The amount of smart phones available at the moment is absolutely staggering, but in all honesty (in my opinion) they fall into two categories; iPhone and not iPhone. There does however seem to be an upsurge in demand for the HTC Windows phone in recent months and I’m curious to find out what exactly it has to offer. If you are too, then read on.

The hardware:
This quality device comes with a super 4.3 inch LCD touch screen display, a 1 gigahertz snapdragon processor, 16 GB onboard storage (Asia Version; 8 gigabyte on the European one), 5 megapixel camera with dual led flash, a 3.5 mm headphone jack input, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth and an integrated kickstand that is rock solid and a dedicated camera shutter button (which many mobile phone producers seem to have forgotten lately). Unfortunately, the HTC windows phone does not provide a slot for micro SD therefore memory expansion can be a problem. Probably the only significant negative feature I found on the phone.

The software:
The beautiful thing about the Windows phone 7 is how well everything is integrated. In the startup menu you will see a long list of tiles (hubs) displaying a variety of information: emails; text messages; calls; calendar events; a hub for regular Microsoft software such as Microsoft Office; Internet explorer; Bing (Search) and an Xbox live hub where you can download and play games. There is also a HTC hub that gives you the weather, information on stocks, a clock and access to apps where you can browse and download easily.

The phone can be connected with your Xbox live account through the Xbox live hub. The music and video hub allows you to connect with your youtube account and the People Hub pulls all your contact info from Facebook, Google and Windows live so you can view every status update or every new picture your friends post online, just by visiting your address book.

The Showdown: Android vs. iOS vs. Windows phone:
All Windows 7 phones until now, have featured only internal storage (no micro SD slot – which is the same with the iPhone ). When it comes to flexibility, Android appears to be the champion. Android stands out for being the only mobile OS to support Flash and the only mobile OS to have Wi-Fi hotspot support . However, you can move any important app to the Start menu of your Windows Phone 7 just like its competitors. In addition, if you don’t like touch screens or are a fan of QWERTY keyboards, you might as well forget the Windows phone 7 OS as the touch screen is a requirement that Microsoft has imposed on all WP7 handsets. That said, if you don’t like touchscreens then you probably shouldn’t be reading this article.

When it comes to media and the Internet, the one to beat is definitely the iOS. The media capabilities of the iPhone are well documented and we have all come to realise that Internet explorer is really one of the slowest browsers in the market (making it a painful experience). However, the integration with cloud services for contacts really makes you feel connected with the world (which, despite being able to do so on Android, does not feel the same).

Bottom line: it all comes to usability. The WP7 will excel at business, Apple at entertainment and media, and Android in its liberty and customization. The Windows Phone 7 is really quick and responsive and for those who are tired of the endless pages and the constant scrolling, the WP 7 is a really good alternative with a tidy and neat design.

Izaak works for a London SEO Agency as an SEO Engineer. His clients include charities, politicians, travel companies and operators of airport lounges.