Real life Windows Phone 7 vs iPhone 4 speed test

May 1, 2011 | By Surur

Microsoft has launched a number of ads showing how much faster Windows Phone 7 is in completing real life tasks than other smartphones.

Phillip Bach, a Microsoft Student Partner from Santa Clara University put the claims to test on video, pairing his Samsung Focus with a friend’s iPhone 4.

The task was to complete the following list as fast as possible:
1. Take a Picture
2. Upload Picture to Facebook with Caption (“Check out my new hat!”)
3. Update Status (“I love weekends!”)
4. Find Directions to a Restaurant (Olive Garden)
5. Get Movie Times (“Fast Five”)

With both phones connected to WIFI the Windows Phone beat the iPhone by about 10 seconds.

Have any of our readers done real life speed test stories? I know the search button on all Windows Phones have already made me look a lost smarter on many occasions. Let us know your stories below.

About Surur

Site Admin and Windows Phone enthusiast, he has been using Windows Mobile devices since before they were called PocketPC’s. He is currently sporting a HTC 7 Trophy.

Tagged iphone, video, windows phone 7

StevieBallz

If only the search button was remotely useful outside the US/UK… lets hope this improves until Mango hits…

AAA

It will be many useful if it transform to the universal search, right now it many useless.

http://twitter.com/ussherpress @ussherpress

If the Windows Phone user didn't have to change the camera settings each time he launched it, he might shave even a few more milliseconds.

Nice comparison. I've gone back to the iPhone to test out how it feels after using WP7 for months and it definitely feels slower to navigate and move around in it. Windows Phone really feels like it has more "breathing" room whereas the iPhone feels more sluggish and claustrophobic.
andrewbares

Eh, you can find a number of other situations where the iPhone beats WP7 in speed. What if you also had to tag the photo with people? iPhone would win.

It's pretty dumb to do these little comparisons, but it floats our WP7 ego I guess.

zzz

WP7 automatically downloads FB friend's pictures? Does iphone do that?

peter maidment

why would you want any connection to FB what ever that is ?

0711

if you have fb (facebook) and want to use it on phone -> you want it
rsg

Dude. Have you not realized that Facebook is not going away?

Ignore it if you like, but it's got 1/10 of the worlds population already.

Bob

exactly, when i'm reading a windows phone blog i want completely biased news dammit.
Arvydas

Well, open FB app and do it. It would still win

Andrew

Nah, it probably would loose. The FB app is super slow on WP7.

http://www.facebook.com/chuckwhit Chuck Whitaker

yeah it really is slow, i actually dont even bother opening the app. I just use the People hub for simple FB tasks

zzz

Good thing the iphone 4 had a bumper case and it was on Wifi. Otherwise it might not have completed the tasks at all.

BTW Surur, that "10 seconds" is in sped up video time. In real time, it probably would have been more like 20-30 seconds.

Anthony

It was 10 seconds in real time, they slowed down the video at the end.

zzz

Got it.
Alex

They speed up at the beginning, but slow down after wm7 finished to make an illusion that it is twice as slow. Good job.

Andrew

The HD7 suffers from signal degradation too…

zzz

You are confusing the signal blockage due to hand wrapping around the antenna (common to all phones to large extent) with the iphone4's problem of exposed antenna killing signal with just a tip of finger. They are two different issues. Steve Jobs wanted people to be confused like you are.

Andrew

But the fact still holds that if I hold my HD7 with my left hand, my signal drastically decreases or even drops.

The iPhone may loose signal from just one finger, but in real world use, the HD7 and the iPhone are identical, since if you're holding a phone with your left hand, it'll be your entire palm covering it anyways.

zzz

You still don't understand. iphone 4's antenna shorting issue IN ADDITION to the hand cupping degradation which is common to most phones. Measurements have consistently shown iphone 4 suffers more signal strength loss than other phones. That makes it more susceptible to call drops and data rate reduction.
rsg

And then we wonder why Apple is "improving" the antenna design in the next iPhone.

It's because they screwed it up in the first place!

Jon

It's not always speed that matters, but I'm pleased that the app I'm building is twice as fast as its most popular iPhone counterpart.
xXx

IP4 allows IM and socket apps…. These functions alone wins WP7 hands down… Enough said….
rsg

Once you actually use the phone to find locations, you realize how well it works.

1. Hit the search button
2. Type location
3. Swipe in Bing and get directions/phone numbers/ address/ url

Very, very well done.

Nicholas

Unforunately it doesn't work very well in Germany, which makes me yearn for google maps/places on WP7…

Machiventa

This test is skewed because they're picking things that WP7 was built to do really fast.
GoGoGadgetLiver

When I travel overseas I just pin my hotel to my main screen. It leaves a 'get home' map button with turn by turn and a one click call.

Meh, give one to your senile relative with your home GPS marked and IM/email/Phone. Seriously, just a Tile button. They'll make it home 90% of the time. For the other 10 you can use 'find my phone' to gps locate em… or put a note or remote wipe (after they change their will and you drop em off somehwer…you know, just sayin' geez).
http://www.mobiletrackingsoftware.co MobilePhone Tracking

i believe that iphone have somehow more speed of task processing than of windows phone i have iphone and a friend of mine is using windows phone but he likes mine.
Jerome.West

Now, Android vs. WP7. I want to see that.
Serneum

Mine syncs through the FB app and puts the pictures on my contacts.
Mihsathe

Ya I think there are much better ways to test the OS speed … this remains dependent upon human efficiency.
http://connorcpu.myopenid.com/ connorcpu

And are these tasks its built to do not common tasks that should be quickly completed on a phone?