HTC Legend vs HTC Desire vs Google Nexus One

The Google Nexus One

Android phone superfight:

Looking over the other two on trial here, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the Google Nexus One doesn't really have a prayer against the might of HTC's own children.

But the Nexus One is a powerful beast in its own right - pulling in some of the same specs as the HTC Desire, but adding in some upgrades too.

Take for instance active noise cancellation. This means that when you're walking down the street and the traffic gets too noisy, the person on the other end of the phone won't notice almost at all - which is a pretty handy trick.

Android phone superfight:

It's also got support for a dock as well - meaning you can pop your phone onto your desktop and play Bluetooth music in wonderful A2DP stereo sound too.

And while many are cooing over the Sense UI used on the HTC Legend and Desire, it's certainly not suited for all tastes, with the plethora of home screens looking a bit much at times.

Android phone superfight:

The Nexus One also has the added weight of Google behind it - which device do you think will always get the next Android upgrades first? That's right - its own child.

The trackball and smooth touch sensitive keys are bound to appeal to another demographic, especially those that find the optical trackpad a very strange experience to use.

Android phone superfight:

And the little touches, like living wallpaper, are present on the Nexus One - we're not sure it's automatically better than the HTC Desire, but it's certainly another option worth considering.

Who's gonna buy the Nexus One?

Those clued in to the way Google is working will probably favour a little bit of the Nexus One over the HTC Desire - simply because it's a native home overlay, making it much easier to code over the top of.

Yes, we don't have a UK release date or even UK pricing, but we're still fans of a trackball and smoother touch sensitive keys - so don't rule out the Nexus One just yet.

Read TechRadar's in-depth Google Nexus One review

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Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief

Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.