Never thought I'd be posting here since I do solo research.. but this has been bugging me:

Battle Royale >> HTC Incredible S vs. Sony Arc <<<<< ????????

IS
- no rooting yet, complicated by locked down bootloader? Pretty much 50/50 for now if and when can be rooted
- techy/geeky design due to the hunchback, and only in black so far
- when placed face down, camera lens touches table. prefer not to have case
- long volume bar not much tactile feedback, easy to mispress
- still on Froyo
+ got HTC Sense, which is one of the better custom skins = HTC Locations for cached maps without needing Internet connection
+ dual LED flash
+ front camera
Price around RM1,700 (RM1,570 AP)

Arc
- no root yet, but online comments indicate Sony might actually encourage "responsible" rooting
- physical back button reported to be too close to screen, easy to mispress
- whites on the screen might be slightly yellowish compared to other phones
- plastic back is fingerprint magnet
- no music playback controls on lock screen
- no front-facing camera
+ on Gingerbread 2.3.2 w00t
+ cool arty design, available in silver, black, blue, etc
+ thinner at 8.7mm and lighter
+ dedicated camera button, although unfortunately small and hard to press
+ slightly higher display resolution (854 x 480)
+ better battery life (1500mAh)
> claimed "back lighted Exmor R" camera sensor, but most online reviews show marginal low-light performance only?
> Bravia display is also not a big deal according to some reviews
Price around RM1,900 (RM1,700 AP)

Anyone has any of these phones??

This post has been edited by hspace: Apr 5 2011, 10:47 PM

@ astria > Oh, you mean Google Maps 5? Can it be used for Malaysia/Asia? I thought only US, and have to use that "Brut" maps hack for other countries?

@ DJFoo000
If you notice, I didn't list out htcsense.com in the features for the IS.
"Prey" does almost the same thing, is working right now, and is free. It's amazing. Can work across brands. Just search for it in Market or online.

@ astria > Thanks for the GB list. Hmm.. wonder if the Arc has hidden NFC capability.

How about actual daily usage of the IS vs. Arc? Anyone?

What mathematical theorem did you use to arrive at the differential of only "4 lines of pixels"?

There is also more than 1 upside as was listed out earlier, including dedicated camera button, slimmer and generally aesthetically better etc. If anything, the Exmor R is not actually a significant upside btw by some of the reviews.

I'll all for reasoned discussion, but this is too much bias dude!! How about reading the list again.

Lastly his budget is RM2.5K so expensive is not really an issue in case of Arc or IS. I'm trying to decide between both myself.

This post has been edited by hspace: Apr 6 2011, 09:49 PM

@ atria Thanks for jumping in. I'm loathe to leave HTC, as I love Sense. I mentioned that is one thing I'm concerned about - unfortunately HTC seems to changing. HTC is now locking down the bootloaders of their recent phones. Definitely would not characterize newer HTC phones as mod-friendly this time round. You said Thunderbolt etc were eventually cracked, but IS is still a question mark.

Well, Arc is a question mark also since I'm not sure if there is any root yet. But, SE in direct contrast to HTC's bootlocking, actually stated they will encourage responsible forms rooting in the near future. Sony's skin for the Arc is also minimal and the most unintrusive out there amongst the big non-Google-branded phones - by most reports, this is to ease Android updates. More proof - Arc has the 2.3.2 shipped. Seems they are more committed to updates this time round, while 2.3 for IS is promised, but not delivered yet. It took me a good while to get 2.1 for my Hero (which is officially still stuck at 2.1 btw).

So both are question marks, and so we have to leave rooting/mod-friendly out of the deciding factors if comparing IS, Arc or SGS. Have to look at other points for now, agree?

This post has been edited by hspace: Apr 6 2011, 10:06 PM

Some comparisons don't show "significantly" better pictures with the Arc though, even for the touted better low-light performance, so that's why still comparing. Low-light will still need flash, seems the Exmor R doesn't do that much more. Did you see any reviews there the Arc's camera is "significantly" better?

Thanks.

@lost123: OK agreed, HTC's cameras were never their strong point. The question is - is the Arc's camera much better than the IS?

Thanks, that review is not bad. However, the IS is not compared. From what I viewed/watched:

Photos with lighting > iPhone 4 has the best pics
- clear, sharp and nicely lighted
- Arc's seem a bit dull and muted. Quite apparent to me in the barber photo

Photos with low-light > Arc is marginally better, but not significantly

Videos with natural lighting > iPhone 4 is the most natural
- just the right exposure
- IMO this time, Arc's seem to have too high contrast, making it seem a bit unreal
- both have visible "stuttering" when moving. Is it due to the phones' fps, or youtube?

Videos with indoor light > Arc is definitely better
- can see details better

Screen quality wise, IS has much better blacks, while Arc (probably due to the LED backlighting) has "brighter" blacks, but this also results in more detail that can be seen.

So far, conclusion from what I observed: if really want good pics for non-low light general use, go for iPhone 4 But if take lots of indoor videos, go for Arc.

edit: I'm wondering if it's due to my monitor's brightness/contract setting, cos I don't want to praise the iPhone 4 too much

This post has been edited by hspace: Apr 6 2011, 11:03 PM

Already discussed, older HTC phones have a lot of custom ROMS. Newer HTC phones, not so sure yet because looks like HTC starting to lockdown the bootloaders, which they have never done before.

But 1 thing is probably easy if only deciding between Arc & SGS2 - if you can live with and like the current features of Arc, then just buy it now. It's a very capable phone.

If not, just wait then, cos it looks like SGS2 is definitely a better phone in terms of specs. It's not out yet, so no one has used it on a daily basis to give a true answer. Anyway, by then newer phones will be announced also that might be better than SGS2, then you'll be waiting again?

Ya that might be true. If in May, about 1 more month liao.

Or if this is your first Android phone, you can also buy older 2nd hand Android phone first to tide you over Then when you get SGS2, sell the older phone to me or other forummer

This post has been edited by hspace: Apr 7 2011, 12:02 AM