(c) Oliver Widder
In making our decisions, we looked at these phones from the standpoint of the consumer. Thus, developer struggles, business security, and other such problems were not taken into account. Instead, functionality, price, and the overall usefulness of various smartphones made up the criteria which we adhered to during our reviews. These phones can be found on a multitude of carriers, operating systems, and continents.
Feel free to comment below on the merits of this list of the best smart phones currently available.
iPhone 3GS
You know you’re on top when phone manufacturers are constantly struggling to produce an “iPhone killer”. The iPhone 3GS boasts a massive App Store (with nearly 100,000 apps now), the largest developer base, and is simply put, the best phone on the market.
Status: Launched June 19th, 2009 on ATT
Screen: 3.5-inch 480 x 320-pixel resolution at 163 ppi widescreen Multi-Touch display
Dimensions: 115.5 x 62.1 x 12.3 mm; 135 grams
Camera: 3 megapixels w/ AutoFocus, No flash
Battery: 1150 mAh Li-Ion
Standby Time: 300 hours
Talk Time: Up to 12 hours on 2G; Up to 5 hours on 3G
Processor: Samsung S5PC100; 600 MHz
Internal/External Memory: 16GB or 32GB
Extras: 3.5mm Headset jack, accelerometer, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS enabled
Operating System: iPhone OS
Price: $199 for 16 GB; $299 for 32GB
Motorola Droid
If any phone is going to challenge the iPhone’s supremacy, it will be the Verizon Droid. The Droid is on a superior network than the iPhone, and will be running Android 2.0 which has a much improved user interface over previous versions of Android.
Status: Rumored to be announced October 28th; Verizon Wireless.
Screen: 3.7-inch/480×854 Full Touchscreen with Full QWERTY Slider
Dimensions: 60 x 115.8 x 13.7 mm; 169 grams
Camera: 5.0 Megapixels with AutoFocus
Battery: Li-ion 1400mAh
Standby Time: 450 Hours
Talk Time:7 Hours
Processor: Texas Instruments OMAP 3430 processor; 600MHz
Internal/External Memory: 512MB Flash, 256MB RAM/MicroSD (16GB capacity)
Extras: 3.5mm Headset jack, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS enabled
Operating System: Android 2.0
Price: Unknown
Palm Pre
The Palm Pre signaled the resurrection of Palm. It is well-designed, and has a very promising OS, which if tweaked and improved slightly, can challenge any OS on the market.
Status: Available June 6th on Sprint. Available October 13 in Germany and October 16 in UK and Ireland
Screen: 3.1-inch touch screen with 24-bit color 320×480 resolution HVGA display and full QWERTY keyboard
Dimensions: 100.5 x 59.5 x 16.95 mm; 135 grams
Camera: 3 megapixel camera with LED flash and AutoFocus
Battery: 1150 mAh
Standby Time: 250 Hours
Talk Time: 5 Hours
Processor: Texas Instruments OMAP 3430 processor; 600MHz
Internal/External Memory: 8 GB
Extras: 3.5mm Headset jack, accelerometer, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS enabled
Operating System: Palm webOS
Price: $149.99
HTC Hero/T-Mobile G2 Touch/Sprint HTC Hero
The inclusion of HTC Sense makes the Hero the best Android phone currently on the market. It is fast, stylish, and easy to use.
Status: HTC Hero Launched July 24th for Orange UK. T-Mobile G2 Touch Launched July 29th.
Screen: 3.2-inch/ 320×480 HVGA resolution; Full Touchscreen/TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen
Dimensions: 112 x 56.2 x 14.35 mm ; 135 grams
Camera: 5 Megapixels with AutoFocus
Battery: 1350 mAh Lithium-ion battery
Standby Time: Up to 750 hours for WCDMA, Up to 440 hours for GSM
Talk Time:Up to 420 minutes for WCDMA, Up to 470 minutes for GSM
Processor: Qualcomm® MSM7200A™, 528 MHz
Internal/External Memory:288MB/MicroSD 2.0
Extras: 3.5mm Headset jack, Wi-Fi, accelerometer, Bluetooth and GPS enabled
Operating System: Android
Price: $179.99
BlackBerry Bold
The BlackBerry Bold is RIM’s crowning achievement thus far and the impending Bold 9700 should see widespread adoption.
