525;sM/sec;
LCD vs AMOLED
In this test, I simply took a photo (using the N1) to show the difference between LCD (right) and AMOLED (left). You can draw your own conclusions. But remember the X10 has 65K colours until the update to Android 2.1 in September. But you can clearly tell AMOLED is far more vibrant.
AMOLED (Desire) vs LCD (Xperia X10)
Keyboard Comparison
For this one, I simply typed out the phrase “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” on each of the devices keyboards. I have not practised this phrase, so it’s pretty fair dinkum’.
Xperia X10
Desire
Nexus One
