iPhone more accurate than Droid, Nexus One

MOTO Development Group in a study published Saturday has given the iPhone top marks for the quality of its touchscreen. Comparing it against multiple Android phones -- including the Nexus One, Droid and Droid Eris -- the hardware consultants found Apple's screen is the most accurate and lets users draw smooth, straight lines regardless of how quickly the finger moves or how much of it is in contact with the display. The Droid Eris and Nexus One were next with some erratic behavior with partial contact, while the Droid produced a similar effect no matter what contact has been made.

While all four phones have capacitive touchscreens, the iPhone's victory is credited to it having a small sensor size, a high sampling rate and intelligent-enough processing to determine where the finger is actually moving. The Droid by contrast may have a too-coarse sensor that can incorrectly guess the intended input and produce "stair steps."

Touchscreen performance hasn't been a major complaint for the Android phones in the test, but MOTO suggests that quality should be a greater focus and that companies making touch phones should devote more resources to them and take much of the hardware and software design in-house and as early as possible.

By Electronista Staff