HTC Desire vs Samsung Nexus S
A spec-by-spec comparison of the HTC Desire and the Samsung Nexus S, taken from their full specification sheets. Green marks the better value in each measured row.
Head to head
| HTC Desire | Samsung Nexus S |
|---|
| Price | $174 | $30 |
| Our rating | 7/10 | 6/10 |
| Battery | 1,400 mAh | 1,500 mAh |
| Storage (max) | 32 GB | 16 GB |
| Screen size | 3.7 in | 4 in |
| Main camera | 5 MP | 5 MP |
| Weight (lower is lighter) | 135 g | 129 g |
| Released | Feb 2010 | Dec 2010 |
Summary: HTC Desire is ahead on our rating, storage (max). Samsung Nexus S is ahead on battery, screen size, weight (lower is lighter).
★ Which should you buy? Samsung Nexus S is the stronger overall pick on the measured specs.
Reviewed by the infozme.com Editorial Team — see how we research & rate phones.
Display
| HTC Desire | Samsung Nexus S |
|---|
| Type | AMOLED or SLCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors | Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors (Super LCD in some markets) |
| Size | 3.7 inches, 39.0 cm2 (~54.6% screen-to-body ratio) | 4.0 inches, 45.5 cm² (~58.3% screen-to-body ratio) |
| Resolution | 480 x 800 pixels, 5:3 ratio (~252 ppi density) | 480 x 800 pixels, WVGA, 5:3 ratio (~233 ppi density) |
| Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass | Oleophobic coating (mentioned for 4G variant) |
| Features | — | Contour Display (slightly curved glass) |
Platform
| HTC Desire | Samsung Nexus S |
|---|
| OS | Android 2.1 (Eclair), upgradable to 2.2 (Froyo) and officially to 2.3 (Gingerbread via manual flash) | Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), upgradable to 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) |
| Chipset | Qualcomm QSD8250 Snapdragon S1 | Samsung Exynos 3 Single (Hummingbird) |
| CPU | 1.0 GHz Scorpion (single-core) | 1 GHz Cortex-A8 |
| GPU | Adreno 200 | PowerVR SGX540 |
Memory
| HTC Desire | Samsung Nexus S |
|---|
| Card slot | microSDHC (dedicated slot), up to 32 GB (4 GB included) | No |
| Internal | 576 MB RAM, 512 MB ROM (150 MB user accessible flash storage) | 16GB iNAND (partitioned as 1GB internal storage, 15GB 'USB storage') |
| RAM | — | 512MB (384MB for OS, 128MB for GPU) |
Main Camera
| HTC Desire | Samsung Nexus S |
|---|
| Single | 5 MP, autofocus | 5 MP |
| Features | LED flash, geotagging | LED flash |
| Video | 480p@15fps, 720p@30fps (via software update) | 480p |
Selfie Camera
| HTC Desire | Samsung Nexus S |
|---|
| Single | No | VGA |
Battery
| HTC Desire | Samsung Nexus S |
|---|
| Type | Removable Li-Ion 1400 mAh battery | Removable Li-Ion |
| Stand-by | Up to 340 h (2G) / Up to 360 h (3G) | — |
| Talk time | Up to 6 h 40 min (2G) / Up to 6 h 30 min (3G) | — |
| Capacity | — | 1500 mAh |
Body
| HTC Desire | Samsung Nexus S |
|---|
| Dimensions | 119 x 60 x 11.9 mm (4.69 x 2.36 x 0.47 in) | 123.9 x 63 x 10.9 mm (4.88 x 2.48 x 0.43 in) |
| Weight | 135 g (4.76 oz) | 129 g (4.55 oz) for GSM, 131 g (4.62 oz) for 4G |
| SIM | Mini-SIM | Mini-SIM |
| Other | Optical trackpad | — |
Comms
| HTC Desire | Samsung Nexus S |
|---|
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, hotspot (Android 2.2) | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n |
| Bluetooth | 2.1, A2DP | 2.1, A2DP |
| Positioning | GPS, A-GPS | — |
| Radio | Stereo FM radio with RDS | No |
| USB | microUSB 2.0 | microUSB 2.0 |
| GPS | — | Yes, with A-GPS |
| NFC | — | Yes |
Launch
| HTC Desire | Samsung Nexus S |
|---|
| Announced | 2010, February 16 | December 2010 |
| Status | Released 2010, March/April | Discontinued |
Frequently asked questions
Which has the better battery, HTC Desire or Samsung Nexus S?
Samsung Nexus S — 1,400 mAh for the HTC Desire versus 1,500 mAh for the Samsung Nexus S.
Which is lighter, HTC Desire or Samsung Nexus S?
Samsung Nexus S — 135 g for the HTC Desire versus 129 g for the Samsung Nexus S.
Which is newer, HTC Desire or Samsung Nexus S?
Samsung Nexus S — Feb 2010 for the HTC Desire versus Dec 2010 for the Samsung Nexus S.
Is the HTC Desire or the Samsung Nexus S rated higher?
We rate the HTC Desire 7/10 and the Samsung Nexus S 6/10.
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