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.

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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.

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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)

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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.

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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;

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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)

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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

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9 Comments
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Kennedy

I do have both N1 and X10i but I would like to give one away to my brother which one should be. I like the camera and display on X10 but I have also fallen in love with the OS 2.1 on N1 and CAR HOME feature.

peter

so which do you prefer? whats your conclusion?

Gareth

Regards the problems you’re having with networks etc. you could try fiddling with some “hidden” settings if you haven’t already.

(This works on my Desire anyway, haven’t tried N1):
1. Enter *#*#4636#*#* on the dialer screen
2. Go to Phone info
3. Try setting the “Preferred network type”
4. Other option – hit “Menu” button, then select from the different radio bands

Would be interested to learn if you find any improvements this way!

Simon

if i have to compare between desire, x10, or nexus, it’ll always be the Nexus1 for me. Simply for the following reasons; – Nexus1 will always get OS updates first (google i/o reported 2.2 updates in matter of weeks) – Background noise canceling technology. – X10 is not multi-touch, and i don’t like their UI, tooo gimicky and they tried too hard for the wow factor! i like the default android UI – from what i’ve been reading HTC Sense just kills the battery life. there has been some tests done to compare same devices with Sense on vs off…… Read more ยป

Zardoz

What happened to the X10 on Telstra? 714 ping? Is that a bug or a feature? Other than that, the results seem clear. I’m off to order my phone from the UK, happy that I shall never have to utter the T-word again.
I’ll buy you a beer one day for that, if you like.

Zardoz

It’s not called the Desire for nothing…