THE BEST SMARTPHONES

The smartphone market has grown steadily in the past few years. There's still a market for basic handsets and feature phones but the smartphone market has become the main focus for manufacturers. These impressive phones have evolved into devices that can do almost anything from providing driving directions to acting as a WiFi hotspot. Let's look at the best smartphones from various mobile phone manufacturers.

Apple

iPhone 3GS: this third generation device is ideal for Apple fans who are reluctant to upgrade to the iPhone 4 due to its reception problems. The 3GS is still a formidable device even though its more than a year old. This best smartphone features a 3.5 inch multi-touch display and a 3-megapixel camera with auto focus, tap to focus and 30fps video recording.

iPhone 4: As expected this handset caused a lot of buzz at launch due to its enhanced design and features but also to the controversy surrounding its antenna. The iPhone 4 features a 3.50 inch Retina Display with 640x960 pixels of resolution, a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash and 720p HD video recording, and an additional front facing camera.

HTC

T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide: This Android handset features a QWERTY-slider design with a 320x480 capacitive touchscreen. It also sports a 5 MP camera with LED flash.

HTC Desire: This best smartphone will be offered  by a few regional US carriers. The Desire features a 3.70 inch AMOLED display with 480 x 800 pixels, a 5 megapixel camera, and a 1GHz Snapdragon processor.

HTC DROID Incredible: This Verizon Wireless handset is one of the top rivals of the iPhone 4. The DROID Incredible features a 3.7 high-resolution AMOLED touchscreen, a powerful Snapdragon processor and an 8 megapixel camera with flash.

HTC EVO 4G: This best smartphone is the 1st WiMAX 4G handset for the US market. Sprint's flagship phones features a 4.3-inch display, a 1GHz Snapdragon chipset, an 8MP camera with HD video recording, 1.3 megapixel front facing camera and 4G mobile hotspot capability.

HTC Aria: his AT&T handset offers a compact design with a solid feature set. The HTC Aria sports a 3.20 inch touchscreen, a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and video capture plus Android 2.1 with Sense UI.

LG 

LG Ally: LG joined the US Android market with the Iron man phone. The LG ally for Verizon Wireless offers a solid feature set that include a 3.5-inch WVGA AMOLED touchscreen, a QWERTY keyboard, 5 megapixel camera with video capture and a 1GHz Snapdragon chipset.

LG Fathom: This handset is one of the last smartphone to run on the Windows Mobile platform. The Fathom sports a side slider design with a 3.2 inch resistive touchscreen, full QWERTY keyboard and a 3.2 megapixel camera with VGA video recording.

Motorola

Motorola Backflip: This AT&T smartphone features an uncommon design with a reverse-flip QWERTY keyboard and a touch-based trackpad on the back surface. Features for this Android smartphone include a  3.1 inch HVGA touchscreen and a 5 megapixel camera.

Motorola Devour: This Verizon Wireless smartphone features QWERTY slider design with a large touchscreen. This mid-range Android smartphone sports a 3 megapixel camera with video capture. 

Motorola CLIQ XT: This T-Mobile best smartphone features a bar-style design with a 3.2 inch HVGA touchscreen. This Android-powered smartphone also offers a 5-megapixel camera and the MOTOBLUR social networking interface.

Motorola i1:  This rugged smartphone is headed for Sprint. The Android-powered-Motorola i1 features a 3.10 inch capacitive touchscreen and a 5 megapixel camera with editing tools and video capture.

Motorola DROID X: Verizon's flagship phone is a good match for the EVO 4G. The DROID X sports a 4.3 inch high-resolution touchscreen. This Android smartphone sports a powerful 8-megapixel camera with 720p video recording and offers 3G mobile hotspot capability. 

Nokia

Nokia E73 Mode: This business-centric smartphone is ebing offered by T-Mobile. The E73 Mode features a bar style design with a large color display, full QWERTY keyboard and a camera with LED flash, auto-focus and video recording. 

RIM

BlackBerry 9100 pearl 3G: RIM's latest Pearl features a large color display with 360 x 400 pixels, a 14-key numeric keypad, BlackBerry OS 6.0 and a 3.2 megapixel camera with flash and video capture. 

BlackBerry Bold 9650: This CDMA BlackBerry Bold is available both at Sprint and Verizon. The Bold 9650 features a 2.4 inch (480 x 360) TFT LCD display, optical trackpad and a full QWERTY keyboard. This smartphone runs on BlackBerry OS 5.0 and sports a 3.2 megapixel camera with flash, image stabilization, autofocus and video recording.

Samsung

Samsung Captivate: This AT&T smartphone features an imposing 4-inch super AMOLED display. This Android smartphone also provides a 5 megapixel camera capable of recording HD video and a 1GHz Samsung Hummingbird application processor.

Samsung Epic 4G: This best smartphone is the 2nd WiMAX 4G smartphone for Sprint. The Epic 4G features a side slider design with a 4-inch Super AMOLED display, a full QWERTY keyboard and a 5 megapixel camera with 720p video capture. 

Samsung Fascinate: This Verizon Wireless bound smartphone features a 4-inch Super AMOLED display, Android 2.1, a 5 megapixel camera with 720p video capture at 30 frames per second and a 1GHz Hummingbird processor.

Samsung Vibrant: This T-Mobile Galaxy S smartphone sports a 4-inch WVGA, Super AMOLED screen. The Samsung Vibrant also offers a 5 megapixel camera with 720p HD video recording at 30 frames per second, 3G, Wi-Fi, A-GPS, stereo Bluetooth, and a FM radio.