We’ve been getting excited about the Nokia N8 for some time, and now we’ve actually played with the device and seen a little of what it’s capable of, we can’t wait for the finished product. How does it get on against rival smartphone, the HTC Desire? Join us after the break for our Nokia N8 Vs HTC Desire shoot out…

The HTC Desire is one of the biggest rivals for the Nokia N8, proving a very capable all-rounder. However, with a host of great features and an impressive design, we think the Nokia N8 may well have what it takes. Read on to find out more.

Camera

At 5-Megapixels, the HTC Desire’s camera is perfectly capable of taking very good snaps. It’s not outstanding, however, and is bettered by the wide-angle sensor found in the Nokia N8. With the sensor also proving the biggest ever found on a smartphone, the camera on the Nokia N8 really is capable of producing staggeringly good photographs.

Construction

Although the HTC features aluminium in its construction, we still think the Nokia N8 has the edge when it comes to build quality. Undergoing an anodising process, the Nokia N8 is more robust than the HTC Desire, and the predominant use of one colour, along with diamond cut edges to the aluminium casing, looks better than the HTC Desire’s casing.

Check out our Nokia N8 hands-on preview

Storage

While HTC Desire users are limited to using storage cards on their smartphones, the Nokia N8 provides an excellent 16GB of storage, with a microSD slot also in place for adding more. As such, this is definitely the phone to opt for if importing your music collection or storing lots of videos is a priority.

Speed

The HTC Desire set the bar, with its smooth running Android operating system and 1GHz processor. However, from what we’ve seen the Nokia N8 is more than capable of bettering it, with the use of a dedicated GPU alongside the CPU helping to deliver formidable multi-tasking abilities. Even when running intensive applications, the Nokia N8 proved speedy the majority of the time we had our hands on one. 

Satellite navigation

With the Android OS developed partly by Google, it’s no surprise to see Google Maps on the HTC Desire. It’s an excellent satellite navigation device then, but Ovi Maps and the Nokia N8 make up a better all-round package. With a premium service such as the Lonely Planet guide and turn-by-turn navigation, Ovi Maps helps to make the Nokia N8 the phone to have.

Features

The Nokia N8 has a couple of stand out features that make it a very capable handset indeed, and the HTC Desire struggles to compete. We’re particular fans of the HDMI-out port, for instance, and with the ability to output Dolby 5.1 sound through HDMI it makes a very adept media device. Nokia is also looking at bundling a couple of handy cables with the Nokia N8, we were told yesterday, with a USB-in cable letting you plug in a memory stick – or even another phone – to easily transfer files.