Shopping for a new Android phone

New Phone Shopping
For work reasons I had to get an Android phone so for several days I went on a research frenzy, learning as much about Android phones and the choices available.
Now I have to admit, I went into this research with a favorite in mind, the Samsung I9000 Galaxy S. So there was a wee bit of bias and I was basically looking to add just a few more positive comments to confirm my choice so I could hightail it to the nearest Samsung shop.
But in order to give my choice a semblance of being "well-thought out", I had a short list of three choices

1. Samsung I 9000 Galaxy S
2. HTC Desire
3. Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

The specs of these phones are very close to each other. In terms of screen size, the Samsung and Sony have 4 inch screens while the HTC has a 3.7 inch screen. They all have 1 GHZ processors, the HTC and Sony are Snapdragons while the Galaxy S is a Hummingbird. 2 of them have 5 Megapixel cameras (HTC and Samsung) while the Sony has an 8 Megapixel camera. All are capacitive touchscreens. Their cash prices are within 5k of each other.
But for comparisons sake, here are best "zero interest" prices, though the period is different for the Galaxy (all prices in Philippine Pesos):

1. Samsung Galaxy S – 33,000 ( 3 months)
2. HTC Desire – 31,000 (12 months)
3. Sony X10 – 31,000 (12 months)

A disclaimer of sorts, before the purchase, I had 1 phone from each of the manufacturers being evaluated. I have an Omnia 2, HTC HD2 and a Sony Ericcson P1 ( I actually have 2 more Sony's, a K810 and a W850).
The reviews are all over the net and I will just post the links later, in the meantime here are the final pros and cons about each phone which I used to finalize my decision about which to choose.
SAMSUNG GALAXY S    

PROS:

1. The Super AMOLED screen the best, by a big margin
   
2. Hummingbird processor, coupled with graphics processor makes it theoretically faster.
   
3. HD recording (but all 3 will be equal when they are upgraded to Froyo 2.2)
   
4. Largest onboard storage (16 gb)
   
5. Long battery life
   

CONS:

1. GPS performance is mediocre at best
2. No camera flash
3. Phone is prone to pausing and delays
4. Problems synchronizing with Windows using KIES
5. Plasticky feel, build quality is not as sold
6. Quality control issues
7. 
   
   Some apprehensions about Samsung support
   
   
   

HTC DESIRE

PROS:

1. Excellent and mature interface (HTC Sense)
2. Solid build quality
3. Good track record in customer support
4. Excellent GPS performance
5. Froyo 2.2 OTA update available now
6. Fast and responsive

CONS:

1. Battery life is quite short
2. Camera is nothing to write home about
3. Small memory card (2 GB)
4. Limited memory available for applications

 
SONY XPERIA X10

PROS:

1. Best camera by a large margin
2. Scratch resistant screen
3. Good battery life
4. Good GPS performance
5. Solid build quality

CONS:

1. No FM radio
   
2. No smart dialing
   
3. No multi touch
   

After going over all of the reviews, I finally decided (with some reluctance) to get the HTC Desire. As I said earlier, I went into this exercise wanting the Galaxy S, having been salivating over it for the past 60 days or so.
However, the 2 major deal breakers for me were the crappy GPS ( my Omnia 2 has mediocre GPS too) and the build and quality control issues. When you pay 30k ++ for a phone, you expect everything to work. The E72, one of the phones on my shortlist of wanted phones, or even my E71, have much better GPS performance than the Galaxy and the build of the E series is reknowned.
So being the proud owner of a new HTC Desire, do I regret the decision?
I most definitely don't. The phone is awesome, and it feels so solid. In fact, it has replaced the Omnia 2 as my main phone. I still have the Omnia 2 but it has been demoted a bit to the less-used sim.
I only have one regret – I should have gone to the Android OS much earlier. So far, the OS has been really great, fast and stable. The programs included in the stock package are excellent and the free apps via the app store are quite competent.
There are a few areas where Android still has to play catch up, which is in the multimedia and connectivity with MS Office applications. For instance, the sound of the Omnia 2 is well ahead of the Android pack and the storage space of 16 GB for programs under Windows Mobile 6.5 is unheard of in stock Androids.
I must confess though that I have decided to get one more Android phone in the near future. And yes, it is the Samsung Galaxy S. Before you point out that I had criticized the phones value for money, let me say that the reason I will get it is because of a serendipitous sequence of events where I will give up my Sun broadband sim which has been performing dismally ever since I got it, and an irresistible offer from Globe where I can get a great data and voice package while ending up spending less.
Hopefully I will have the Galaxy S in a few weeks and once I do, I can do a real life comparison of both devices.
Lastly, I am tempted to get the X10 too, because of its great camera. That's how much I like the Android system.
But Nokia has the N8 coming up and from all indications, this is the best camera sensor ever. It packs a digicam sized sensor in a smartphone! But that is another story which I will post here in the future.
In the meantime, I am loving my HTC Desire more and more each day and won't trade it for anything else at this point.

 
Links to the reviews:
From GSM Arena
Galaxy S
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_i9000_galaxy_s-review-478.php

Desire
http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_desire-review-468.php

Xperia X10
http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_ericsson_xperia_x10-review-463.php