With JC’s birthday fast approaching what better gift to give a college student than a new cell phone? Since we spend most of our time detached from reality anyway why not ask for a better phone that can do more that just texting. Here we’ll look at the four major U.S. carriers and their best phones, each with a hands-on.
Iphone 3GS
Starting out with the obvious, in the cell phone world the Iphone 3GS is king and everyone else is still playing catch-up. Although it’s an all around great device on its own what really makes the Iphone stand out from its competitors is the endless amount of applications that can do almost anything, and can be downloaded for free (mostly) right onto the device. The Iphone is a keyboard less device with a 3.5″ widescreen Multi-Touch display with a 480×320 resolution. The Iphone comes in either 16 ($199) or 32GB ($299) capacities so you can store video pictures and music and play them all back.
Hands on
The Iphone, just like any other Apple device is sleek. The slightly curved back feels nice in the hand and the phone has a nice weight to it as well. The Multi-Touch display is extremely responsive and the lack of physical keyboard is made up for by the accuracy of the Iphone’s touch screen.
Samsung Impression
A non-smartphone alternative on AT&T the Samsung Impression is a great texting phone, it has a 3.2″ AMOLED touch-screen and a slide out QWERTY keyboard. It also houses a built-in GPS and 3G wireless internet. After mail-in Rebate on AT&T’s website the Impression can be had for $129.99.
Hands on
A very impressive feeling phone, and the curved edges make it a looker as well. The touch screen is definitely the best part about this phone, the AMOLED display is very sharp. The screen was very responsive and it has one of the best keyboards on any phone I’ve tested.
Palm Pre
Palm and Sprint get along, as evidenced by Palm’s big comeback debuting on the struggling wireless carrier back in June. The Palm Pre has the rare honor of being mentioned and put in comparison with the Iphone and rightly so. The Palm Pre is an excellent smart phone running Palm’s own fantastic OS. WebOS is what really shines here as the Pre’s software is second to none, pair that with one of Palm’s best hardware in a long time and you have an absolute winner of a smartphone. A Palm Pre after Mail-in Rebate with Spring is $149.99
Hands on
I have to say that the Palm Pre is my favorite phone, it just feels fantastic in your hand and the unique shape really makes it stand out from the rest. Pictures do not do this phone justice, you have to actually hold one in your hand to see how sleek it really is.
HTC Hero
HTC has really burst onto the cell phone scene lately and they continue to pump out quality products, with the Hero being no exception. HTC’s Sense UI takes an already good OS in Android and makes it better and more customizable. Wi-fi, Bluetooh, GPS, and wireless 3G are all features on this packed phone. After mail-in rebate you can get a Hero from Spring for $179.99
Hands on
The Hero is one of HTC’s only Android phones without the signature “chin” that has became famous (or infamous) with gadget lovers. While style is subjective I really like the chinless design of this Hero. The phone felt great in the hand although the call and home buttons on the bottom of the phone felt like they moved around too much.
Motorola Droid
Big red has really been stepping up their phone game lately and it all starts with this winner right here. The Droid has been very well received since it’s release in November and the phone that is putting Motorola back on the map has finally got Verizon customers excited about a smartphone. It has a high-resolution touch screen display with a slide out qwerty keyboard. The Droid is packing every feature you could want in a smartphone including Google’s own full turn by turn navigation that uses Google Maps as well as Android 2.0. You can pick up a Droid from Verizon for $199
Hands on
The Droid is on the heavier side for a phone, and that’s not a bad thing. The heavy feel makes the Droid feel sturdy in your hand and while the slide out keyboard isn’t the smoothest it gives the phone that same sturdy feel. The keyboard is a little cramped, but nothing you could not get used too. The display on the Droid is big and beautiful, the high-resolution really does make a difference.
HTC Droid Eris
Another android phone that came to Verizon recently is the Droid Eris, not to be confused with the previous Droid. The Eris is running an older version of Android but for those looking for a less expensive alternative to the Droid you can’t beat the feature set on this $99 handset. Also, if you prefer your phones keyboardless the Eris’ sleek design is sure to win you over. Surprisingly as well, the Eris offers pinch and zoom multitouch unlike Motorola’s Droid.
Hands on
Man this is a sleek phone, I really prefer the keyboardless design of the Eris over the Droid. The screen is very bright and sharp and the customization that is synonymous with HTC is there as well. The Eris feels very good in your hand and is almost the same phone as Sprint’s Hero with the trackball at the bottom of the phone.
Samsung Memoir
The Memoir is perfect for someone who is looking for a new phone and camera. It features an 8-megapixel camera with flash on the back of the phone that let’s you take photos and upload them to popular sites like Flikr. The Memoir has no physical keyboard but the touchscreen is good enough to make up for its absence. The real feature on this phone though is the camera, able to take photos up to a resolution of 3,264×2,448 along all of the camera settings you would expect on a decent digital camera. The phone does lack wifi though despite a full HTML browser. You can get a Memoir from T-Mobile for $199.99
Hands on
This thing really could be mistaken for a camera however the ability to have both in one device is extremely useful. The area where you grip the phone to take a photo is wrapped in leather that gives a nice feel and grip to the phone as you are taking photos. The display is also very nice on this phone while on the smaller side (2.6″) but the phone is sleek, it’s only 0.6 inches thick.
Motorola Cliq
The Cliq is simply an easy to use functional and feature rich phone. It doesn’t do anything new or fancy or innovative but it is running Android on a good display with a slide out qwerty keyboard. The Cliq also packs a 5-megapixel camera that takes decent photos. The Cliq is also wi-fi ready and features some of Google’s unique features such as voice search and talk. Like the Memoir, T-Mobile sells the Cliq for $199.99
Hands on
If you prefer physical keyboards then you can’t go wrong with this one. The Cliq’s keyboard is one of the best out there making it a great texting phone, the display was also impressive and the home and back buttons on the bottom of the phone felt nice and sturdy.
So there you have it, a roundup of the top cell phone’s this Holiday season. Hopefully you end up with one of these great phones before the end of the year.
Tech Question:
Q
Hi hunnie, great blog! I really like this article.. I was wondering about this for a long time now. This cleared a lot up for me! Do you have a rss feed that I can add?