Comparing the giants: HTC Titan vs Samsung Galaxy S II

The challenge

Apple may reap 50 percent of total profit from all smartphone sales worldwide (though having only 4 percent of sales), but clearly there are a slew of emerging competitors ready to take on its crown. Infused with advanced level of technologies, well to do specs and more 'collective' operating systems like Android and Windows, these smart mobile systems do have the potentiality for a more encompassing customer base.

Samsung Galaxy S II vs. HTC Titan

So, let us shift our focus from the trials and tribulations of iPhone 4S, to its more immediate commercial adversaries like the HTC Titan and Samsung Galaxy S II. Both of the products come from renowned electronic giants, while both of these conceptions also allude to that 'new era' for smartphones exceeding iOS. In our present state where smartphones have progressed beyond just being considered as bantam cousins to tablets, it would be really interesting to see how the above mentioned systems stand on the comparison basis.

1. Operating System

In this new era for smartphones, two operating systems are about to clash big time, and they are Windows and Android. In this respect the HTC Titan is considered as one of the best Windows based phone available in the market. On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy S II is also critically acclaimed among Android based phones.

Winner

In this regard, the Titan emerges as the winner, because it is one of the very first phones to be infused with an updated Windows 7.5 OS with touted Live Tiles and 'People' hub. On the other hand, Samsung Galaxy S II still has Android 2.3.5 (Gingerbread), which is clearly slated for major upgradation (in the form of Ice Cream Sandwich).

2. Camera

The HTC Titan comes with equipped with a 8 MP primary camera, which can capture images at 3264x2448 pixels with auto-focus, LED flash and geo-tagging. The video capturing unit gives 720p, while a secondary front camera comes with 1.3 MP. While the Samsung Galaxy S II exhibits all the above features along with touch focus, face and smile detection and image stabilization.

Winner

The Samsung Galaxy S II is the clear winner in this case with not only a plethora of added features, but also with its HD video recording capability at 1080p.

3. Software

In some ways directly related to the running OS, both of these phones have gone through only preliminary testing. The Windows experience in Titan was sufficiently good, except for a few glitches like 'back' button taking you back to the home page or some minor cases of non-responsiveness in interaction. While the Android Gingerbread of Galaxy S II has been tried and tested with a myriad of customizable options.

Winner

Then again, the HTC Titan can be considered as the first device that has boldly taken advantage of Windows 7.5's massive upgrade, and so we mark it as the winner. Now, people who want more personalization with their apps can certainly go with Samsung.

4. Performance and battery life

The HTC Titan is powered by a single core 1.5 GHz Scorpion processor with Qualcomm MSM8255 chipset. While the Samsung Galaxy S II is powered by a dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor.

Winner

When we consider the scope of smartphones, a dual core processor can only give better performance on a few areas like 1080p video recording. On the other hand it can also diminish overall battery life due to faster processing. Taking all of these into consideration we make Titan the winner with its one and a half days of practical battery life (after all phones are meant to make calls as their basic function rather than capturing videos). In comparison, the Galaxy S II exhibits around one day of practical battery life.

5. Display

The HTC Titan comes with a 4.7 inch display along with some features like proximity sensor (for on/off), multi-touch input method and gyroscope sensor. The Samsung Galaxy S II comes with a smaller 4.3 inch display, but with added attributes like Gorilla Glass display and TouchWiz UI v4.0.

Winner

Despite its smaller display, the clear winner in this case is the Samsung Galaxy S II. After all both them have their WVGA system stuck at resolutions of 480x800 pixels. But the Galaxy S II does exhibit 217 ppi pixel density, as compared to 198 ppi pixel density of Titan.

6. Price

The HTC Titan will have a price somewhere around $750, while the latest T-Mobile version of Samsung Galaxy S II will come at $229.99. Though, it should be duly noted that the original April version of Galaxy S II came at around $785.

Winner

If we go for the T-Mobile version, the Galaxy S II is the winner hands down.

The Verdict

Simply put, if you are the more adventurous type, the HTC Titan is certainly the smartphone for you with all its 'Mango' flavored exotic features. But in normal circumstances we have to hand it down to Samsung Galaxy S II; with its tried and tested Android and some clearly interesting features in the sections of display, camera and most importantly revised price.