The HTC Legend and HTC Desire are closely related Android phones from HTC. The price difference between the two is just Php3,000 as of this writing. I’m here to give you an idea whether it’s worth the extra 3k for getting the Desire or should you just spend on accessories and get the Legend instead?
The HTC Legend’s appearance can be compared to its predecessor, the HTC Hero, with its awkward-looking angled chin but, less steep and of course made of different material.
In terms of the device’s look and feel, I find the HTC Legend a lot sleeker than the bigger and slightly heavier Desire. The Legend boasts an aluminum unibody encompassing the front chin and majority of the back panel with a rubberized plastic cover at the bottom, which also serves as the battery, sim and microSD cover and a rubber panel where the camera lens and LED flash resides. Taking off the cover to access the battery and the sim is also a lot easier in the Legend than the Desire.
I have to admit that although I find the Legend’s angled chin a little awkward, it actually fits better in my palm and find it more suitable for holding even for long periods compared to the Desire. Add to that the fact that the standard Google phone buttons (home, menu, back and search) is placed a little higher on the Legend than on the Desire makes pressing those buttons a lot less strenuous since you can have a better grip on the Legends lower body.
The screen of the Legend is made of a 3.2 inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 320X480 which is slightly smaller than the Desire’s 3.7 inch and 480×800 resolution AMOLED displays”¦ and yes they both share the same problem of being almost unusable in broad daylight.
The HTC Legend is one of HTC’s mid-range Smartphone and the first one running on Android 2.1 with their famous Sense UI. This phone is equipped with Qualcomm’s MSM 600MHz processor, a lot lower in terms of raw power compared to the newer HTC Desire which has a 1 GHz SnapDragon processor. Experience on both devices are quite similar, although I experienced some occasional lag in terms of scrolling, screen animation and application boot time on the Legend which I did not have on the Desire probably because of Desire’s more powerful processor.
It is also important to note that despite running the same Android build, the Legend does not support those really fancy live wallpapers which I really admired in the Desire.
The HTC Legend houses a 5 megapixel camera capable of taking widescreen photos and videos. What is lacking though is the face-detection feature which is present on the Desire which, again, can be attributed to the Desire’s powerful processor.
However, despite the Legend’s less powerful processor, I find that it can get really hot when doing resource intensive tasks on the phone such as playing games, watching videos or even browsing – a behavior I didn’t experience while using the Desire.
Conclusion
All in all, choosing between the two devices is a matter of preference. If processor power is not an issue and you want a sleeker device that fits perfectly in your hand and more pleasing to look at then the HTC Legend would be suitable for you. If you want a bigger screen and more powerful device that is somehow future-proofed, then the HTC Desire is an ideal buy.
It really depends on how you want to use your smartphone. Browsing and video work well with Desire’s bigger screen. For basic smartphone usage, you may find the Legend’s smaller package more convenient. Looking at how much both devices are retailed, it is also a matter of the value you are getting for their price.
Editor’s note: This post is contributed by Roy Sanchez with some slight revisions by the editor. Roy is a regular contributor here at PTB and specializes in Android platforms. He thinks that Android OS will win the smartphone OS wars if it comes to that.