HTC Desire S vs HTC Desire: What's the difference?

By Flora Graham on 25 February 2011, 11:05am

The HTC Desire was one of our favourite phones of last year, but the new Desire S could cause you to be a bit stumped. It's got the same name, same screen size and same processor speed, but is it just the same phone in a new, aluminium suit? It's time to sort the stats from the specs.

Size and weight

The Desire S is slightly lighter and smaller, than its predecessor.

Desire: 135g, 119 by 60 by 11.9mm.
Desire S: 130g, 115 by 59.8 by 11.6mm.

Processor and memory

The Desire and the Desire S both have processors running at 1GHz, but there are differences. The Desire S has a faster GPU, more RAM and more storage than the first Desire.

The Desire S's Adreno GPU claims to give significant improvements in shader performance over the Desire's Adreno 200.

Desire: 1GHz Qualcomm 8250 Snapdragon CPU, with an Adreno 200 GPU. 576MB RAM. 512MB of on-board storage.
Desire S: 1GHz Qualcomm 8255 Snapdragon CPU, with an Adreno 205 GPU. 768MB RAM. 1.1GB of on-board storage.

Camera

The Desire S doesn't pump up the megapixels, but it does add a front-facing camera for video calls and self-portraits.

Desire: 5-megapixel camera, LED photo light, 720p video recording.
Desire S: Same, plus a 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera.

Software

The Desire S will arrive with Android 2.4 Gingerbread, the latest version of Android meant for phones (Android 3.0 Honeycomb was designed for tablets).

The original Desire came with Android 2.1 Eclair, got an update to 2.2 Froyo, and will get another one to Gingerbread -- someday.

The Desire S also includes an online phone-management service called htcsense.com.

Desire: Android 2.2 Froyo.
Desire S: Android 2.4 Gingerbread.

Screen

The screen on the Desire S is the same size as the Desire, and we thought we'd prove it with this fancy comparison photo.

Desire: 3.7-inch, 480x800-pixel resolution.
Desire S: Ditto.

Battery

You'll get an extra 190 minutes of talk time out of the additional 50mAh stuffed into the Desire S's battery.

Desire: 1,400mAh battery gives 400 minutes talk time and 340 hours standby.
Desire S: 1,450mAh battery gives 590 minutes talk time and 430 hours standby.

Connection speed

The Desire S has faster top speeds over 3G, and adds support for the latest 802.11n Wi-Fi standard. It also has DLNA, for connecting wirelessly to home cinema equipment.

Desire: Up to 7.2Mbps download speed, up to 2Mbps upload speed over 3G. 802.11b/g Wi-Fi.
Desire S: Up to 14.4Mbps download speed, up to 5.76Mbps upload speed over 3G. 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi.

Update: We misjudged the Desire S's weight -- well, they do say the Internet adds ten pounds. It's 130 grams, which makes it 5 grams lighter than the Desire, not 5 grams heavier.

Comments 28

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anonymous 25 February, 2011 11:28

Isn't Gingerbread Android 2.3 (not 2.4?)

ChromeShark 25 February, 2011 11:41

@Gareth, 2.4 will be a minor Gingerbread update being pushed to ensure compatibility with dual-core apps. There may be a few other tweaks, but probably nothing major.

Jamma 25 February, 2011 13:01

So not as much difference as i thought, which is fine by me since I got my Desire on a two year contract!

Also, why the hate for proper buttons all of a sudden? I can't stand capacitive buttons and they don't add anything to the device, except in maybe looks, but that's debatable itself

Anonymous 25 February, 2011 15:03

the version 2.4 is not existing so far it will be 2.3.x ant as 2.3 is gingerbread....

Anonymous 25 February, 2011 15:18

Love it. A great refinement of a great device. Very powerful for a phone of its size

doodi_dealer 25 February, 2011 15:37

According to HTC website, Desire S is actually 130g and the Desire is 135g. Not that it makes a huge difference, but just though i'd point out Desire S is not heavier, but in fact lighter.

billfred 25 February, 2011 20:58

The screen is super LCD not AMOLED like the original.

anonymous 27 February, 2011 12:29

Needs twin core CPU, without its left far far behind

J4M35 28 February, 2011 00:23

Twin Core CPUs are unnecessary on devices this small. It's still very powerful for it's size.

anonymous 28 February, 2011 10:32

Instead of copying Samsung, which has money to launching dual-core now, and 3D screen version in Q3/4 - HTC is simplifying the process with more promising upgrade later in the year.