Status: Available on AT&T; Bold 9700 available November 2nd, 2009
Screen: 2.6 inch Half VGA resolution Dispay Screen; 480 x 320 pixels; 65,000 colors
Dimensions: 114 x 66 x 15; 136 grams
Camera: 2.0 MP w/ AutoFocus
Battery: Li – Ion, 1500 mAh
Standby Time: 324 hours
Talk Time: 4.5 hours
Processor: 624 MHz
Internal/External Memory: 1 GB
Extras: 3.5mm Headset jack, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS capable with extended ephemeris
Operating System: BlackBerry OS
Price: $199.99
HTC Magic/T-Mobile MyTouch 3G
The MyTouch 3G is an easy to use, stylish Android phone. The absence of a standard 3.5mm headset jack is a bit of a disappointment, but otherwise this phone is quite powerful and useful. Furthermore, Mike quit the iPhone for the MyTouch, and that has to mean something.
Status: HTC Magic Launched May 1, 2009 and July 10th, 2009 in Japan; MyTouch 3G launched July 8, 2009. Available through T-Mobile, Vodafone, and Docomo
Screen:3.2″ /320 x 480 HVGA Touchscreen/TFT, TFD, LCD 262k
Dimensions: 113 x 55 x 13 mm; 118.5 grams
Camera: 3.2 Megapixels with AutoFocus (MyTouch has a 5MP camera)
Battery: 1340 mAh Lithium-ion battery
Standby Time: 420 hours
Talk Time: 7.5 Hours
Processor: Qualcomm® MSM7201a™, 528 MHz
Internal/External Memory:192/288 MB (Underclocked)/ MicroSD up to 32GB
Extras: HTC ExtUSB Headset Jack, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS enabled
Operating System: Android
Price: $99.99 (T-Mobile MyTouch $149.99)
BlackBerry Storm 2
The BlackBerry Storm 2, while an improvement over its predecessor, still lacks the “wow” factor necessary to push it higher up on this list.
Status: Available on Verizon Wireless October 28th, 2009
Screen: 3.25 inch 360 x 480 pixel touchscreen; 65k colors
Dimensions: 112.5 x 62.2 x 13.9 mm; 160 grams
Camera: 3.2 Megapixels w/ LED flash and AutoFocus
Battery: 1400 mAh Li-Ion
Standby Time: 270 hours
Talk Time: 5.5 hours
Processor: 528 MHz Qualcomm processor
Internal/External Memory: 2 GB/16 GB microSD
Extras: 3.5 mm headset, GPS, bluetooth, and wi-fi enabled
Operating System: BlackBerry OS
Price: $179.99
BlackBerry Tour
Our biggest qualm with the BlackBerry Tour is its lack of Wi-Fi. Other than that however, the Tour is a great phone if you’re a chronic email user or if you text message a lot.
Status: Available on July 12, 2009 through Verizon and Sprint.
Screen: 2.4 inch 480×360 pixel display screen; 65,000 colors
Dimensions: 112 x 62 x 14.2 mm; 130 grams
Camera: 3.2 Megapixels with AutoFocus
Battery: 1400 mAHr removable/rechargeable cryptographic lithium cell
Standby Time: 336 Hours
Talk Time: 5 Hours
Processor: 528 MHz Qualcomm processor
Internal/External Memory: 256 MB RAM
Extras: 3.5mm Headset jack, Bluetooth and GPS enabled. No Wi-Fi nor accelerometer
Operating System: BlackBerry OS
Price: $149.99
Nokia E71x
The Nokia E71x is a sleek and stylish phone, but like the Magic, lacks a 3.5mm headset jack. Nonetheless, this phone is just right for those on a budget, given its $99.99 price tag.
