Each mobile platform has a big hitter that could currently be considered the top of the range device for specification, flexibility and usability. Over the next couple of days I will compare the four main players in the Windows Mobile, Palm, Symbian and Apple markets and examining where each one hits a knockout punch and where they conversely offer a girlie slap.

For Windows Mobile, the TyTN II from HTC is right up there with the competition but there are other smartphones which are knocking on it’s door from a specification point of view. I will use the TyTN Ii for this battle because it is probably the most well known of the ultra smart Windows Mobile smartphones and it has a tilt up keyboard (shallow reason I know). It is an easier choice for the Symbian market because the N95 range has sold so many phones as to be almost invisible these days. The other reason is of course the specification on the newer 8GB model which is truly excellent. Apple is surprisingly covered by the iPhone- that was not a difficult choice, and finally for Palm is the Centro. You could argue that it is hopelessly outgunned in this field, but there is only one Palm smartphone with better specifications than the Centro and it does do well on price and size.

I will be looking at these devices from a UK perspective in terms of pricing and also using vastly differing experiences of each phone. I have been using a TyTN II for over 6 months, an N95 8GB for 4 weeks, an iPhone on and off for about 3 weeks and a Centro over 2 days. These experiences are of course very different, but easily enough to see where they stand in the most important areas any self respecting smartphone should do well in. OK, let’s look at each function individually and give them scores out of 10 for each-

Battery

TyTN II- I can get a good couple of days out of the battery, but do see a dramatic drop with Wi-Fi enabled or GPS without power. 7/10
N95 8GB- very close to the TyTN II, but does slightly better when the heavy functions are turned on. 8/10
iPhone- I found it to be pretty good, even under Wi-Fi, and it is easily the best here. I would give it 8 points if it was user replaceable, but sadly that it not the case so 1 point lost. 7/10
Centro- not significantly better than the Treo 680 and this is disappointing. For a phone with so few heavy draining features, it should do much better. 5/10

Speed

This is one area where I will not even bother to split them. Many people feel that Palm OS is faster, and indeed it does feel snappier, but overall there is so little difference between these phones that I will give each one 8/10.

Size & Weight

TyTN II- feels heavy (is heavy) and has a rather bulbous design. 5/10
N95 8GB- light and feels good in the hand. A bit fat though, but there is a lot in a clever design. 8/10
iPhone- nice and slim but somehow feels quite heavy. Looks quite large next to a face. 7/10
Centro- not the best design in the world, but curiously feels smaller than the rest. 9/10

Memory

TyTN II- decent RAM and ROM which caters for Windows Mobile Professional well, and the miniSD expansion helps. 6/10
N95 8GB- enough memory to multi-task and capacious space for music and video. 8/10
iPhone- as per the N95, except that the latest version has 16GB. 9/10
Centro- enough memory for running Palm OS and no more, plus a miniSD slot for expansion. 5/10

PIM

TyTN II- good enough built in applications, with a huge range of add-ons to supplement. 8/10
N95 8GB- not great at all in my opinion. There are a handful of third party replacements available, but all in all the PIM side is disappointing. 5/10
iPhone- looks good, feels good but is not fully featured enough to be a serious contender in this area. 6/10
Centro- none of the above can match the finesse of Palm PIM. 10/10

Data Input

TyTN II- touch screen and full slide-out QWERTY keyboard- enough said. 8/10
N95 8GB- no touch screen and standard mobile buttons. Can be tiresome to input calendar entries or respond to emails. 5/10
iPhone- touch screen keyboard which some people swear by. I have never liked it, not one bit. 6/10
Centro- front mounted Treo like keyboard plus touch screen capability. The best here and in my opinion no other device has matched Palm in this area. 9/10

Current scores- TyTN II: 42, N95 8GB: 42, iPhone: 43, Centro: 46

Throughout this process, I have not added up the scores as I went along and was genuinely shocked that the Centro is winning. Come back tomorrow for part two to see if the Centro can maintain it’s current position.

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