Fans disappointed with the minor upgrades in last spring's Instinct S30 will be pleased with the Samsung Instinct HD ($250 with a two-year contract from Sprint; price as of 9/25/09). This iteration of the cell phone bumps up the features considerably: ...

Slick, pocketable design ; Excellent camera

Must pay extra for HDMI cable ; User interface can be slow

The Instinct HD is a strong update to a great phone, but I wish Sprint would have kept the price lower and bundled the HDMI cable. To justify the handset's steep price, Sprint should have included that cable in the package. One tip for interested ...

HTC's third Android OS smartphone, the HTC Hero ($180 with a two-year contract from Sprint; price as of 9/23/2009), is a giant leap forward for the company's family of Android phones, both in hardware and software. It isn't without its flaws, however: ...

Ergonomic design with solid construction ; Sense UI is attractive and customizable

Native Flash support didn’t play some video ; Sluggish performance

A noteworthy addition: HTC has finally listened to our gripes and shameless begging for a 3.5-mm headphone jack. At last, I can use my better-quality Skullcandy to enjoy my music. Sound quality was great through my headphones, but a bit tinny through ...

The Nokia Surge ($80 with a two-year contract; as of 8/10/09) is a great starter smartphone for teenagers or those wary of high-priced handsets. It has a few design quirks, and the construction is a bit flimsy, but you get a solid set of features for ...

Very slim and lightweight ; Excellent call quality

No separate numeric keypad ; Poor tactile feedback from shortcut keys

The 2-megapixel camera is adequate, but not on a par with some of the other Nokia smartphone cameras we've tested. Colors looked washed out and details lacked refinement. Video recording quality was also just average with some blurring and pixilation

The Sony Ericsson C905a cell phone ($180 with a two-year contract from AT&T, as of 8/20/09) might be better described as a camera that happens to have a phone attached to it. As a phone, it will do the job; but its 8.1-megapixel camera with an LED ...

Excellent camera ; Crisp, bright screen

No standard headphone jack ; Average call quality

In my hands-on tests in the San Francisco Bay Area, I found the C905a's call quality just average. Voices weren't especially clear, but they had adequate volume

The first thing you'll notice about Samsung's newest messaging phone, the Comeback ($130 with a two-year T-Mobile contract; as of August 19, 2009) is its amazing color scheme, which makes it look like a prop from a futuristic 1970s flick. Though the ...

Unique color scheme ; Wide array of messaging features

Keys are tiny, slippery and hard to press ; Design is bulky

Overall, the Comeback is a pretty solid phone: It's light, it's loaded with multimedia features, it makes Web surfing fairly easy, and it supports very good call quality. But for messaging, the phone needs a better keyboard; and its unique color ...

The inexpensive Sony Ericsson W518a ($50 with a two-year contract from AT&T; price as of 8/18/09) combines style, sound, and socializing, making it an attractive cell phone for a teenager (or a teenage budget). But just like the coolest kids in school ...

Attractive design ; External music display and controls are convenient

Doesn't come with headphones ; Gesture controls are gimmicky

Other than the Facebook app, the music functions, and the gimmicky controls, the W518a is a fairly run-of-the-mill flip phone. The call quality was clear (nothing stunning), and it was reliable (I didn't have any dropped calls while I was testing it). ...

The compact Samsung Reclaim is an ecologically conscious smartphone smartphone that successfully balances style, functionality, and usability. Priced at $130 (as of August 7, 2009, with a two-year Sprint contract), the Reclaim is a sharp-looking, ...

Intuitive function icon carousel ; Good audio quality

Small keys on the QWERTY keypad ; Slow browser

The Reclaim comes in two colors: ocean blue and earth green

Nowadays everyone wants a device to manage their schedule, access social networking services, and play the occasional music video--all on a touchscreen that resembles a Star Trek tricorder. The Samsung Highlight ($130 with a two-year T-Mobile contract ...

Big, bright screen ; Customizable interface

Too expensive ; Built-in apps are unreliable

The call quality was hit-and-miss. I experienced an inordinate amount of dropped calls in the first couple of days, but that was probably due to T-Mobile network problems rather than the phone itself, because it stabilized fairly quickly. I was ...

The Motorola Evoke Q4A ($280 with no contract; as of 7/28/09), from pay-as-you-go carrier Cricket, has a sleek slider design and a few smartphone-like features such as a full HTML browser and a widget-based user interface. Unfortunately, unlike a more ...

Good-looking slider design ; Solid call quality

Slow performance ; Average multimedia features

I found call quality very good overall. Voices on the other end of the line sounded clear with ample volume. Parties on the other end were also pleased with the quality, and reported no hissing or static in the background

The T-Mobile MyTouch 3G is T-Mobile's second smartphone running Google's Android mobile operating system. And while the MyTouch 3G ($200 as of July 22, 2009) has much going for it-- a lightweight design, a gorgeous screen, and the 1.5 update to the ...

Lightweight, compact design ; Gorgeous display

No physical keyboard

On the whole, I found a lot to about the T-Mobile myTouch 3G. I especially appreciated its size and its easy-to-use trackball, yet I can't help but lament its lack of a physical keyboard. The native software keyboard just doesn't cut it for long e ...