Status: Available on AT&T
Screen: 2.4″ LCD (Color TFT/TFD) display screen; 320 x 240 pixels (QVGA); 16.7 million (24-bit)
Dimensions:114 x 57 x 10 mm; 126g
Camera: 3.2MP w/ Autofocus and Flash
Battery: BP-4L 1500 mAh Li-Po standard battery
Standby Time: 480 hours
Talk Time: 4.5 hours
Processor: ARM 11, 369 MHz
Internal/External Memory: 110MB/ MicroSD
Extras: 2.5mm Headset jack, bluetooth, wi-fi, and GPS enabled
Operating System: Symbian OS
Price: $99.00
no winmo…? i am surprised you guys ditch it so much. I have the htc imagio and it is good, solid phone.
That’s because the current WinMo phones – for the consumer anyway – aren’t very good.
The Leo might change that though.
HTC HD2 seems like a pretty good phone, no?
But what’s a smartphone without smartphone websites?
Whenever I see “Price: $199 for 16 GB; $299 for 32GB” for an iPhone, I get SICK!…
Please care to mention that the price is WITH CONTRACT. Please don’t be Apple.com/Techcrunch
Also, Not sure whats your defination of SMART PHONE
A phone that is pony or a phone that has a good screen ….
To me, a minimum is
640 px screen width
background apps
multitasking
(none of which are supported by iPone!)
LOL …. Extras
“Extras: 3.5mm Headset jack, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS capable with extended ephemeris”
These things are STANDARD on ANY Smartphone…
What’s your definition of smart phone again?
lol! Publicly defending windows mobile. I am SO embarrassed for you….. Why don’t ya sit on yer hands and let the smart people talk, hmm??
Irony.
Glorious response.
I have a WinMo 6.1 phone…. just, no. It doesn’t match up at this time. It’s barely usable.
Try WinMo 6.5 …
Try Windows Vista.
“more superior,” really?
Yeah, the iPhone’s still the best one out there. Not sure how you can put the Droid at Number 2 since no-one’s actually used a production model yet.
Right. The title of the article does say “On the market”
Where do you see rankings? Oh, thats right…YOU DON’T!
Just cause its listed second doesn’t mean they think its #2.
Oh right.
Not sure how they can put it in the top 9 – since there are nine phones listed and the article is about the best smartphones one can deduce that regardless of order it’s in the top 9 – when no-one’s used a production model then?
Do you have any other useless and pedantic points to make or are we done here?
What happened to the Nokia N900? Don’t say that it is not available yet because neither is the Droid.
It’s the US. If the N900 gets a deal you might include it but otherwise why bother since no-one will buy it aside from hardcore enthusiasts.
Plus it’s a computer with a phone bolted on. I mean it’s absolutely awesome but it’s not really the same thing.
The same can be said (its a computer with a phone bolted on) about the iPhone, Droid, HTC, and just about any real smartphone out there. The point is that it is a computer with a phone bolted on. The iPhone is first and foremost an Apple OS running on a cpu connected to a screen with a virtual keyboard. What is a computer? The same goes with the Droid and all of the other phones on this list.
The price is definitely an issue, but many people who want to buy a new phone and are currently on contract will have to pay beyond the $199 for the iPhone (I paid $399 because I did not qualify for an upgrade) and many of these phones actually carry a $599 price sticker if you were to buy it unlocked and without a contract.
That is not true. The others you described are all phones. The n900’s predecessor, the n800, was the n900 minus the phone. The n800 is an internet tablet/mobile computer. The n900 is a computer that can make phone calls. The iphone and other devices are phones that the respective vendors want you to use similar to a computer in some aspects.
It is two sides of the same coin. To a developer (I am one), the iPhone’s OS is a full working OS with all the features of a computer based OS. Same goes for Windows Mobile and for Android. What makes them different from Maemo? Aside from the openness and power that is associated with a Linux OS, nothing. So now you need to add a CPU, memory, and a screen, and this is a computer with a phone application and modem tacked on top of it.
The difference is where it came from. If you have a car and strap wings onto it and it flies, it doesn’t become an airplane. It is then a flying car. In that same vein, the n900 is a mobile computer that can make phone calls. The iphone, pre, etc. were never more (or less) than smart phones. Everything with the ability to make phone calls is not a phone. My laptop has a SIM slot and a mic and speakers. It is not a phone.
