Smartphones Aren't Ready to Take Over from Handhelds

It is admittedly pretty tough to compare hardware specs for the latest handhelds and the latest smartphones because the handhelds are dedicated to gaming, smartphones have a lot more to handle. However, you’re looking at a quad-core processor in the PS Vita and Nintendo won’t specify for the 3DS. They’ve both got cameras, Wi-Fi, gyroscopes and accelerometers. The PS Vita has 512 MB of RAM and the 3DS has just 128 MB of RAM.

In terms of displays the 3DS has a 3.5 inch top display with a resolution of 800 x 240 pixels (it’s 3D so apparently that’s 400 x 240 pixels per eye). The bottom screen is a resistive touch screen without 3D and it has a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels. The PS Vita has a 5 inch OLED multi-touch capacitive display with a resolution of 960 x 544 pixels.

Let’s compare that with the HTC Sensation, one of the latest and most powerful Android smartphones on the market. It has a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor and 768 MB of RAM. It also has Wi-Fi support, gyroscope, accelerometer and a much more powerful camera at 8 MP with the ability to record HD video at 1080p (there’s a front facing camera too).

When it comes to the display the Sensation has a 4.3 inch S-LCD capacitive touch screen with a resolution of 960 x 540 pixels.

There are already a few smartphones on the market that are more powerful than the Sensation in certain regards, but within a few months we’ll see quad-core smartphones with specs to rival the PS Vita and easily surpass the 3DS. Although you have to remember that smartphones have a lot more to do than handhelds so they’ll need better specs to offer the same kind of gaming experience.