It's worth mentioning, that while CPUs are both clocked at 1Ghz, the 8255 core in Desire S has been shrinked down to 45nm, from 65 in desire. This helped to increase battery, not the extra 50mah battery.

anonymous 28 February, 2011 13:45

I agree with jamma, please bring back the real buttons, or at least the optical trackball. I didn't think I would when I got the phone, but I use them all the time, not sure I could do without them :l

Anonymous 8 March, 2011 23:26

Shame about the lcd screen. I have two Desires, one oled and one lcd. The oled is much nicer to look at, especially when using the kindle app. Cmon Samsung, share the love!

Anonymous 11 April, 2011 19:32

How about music playing capacities and qualities?

Anonymous 13 April, 2011 13:13

Someone who liked the Desire should like the Desire S because it's the same phone, the Desire s is just like a 2011 release of the Desire.

Anonymous 30 April, 2011 06:32

@Jamma Re: Capacitive buttons

Less moving parts on anything = better reliability and less assembly cost. The new "buttons" are just as easy to use but don't risk allowing dirt etc inside the case and reduce the potential for internal damage. They probably also help the HTC margins a smidge on each phone sold.

Anonymous 7 May, 2011 10:39

I love my desire but I won't be bothering with a desire s or desire hd I will wait till there are some more changes in the new devices that are bound to be released in 2012 I think anything before that is a pretty pointless upgrade for what I use my device for.....when there are significant advances in technology I will invest in a new HTC!

Anonymous 15 May, 2011 10:09

One other feature of the desire s that's been overlooked here is that it is UMA enabled. I know that only certain providers utilise this feature (Orange do) but its worth mentioning as very few phones have this. My signal at home is not great so I'm looking at upgrading my desire to the s for this function!

Anonymous 25 May, 2011 12:57

I'm looking at getting either the desire or desire s on contract with Â£5p/m difference. It will be a 2 year contract so which one would you guys recommend? I don't see the point in paying Â£120 extra over 2 years if they are essentially the same phone, or is it worth it? Thanks!

Anonymous 29 May, 2011 15:48

I had the same quandary and found a Â£25pm contract with 3 for a refurbished Desire and unlimited internet, it's Â£32 for the Desire S new. I'd rather pay less and I hear that the Desire is fast on the internet already. Depends on what you plan to use it for. Go for the Desire.

anonymous 30 May, 2011 12:34

What do u mean by uma enabled?what is it use for?

Anonymous 2 June, 2011 14:23

uma is unliscenced mobile access, most effective in low signal areas if connected to wifi, eg from your homes domestic router it can use your router as a signal boost,

Anonymous 7 June, 2011 18:16

I have a blackberry Bold 9700 and wondereded if upgrading to the HTC desire S will be a big improvement.
I am fed up with the failed calls from my blackberry.. I have been offered the HTC desire S for Â£15.00 a month 800 mins ulim text and internet.. 2 year contract on Orange. ?

Snoozer90 27 June, 2011 18:35

damn.... why doesnt the desire s have an amoled ( or aleast an OLED based) screen?? a lot of battery life can be saved since androids are known battety hogs..

Anonymous 28 June, 2011 12:07

I would definitely recommend HTC desire over any blackberry for their efficiency, reliability and the speed of the things: net, general functions etc.

I know many people that have turned away from years of blackberry hype to enjoy their desire handsets.

anonymous 14 November, 2011 22:36

so, should i go for the desire or the desire S ? thats my question...

anonymous 18 January, 2012 20:25

If you are not a businessman or not in the field of work, you're only buying a BlackBerry for on thing.. BBM. At first it's exciting, but after some time is just gets boring and then the infamous BlackBerry faults start happening. My friends has currently got his 6 BB handset. Yes 6th!.

So glad I never jumped on the BB hype train. I knew buying a phone for one thing wasn't going to be worth it.

Anyways, everyone knows BlackBerry's (BBM) is slowly dying. It's all about Android's and iPhone's now.