I would not say the iphone’s OS is “fully working”. You don’t have root access and Apple only permits you to use certain APIs. That is far from the mark.
Oh… It is available in the US on T-Mobile. It just does not have a contract attached to it.
In which case it’s a dead duck as far as sales go. Hopefully it’ll be on contract in the UK as I really like the look of it – it’s a proper desktop class OS with very few restrictions and the things it can do make the mind boggle.
The headline of the article seems to be “The best smertphones…” and not “The potentialy best selling smartphones…”
TC seem to have a certain US-centric view of things sometimes. “If it’s not popular in the US, it’s probably crap”, they seem to think.
In my view, the n900 and HTC HD2 should have both been here, and the BlackBerry Tour and HTC Magic could have easily been left out (both of them are fine, but there are much better versions of the same basic thing in the list).
I understand you wanted to make a list of recommendations and you had to consider carriers and plans and such, but as the leading “opinion maker” blog that you are, you could have been more bold, and actualy point at the high quality alternatives for a change, and not just the mainstream obvious choices.
I sooo agree with you. Where IS N900??? It is super awesome.. And beats iphone hands down. I just got rid of my Iphone 3G.. iPhone, the Best phone?!?! LOL.. People in the US forget that there is a company called Nokia and it produces the BEST phones! I can’t wait for N900. Well, I shouldn’t have expected TechCrunch to include it anyways.. Most of their articles are biased!
Nokia may produce the best PHONES but Symbian has been a nightmare, and thankfully isn’t on N900.
iPhone is better than ANY Symbian device.
The fact that Windows mobile is absent speaks volumes.
Then again, I’m not a fan of Windows mobile ever since the iPhone 3GS came out!
(and no, I never tried it thanks to Verizon–another story for another time).
You mean speaks volumes about Techcrunch, right?
Seeing as how pretty much EVERY tech website feels the same, no. It pretty much means WinMo, as it currently stands, is dead.
I think the post title should be changed to “Newest Smartphones on the market”.
Best to you may be worst to me, like having to use itunes. Best to me like google voice phone may be pointless to you.
Tour has a 3.2MP camera, not 5.0
I would have expected the Tour to be higher on the list… and *definitely* above the storm.
Even with no WiFi? And EVDO is ALWAYS slower than WiFi.
Droid at #2? Just based on features and the hype? Symbian? No, thank you.
yeah when was the last time motorola made a good phone?
uhhh the razr (which actually sucked) but it was slick looking so it sold well.
What happens with Samsung Ohmia?
The e71 cousin, the e63, is my chosen iPhone replacement. It has native VoIP and is unlocked! In about a year, I hope Andriod is polished, then I’ll move to it.
P.S. My daughter has had her e63 for a week and really enjoys it. Mine is on the way.
I bet the reviewers on this site have never seen a winmo phone let alone used one. The HTC Touch pro 2 is a much better all around smart phone than any on this list.
wrong.
LOL. I think it’s you that haven’t used the phones on this list. Android runs circles around WinMo, as does WebOS, and even iPhone OS.
Whatever, guys. I’m still with the iPhone.
The Touch Pro 2 is an awesome phone. Not sure why it’s excluded here. For $199 on Verizon it’s a great business phone, way ahead of the Nokia x71
I just see an iPhone and rest all “Wannabe iPhone killers”! (in the time I wrote this line, prolly 2 more apps got added!)
80,000 apps and 1000 are for tip calculators for the genius iphone types who can’t do arithmetic. Oh i forgot the “apps” which are photos of Ricky Gervais and Beyonce. Yes the i-phone is indespensable LOL
Don’t forget the 5000 RSS readers, the 200 fart apps. There’s also the hundreds of light sabre, torch and thousands of other completely useless apps.
You also need to download about a thousand apps before an iphone will even do half of what other smart phones do since they come with nothing out of the box.
Completely indespendable. LOL.
i m with you all
At least crackberry in list was ok… but iPone!… just wow
No mention of N97 and N900 speaks volumes
Win Mo phones are also good ones….
