iPhone 5 Faces HTC Vigor, is it Next LTE Dual Core HTC Thunderbolt?

The iPhone 5 is expected to arrive anytime in September and the list of smartphones lining up to be strong contenders against the Apple’s much-awaited device is increasing with every passing moment.

The smartphone list includes the record-breaking Samsung Galaxy S2 (which includes Verizon’s 4G LTE version, Sprint’s WiMAX supported “Within” and Samsung Hercules going to T-Mobile), Motorola Droid Bionic, HTC Sensation and the unannounced Sony Ericsson Xperia Duo. The latest to join the list is the rumored HTC Vigor with exceptional features.

The HTC dual core smartphones like HTC Sensation, HTC EVO 3D and myTouch Slide 4G have made a powerful statement, not only with specifications, but the new smartphones have boosted HTC’s profit margin. HTC reported record sales in Q2 as the net profits more than doubled year-on-year to a record high on strong demand for newly designed products. Another dual core smartphone that is almost ready includes HTC Holiday. Its specifications are out, but there is no word on when the smartphone will be launched.

HTC revealed what they can bring to the table with the HTC Thunderbolt LTE 4G single-core smartphone, which has dethroned iPhone 4 for a while on the Verizon network. The icing on the cake was the HTC Status, a smartphone specifically designed to make it easier to connect to Facebook.

If the rumors about the HTC Vigor are true, the new smartphone will come with 1280 x 720 pixels resolution display. The iPhone 4 has a display resolution of 960 x 640 pixels for its 3.5-inch screen, while latest news on iPhone 5 points towards larger display screen stretched right to the edge of the device.

Even the iPad 2, Apple's 9.7-inch tablet, has only a 1024 x 768 pixels resolution display. Apple’s original iPad and iPad 2 have same screen size. However, if the iPhone 5 is expected to sport a larger display (between 3.7 and four inches), the display resolution is expected to increase, most probably to that of the iPad 2, or it may retain the same resolution as that of iPhone 4. In fact, most of the smartphones today have 800 x 480 pixels display support while few other phones from Motorola sport 960 x 540 pixels resolution.

The next big surprise in the HTC Vigor is the dual core Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC with a 1.5GHz CPU and Adreno 220 GPU, quite likely the MSM8660 in the EVO 3D and the upcoming HTC Puccini tablet. Most smartphones don’t exceed a 1.2 GHz processor and very few are reported to surpass the 1.4 GHz range. With the iPhone 5 likely to feature iPad 2’s A5 processor, most rumors point towards a 1.2 GHz processor, while iPhone 4 features a 1 GHz processor, and iPad 2 comes with 900 MHz processor.

Recently, the Qualcomm Snapdragon roadmap leaks revealed that the next generation Snapdragon chips, codenamed Krait, will run in speeds ranging from 1.5GHz to 1.7GHz and come with the latest Adreno 225 GPU beginning in Q4 2011.

HTC Vigor will run on Android 2.3.4 version and according to the NenaMark1 benchmark score, the Vigor with be available on Verizon’s 4G LTE network. The iPhone 5 will have iOS 5 and is less likely to come with 4G LTE support.

In fact, HTC Vigor was first spotted among a batch of several trademark applications from HTC in July 2009 which included Tattoo and Imagio, but the Vigor branding has never been attached to a particular handset so far.

In early July, there was a report about the HTC Vigor featuring a six megapixel camera, and there is a possibility that it may be the Mecha S Thunderbolt mini that was caught in the wild few months ago. Also Vigor's ADR6425 model number is fairly close to Thunderbolt's ADR6400. Meanwhile, iPhone 5 will feature an eight megapixel camera.

The release date of the iPhone 5, according to Apple Insider, is expected to be between Sept. 6 and 15, with an initial shipment of four million units.

A tipster, who contacted 9to5 Mac, says he saw a prototype model of the iPhone 5 being used by a commuter and Apple employee.

"He told us he was able to get a very good look at the device but the pictures he snapped did not do it justice," Seth Weintraub wrote on 9to5 Mac.The tipster claimed the phone looked very different from the iPhone 4 or iPhone 3Gs, saying it looked like a thinner iPhone with curved edges, almost like EVO in terms of screen size. Although the tipster was not sure about what he saw, he was later convinced when he saw schematic design pictures posted about the latest Apple iPhone 5.