Head2Head - SMS Chat vs. Thread SMS

Introduction
Second Head2Head post features the 2 softwares on the market that allow a chat-like or messenger-like interface for viewing messages exchanged with one or several contacts. These apps make it easy for you to view sent and received messages with one contact for example, in a chronological order, without having to go back and forth between your Inbox and Sent tabs in the Messaging Application. These 2 apps are SMS Chat (14.95$) from SymbianWave and Thread SMS (14.95$) from EHandySoft. For the record this is a comparison between the s6- 3rd edition versions of both apps. Also I used the trial beta version of Thread SMS.

Head2Head: SMS Chat vs. Thread SMS

FEATURE	SMS Chat	Thread SMS (beta trial)
Conversations
Integration with contacts	yes, no trouble so far	yes, but sometimes gets lost between numbers & names, and shows 2 conversations with the same person
Messages in conversations	shows the entire message in the conversation	shows a part of the message, then after clicking, opens every message in a new window
Conversation loading	you chose which contact you want to load a conversation with	all conversations with all contacts are already pre-loaded
Emoticons	yes	yes
Arrangement	by person, not by conversation	by conversation
Message details	yes	yes
Integration with Nokia's messaging application	yes, sent messages from within the app appear in the sent messages	yes, sent messages from within the app appear in the sent messages
Go to	yes, first conversation, last conversation	no
Find a word	yes, with case sensitive or not options and search from beginning or current position	no
Arabic language support	every word letters are shown in reverse order	every word letters are shown in reverse order
New Message
Write a new SMS	yes	yes
Write to a contact with whom no conversation has already been initiated	yes	yes, you chose the contact, but then have to approve the number :s
Write to a new number (not a contact)	yes	yes, click "back" when contacts list shows then write the number in the number box
Multiple recipients	no	no, it may appear so but when you tick a couple of contacts while selecting a recipient, only the last contact ticked gets selected
Maximum character number (160 per msg) and nbr of messages u'll pay for	yes	no
Reply	yes	yes
Forward	no, you can copy to clipboard then send from the original Nokia message application	yes
Emoticons	yes, visible	yes, but you see the code, the emoticon only appears in the conversation
Symbol support	yes	yes
Flash SMS sending	no	yes, but you have to install Coolsms+
Cancel while writing	in many clicks: Options, Message, Delete	in one click
Template support	yes	no
Schedule a message	yes	no
Save to drafts	yes	no
Arabic writing support	yes, if arabic language is preselected in another app, no changing within the app itself	yes
Additional Options
Main menu	yes	no
Settings	yes	no!
Skins	yes	no
Edit key (pen)	yes, just selection, no copy, no paste, crashes when trying to change the language	yes, selection, copy, paste, change language
End call key	configurable	sends the app to the background
Delete messages in one conversation	one message, all, incoming, outgoing	all

In words
SMS Chat offers a better user experience. I love the customization, the fact that I can chose which conversations to load and which not to, the main menu, drafts, scheduling, templates, the ability to see how many characters I've already used in my message and of course the find feature. It still lacks better integration (pen key) and a couple of things should be done easier, like canceling a message or forwarding one.

Thread SMS seems a little bit more integrated (pen key) and very intuitive. What I like about it is the fact that I can use all buttons like I normally use them on my phone, no worries. Still, the confusion between phone numbers and contacts is weird and most of the time I end up with 2 conversation panes with the same contact: one with the contact's name and one with his number. Weird. Some other features like the Find option or more customization seem vital. For the record, the newest versions seems to have an export chat history feature, and can override the system's SMS app: when a new message is received Thread SMS will automatically open.

Judgment
SMS Chat: 8.5/10
Thread SMS: 7.5/10

Conclusion
Finally it depends on what you are looking for in this type of software. If you want something powerful and don't mind doing a couple more clicks to perform an operation, then SMS Chat is for you. If you want something more simple, more easy and intuitive, then Thread SMS is your solution.
Personally, you'll find SMS Chat alone on my phone because the double conversations in Thread SMS are too hard to handle. I'm sure it's something that will or have been fixed, since I'm using the trial beta version, but until I'm sure I'll stick to SMS Chat :D