N97 is junk, and even hard core Nokia fans have admitted to that. RIM is struggling to compete with Android.
Win Mo… LOL. A little out of touch?
you left out….that no one will ever use.
I dont like this article. Aside from the straight up copy and pasted info, i dont think the Nokia belongs here over WinMo phones like the Touch Pro 2 or Imagio, etc. It’s a very mild attempt at comparison at best.
And Brian, Android 2.0 will most certainly shine for you if you’re using a Nokia e63
you will also have to take into account not just hardware but software (app store). With that respect…apple’s app store has a huge lead.
It depends what you are looking for. The iPhone has a large lead over say Android in games, but in terms of regular old apps (weather, rss reading, movie lookups, music streaming, etc.), the advantage is hardly that noticeable.
ive got the HTC Hero and its the price is at least 500+
good solid phone though but not available in Australia yet.
I don’t think any manufacturer is going to knock the iPhone off it’s pedestal any time soon.
One key feature that is missed in the comparison – whether the device is wifi enabled
found it. ignore my previous comment!
HTC Touch HD2… It looks far slickers than the Droid, Pre, or the current underpowered HTC Android-based devices.
How long are people going to keep spouting this 100,000 apps bullshit?
Tell me how many are useful.
From personally owning an iphone, palm pre, and the htc hero… I PERSONALLY like the palm pre the best. Yea, it doesnt have the app store like the iphone or android does but i just like how its set up and you can tweak the **** out of it. WebOS has a lot of potential im looking forward to seeing how it evolves in the future.
That being said, both the iphone and the hero are great phones. I love how everyone says that the iphone has a huge app list… over 80K or something like that.. but you have to realize.. 90% of those apps are not any good or you wont even see them unless you spend a couple hours looking through them all.. lol. Just because they’re are 80K apps doesnt mean that we’re all made by developers and not some college kid that made an app over the weekend for some beer money. haha. iPhone is a great phone, i miss a couple of the features of it, but i wouldnt switch back to it.
A lot of you are going to bash me for this but, im going to say it anyways. The Hero is basically an iPhone that has a new UI with a more relaxed app store and multitasking. My opinion, the hero is better than the iphone in a lot of areas, even though it still needs to be polished in some others to beat it. (my biggest complaint about it is how there isnt multitouch in google maps… but its made by google) As you can already tell, android is going to take off and i hope it does, i liked it a lot, especially the google voice integration. It just needs to be more polished and a few key features to be done better before (or if) i switch to it from my pre.
i agree on that Hero is basically an Iphone. I’ve had them both but as you said, it needs multitouch on google maps. how could google not add multitouch??? that was the biggest disappointment with the hero.
The iPhone is probably the best phone on the market for the average consumer – it’s fast as hell, very easy to use, and has a billion apps.
That said, if you’re any kind of “tech guru”, I think the iPhone is an incredibly boring platform. I recently got the Hero from Sprint and while it certainly is nowhere near as fast as the 3GS, it is a hell of a lot more fun to use. The level of customization you have, the desktop widgets, running apps in the background… very very cool stuff. Makes the iPhone look like a dinosaur.
I’m anxiously awaiting the Droid because it has a very fast processor (should be on par with the 3GS) and a large, high-res screen. This is the Android phone that everyone has been waiting for, can’t wait until it comes out.
What about the $99 iPhone 3G…
wouldn’t you be pissed if someone bought you a $99 3G instead of a 3GS?
Hahaha, if you’re pissed off when someone buys you something worth $99 because they didn’t buy you something for $199 instead, then your real name must be Paris Hilton.
Considering you’re stuck with it for 2 YEARS and the $2000+ contract, yeah, I’d be pissed you didn’t spend the measly $100 extra.
Uhm, the Hero has multi-touch!!!! Suprised you didnt mention that. Then again, TC is full of Apple bias.
To me, iphone is still the best.
and I am not a big fan of copycats….
Well first of all, i am pleasantly surprised that Techcrunch did include a Nokia phone i.e E71 considering their well-known affection towards Nokia.
Now more puzzling is why was E72 not included?
