[Entertainment72]

A touchscreen is a touchscreen, right? Hardly! As MOTO pointed out in our recent Do-It-Yourself Touchscreen Analysis post, “All touchscreens are not created equal.”

With our simple test technique — which basically consists of using a basic drawing application and a finger to slowly trace straight lines on the screen of each device — it’s easy to see the difference in touchscreen resolution from one phone to the next. Results with straight lines indicate a high degree of sensor accuracy; less-precise sensors show the lines with wavy patterns, stair-steps, or both.

After we published our first comparison of four touchscreen smartphones, a few critics found fault with our DIY testing technique. Many of of these comments centered around the idea that our human-finger methodology is prone to inconsistency, due to variables in finger pressure, line-straightness, or tracing speed.

Human Error?
Our response to these arguments is pretty simple: These are all fair points. Nevertheless, we’re confident that such inconsistencies do not distort the basic results of our touchscreen shootout. In other words, the inconsistencies are real, but they don’t make much difference.

Nevertheless, to satisfy the critics, we decided to give them exactly what they asked for: We wrote a script for MOTO’s laboratory robot and then re-ran the comparison to see how the touchscreens stack up when the lines are drawn by our robot’s slow and precise “finger.” (See the robot in action, in video below.)
Video
Add Some New Contenders
Before running the robot test, we also decided to satisfy the many requests we received to add the Palm Pre and the Blackberry Storm 2 to the mix. How did the new phones perform? The Blackberry and the Palm touchscreens both performed fairly well. The iPhone still retains its crown as King of the smartphone touchscreens, with the Nexus One in a distant second. Take a look:

Read More and watch the video......

[mikeo007]

Well now we all know what phone robots are going to buy...

[Speedv1]

I'm surprised that the Storm 2 did so poorly - I would rate that pretty high on the touch screen list..

[evilhunter101]

I'm surprised that the Storm 2 did so poorly - I would rate that pretty high on the touch screen list..

I am not surprised the S2 did so badly. It wasn't built with this is mind. Actually, this just shows us even more why it's sometimes very hard to select text on a S2. Of course this doesn't have any real world implications, but oh well, still cool.

Another reason the S2 may have done badly is because it is a click screen, being a click screen it doesn't need to be super accurate like an iPhone because we can select and then confirm our selection by clicking where as on an iPhone-like device it's much more important to get it right the first time.

[Entertainment72]

Another reason the S2 may have done badly is because it is a click screen, being a click screen it doesn't need to be super accurate like an iPhone because we can select and then confirm our selection by clicking where as on an iPhone-like device it's much more important to get it right the first time.

I was under the impression the S2 removed the sure-press or "click" effect?

[Entertainment72]

I am not surprised the S2 did so badly. It wasn't built with this is mind. Actually, this just shows us even more why it's sometimes very hard to select text on a S2. Of course this doesn't have any real world implications, but oh well, still cool.

Of course it does in typing/texting, gameplay and a wide variety of applications. It adds to the overall user experience.

[evilhunter101]

I was under the impression the S2 removed the sure-press or "click" effect?

Nope, supposedly all device's in the Storm line will have a click screen. It's different now, but it still clicks.

Of course it does in typing/texting, gameplay and a wide variety of applications. It adds to the overall user experience.

Lol, I suppose your right but how much accuracy does someone need?