Samsung Hercules, HTC Ruby: Will 'Demigod' Outdo the 'Crown Jewel'?

T-Mobile USA will be launching two smartphones, Samsung Hercules and HTC Ruby, on Oct. 26, according to a leaked document obtained by Tmo News. Hercules appears to be a variant of the Samsung Galaxy S2, which has gained credibility and good reviews in other parts of the world.

Galaxy S2 is expected to arrive in four versions -- on Verizon network as "Function"; Sprint network as "Within"; AT&T network as "Attain"; and T-Mobile network as "Hercules."

Samsung Hercules has emerged out of the blue and is expected to be T-Mobile’s flagship phone. On the other hand, HTC Ruby is considered to be a high-end superphone that appears to be of the same shape as HTC Wildfire with rounded corners.

Already T-Mobile has 12 HTC smartphones and five Samsung smartphones on its lineup, but both the new superphones -- Samsung Hercules and HTC Ruby -- will tap into the carrier's 4G HSPA+ network and will be the most feature-rich Google Inc.'s Android smartphones available.

Below are the expected features of HTC Ruby in comparison with the Samsung Hercules:

Display: HTC Ruby is expected to have a 4.3-inch display with a qHD 960×540 resolution providing a 16:9 aspect ratio that's optimum for widescreen video viewing. Hercules is expected to have a 4.5-inch Super AMOLED screen with 800x480 screen resolution.

The qHD is a display resolution of 960×540 pixels which is exactly one quarter of a full HD 1080p and three quarters of a 720p frame, in a 16:9 aspect ratio. This resolution began to become popular for high-end smartphone displays in early 2011. Though there are speculations that in the near future, the market might begin to see 720p HD screens in the 4-4.5-inch form factor giving an effective resolution of 1280x720.

Processor: Samsung Hercules will have blazing fast dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ8060 processor with 1GB RAM. The HTC Ruby, on the other hand, is expected to have dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU with Adreno graphics and 1GB RAM. Even a tablet like HP TouchPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Apple Inc.'s iPad 2 have processors clocking in the range of 1 to 1.2 GHz.

Operating systems: Samsung Hercules runs the latest version of Google’s smartphone operating system, Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS. It is still not known which Android is going to power HTC Ruby but rumors suggest Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS with new Sense UI 3.5.

Camera: HTC Ruby is expected to sport a rear-facing 8MP camera with 1080p video capture capability, and has an additional 2MP front-facing camera for video chat. It will also have a dedicated camera shutter button for quick access to taking photos and videos. The Hercules, when compared, sports a rear-facing 8MP LED camera with 1080p video capture capability, and has an additional front-facing camera for video chat.

Storage: Hercules boasts of 16 GB internal storage and via a microSD card slot it can expand up to 32 GB. It is expected that Ruby will boast a 16 GB internal storage apart from the 32 GB external microSD card slot.

NFC: Samsung Hercules and HTC Ruby are expected to support near field communication (NFC). NFC technology can transform the device into a convenient way for payment and device communication. NFC has potential to do more than just money transaction. The technology could offer features that allow multiple mobile devices to sync for speedier information exchange and gaming.

3G: Hercules will have category 24 HSDPA capability to exceed the max speeds of 42 Mbps downstream, which will make it the fastest HSDPA plus for a smartphone in the market. Today, HSDPA speeds found in most of the smartphones are 21 Mbps or 14 Mbps. Also, the phone is expected to have hidden radios for AT&T HSDPA plus as well, which is a unique feature. Hercules will also have MHL port which combines microUSB and HDMI port as one single port. On the other hand, Ruby is expected to have HSDPA 14 Mbps to 21 Mbps.

Input features: The input features that is expected to be found in Samsung Hercules are multi-touch input method, proximity, ambient light sensors, 3-axis gyroscope, magnetometer, and accelerometer. HTC Ruby, on the other hand, is predicted to have multi-touch input method, accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate, proximity sensor for auto turn-off, gyro sensor, and HTC Sense version 3.5 UI.

WLAN/Bluetooth/USB: The HTC Ruby will have Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot and microUSB version 2.0 along with Bluetooth version 3.0 with A2DP. Hercules, when compared, is expected to have Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, DLNA with Wi-Fi Direct and microUSB version 2.0 along with Bluetooth version 3.0 with A2DP.

Pricing: The Hercules is expected to be priced between $350 and $400, and an unlocked version is anticipated to be priced at $799.99. Ruby is also anticipated to be priced in the same range of $350 to $400.

Battery: Hercules is expected to come with a 1800 mAh battery, whereas it is not known about the battery capacity of HTC's smartphone. But Ruby is expected to come in Li-ion standard battery.

Samsung Galaxy S2 is currently the second thinnest dual-core smartphone in the world, surpassed only by the NEC Medias N-04C that will only be released in Japan. So it is expected that Samsung may target the coveted thinnest smartphone title.