E72 is an announced phone, available soon and a higher version than E71. Also it has higher specs than BBerry Tour and Bold.
And as others pointed out, what about N900, arguably the best specs and as good as Droid and iphone 3GS with lesser restrictions than any considering there have not been any reviews of Droid so far except Boygenius, whereas there have been several videos and mini-reviews of N900.
Alas! this is techcrunch. No difference than engadget or Boygenius. Still surprised to see a Nokia phone in this list though.
What about the HTC Tilt 2? Why is this not mentioned?
“Furthermore, Mike quit the iPhone for the MyTouch, and that has to mean something.”
Haha, yes, it meant he wanted people to link to his post.
Are those prices for buyng the phone, or are these ties to specific suppliers?
And is there a UK outlet?
I actually do think that at this very moment, right now the 3GS is king of the hill!
But i don’t think the iPhone 4th generation will be king of the hill this time next year, so it will be a very interesting 12 months.
I love the iPhone, but i am most definitely not a fan boy, if a better device came along i would gladly jump ship!
I am also shocked to see the absence of the HTC HD2 and the N900!!
Motorola Droid, Blackberry .. amazing phone .. there were other phones as well which caught my eye .. I guess I should close this window .. it hard to get my eyes off those phones ..
Cheers,
Daina
why why why why people hate winmo so much
I’m not sure myself, but then again, I’m a new smartphone user and have so far only used WinMo 5 and now 6.1 and neither of those phones had touch capabilities. (Yeah, I’m one of those poor schlubs that can’t dish out $200, $300, or $400 every time a nice, new phone comes out.) I like WinMo much better than my old Symbian phones (though those are really old now), and it does everything I need it to do and more. Maybe if my phone used touch as the primary input method, I’d feel differently.
Because it sucks! Use one of these Android/WebOS/iPhone devices for a day and you’ll join us.
Surely the HTC Touch HD2 deserves an inclusion on the list. There are a good many people out there who like like Windows Mobile, especially with HTC’s Touch Flo 3D interface. I’m using the 1st HD and wouldn’t swap it for an iPhone.
iPhone: 3.5-inch 480 x 320-pixel resolution at 163 ppi widescreen Multi-Touch display
Pre: 3.1-inch touch screen with 24-bit color 320×480 resolution HVGA display and full QWERTY keyboard
Hero: 3.2-inch/ 320×480 HVGA resolution; Full Touchscreen/TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen
The inconsistencies here are just terrible – take the screen specs above for instance.
Just the number of differing comments means that there will probably not be a dominant os/handset. Poor developers
Boo to TechCrunch for using a Geek and Poke cartoon without permission or attribution. The original is here: http://geekandp...art-phones.html
HTC Touch Pro 2. How could the blackberry storm 2 make the list and not this one? It ain’t perfect, but works well and matches up w/ the hero save android. For what I do, email, light browsing, text, it works great. i can even stream video to youtube w/ qik. best feature: Not tied to at&t. No iPhone can match that feature.
Hello everyone….I am currently with US Cellular and have a limited choice of smarphones to choose from for an upgrade…….Most of you seem to know your stuff on phones and and I am in desperate need of advice…lol
I currently carry the Blackberry Curve and I love the way all of the social networks are pushed to my phone to alert me if I have any new posts or comments….Is there any other brand of phone that pushes facebook, myspace…etc……I am up in the air between the new Blackberry Tour and the HTC Touch Pro 2…..any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
I take it all these prices are for 2 year contracts? And are any of the more popular phones ever going to be non-exclusive?
-Jack
I don’t know about the iPhone being the best ‘phone.’ For me it seems to do every great except for the phone. Dropped calls, garbled conversation even with 5 bars and voicemails 3 days late. I’m not sure if it’s the phone or just the AT&T service I’m on but the ‘phone’ part is crappy. I can’t wait to see how it is on other carriers. That may answer a few questions for me. My Palm Pre seems to do everything I want it to do well I just wish it had some of the apps I have on my iPhone. I’m hoping the HTC Hero 2 or Droid comes to T-mobile because I want to replace my G1 badly.