Banking on the popularity of its Fuze (aka Touch Pro) phones for AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon, HTC has launched the unlocked Touch Pro 2 ($800; price as of 7/14/09) with a slicker design and a spruced-up user interface. But like many Windows Mobile ...

Sophisticated, minimalist design ; Improved TouchFLO interface

Camera is just average ; Software lags at times

The Touch Pro 2 marries Windows Mobile functionality with HTC's clean aesthetics and intuitive usability. If you need a stronger camera or quicker-loading apps, you might look elsewhere, but otherwise the Touch Pro 2 does not disappoint

The Research in Motion BlackBerry Tour ($200 with a two-year Verizon service contract) fulfills the wish of Verizon and Sprint BlackBerry fans who've waited a long time for a new CDMA BlackBerry device. The Tour melds the best of the BlackBerry Bold ...

Bright, crisp display ; Well-designed keyboard

No Wi-Fi ; Mediocre camera

The Tour delivers exactly what users expect from a BlackBerry: an excellent keyboard; a slick design; and a hearty, messaging-friendly operating system. But the lack of Wi-Fi is at this point seems unforgiveable in a business-class smartphone

The Samsung Alias 2 ($150 from Verizon, as of 6/25/09) is dual-hinged like its predecessor, the Alias, and it boasts a neat E Ink morphing keyboard that changes according to the phone orientation and menu. Though it isn't a smartphone, it supports ...

E-ink keyboard is uniquel ; Great call quality

All extra features cost more ; Large compared to other phones

Overall, I found the Samsung Alias 2 great for calls--and that's what phones are for, right? But aside from the appealing keyboard (which, I admit, will probably never get old), the phone lacks the extras that might capture a buyer's heart. It comes ...

The Samsung Jack ($100 with a two-year contract from AT&T, as of June 22, 2009) handles work and play somewhat better than its predecessors, but the mobile-phone landscape has changed significantly in the 18 months since the BlackJack II came out. For ...

Very slick physical design ; Very functional with minimal setup

Keys are cramped and poorly delineated ; Feels slippery and hard to hold on to

The Jack supports most major audio and video file formats (including AAC and MP4)--and you can buy music directly through AT&T's Mobile Music service--but the phone's external speakers aren't strong enough to encourage you to abandon your MP3 player ...

With its Walkman and Cybershot series of models, Sony Ericsson has become a leader in the niche categories of camera and music phones. The latest addition to its North American Walkman line, the Sony Ericsson Walkman W995a ($600, unlocked, as of 6/24 ...

Superb audio quality Excellent 8-megapixel camera

No touch screen or keyboard Battery life disappoints

Battery life was below average: In our PC World Test Center trials, the W995a had a talk time of just 4 hours and 9 minutes

It would be easy to dismiss the Apple iPhone 3GS as an inconsequential hardware upgrade. But to do so would underestimate how much, collectively, the phone's new features augment the iPhone experience. With the iPhone 3GS, Apple solidifies its ...

Faster processor improves performance ; Improved camera with video recording

Battery life still disappoints ; Still no true multitasking

But the performance enhancements do distinguish this otherwise evolutionary step-up phone from its previous iterations. The new features of the 3GS are few but choice. With 32GB of storage and its data and multimedia strengths, Apple's iPhone 3GS is, ...

On paper, the Nokia N97 ($700; unlocked as of 6/16/09) looks as if it could rival the other big phones of this summer, the Palm Pre, the Apple iPhone 3G S, and T-Mobile's follow-up to the Android-based G1. It has more memory than the other three, ...

Useful widgets update in real-time 32 gigabytes of on-board memory

Keyboard and navigation pad can be difficult to us Symbian S60 feels out of date

The 5-megapixel camera has a Carl Zeiss lens (and a cover), a dual LED flash, and a handful of advanced features. It also comes preloaded with photo/video editing software. Picture quality disappointed me, though; indoor shots came out grainy and dark ...

The Palm Pre smartphone ($200 with a two-year contract from Sprint as of 6/4/09), along with the company's much-anticipated webOS operating system, has had quite the buzz building up since its splashy launch in January. While the Pre isn't perfect, it ...

Pre's webOS is gorgeous and easy to use Highly responsive multitouch display

Keyboard feels cramped and flimsy Lacks removable memory

Hardware flaws aside, the Palm Pre made a solid impression on me. Its eye-catching design and smooth operation make this smartphone the most exciting device I've seen in a while

At first blush, the Plantronics Voyager Pro appears clunky. The $99 (as of 4/4/09) Bluetooth headset sports a bulky, boat-shaped earhook (which houses the battery unit), along with a lengthy, pivoting boom microphone. But the more I used this headset, ...

Superb inbound and outbound call quality Impressive handling of calls in windy environments

Bulky design overall Some controls initially hard to find by feel

In contrast, the other function buttons were somewhat tricky to access at first. The volume-up and -down buttons are located near the crest of the hook, and until I got the hang of it, I wasn't always sure if I had hit the button I wanted. And even ...

The Samsung Impression ($200 with a two-year contract as of 5/1/09) has an extraordinarily bright and clear display--the first commercially available AMOLED (active-matrix organic light-emitting diode) screen. Throw in a roomy full QWERTY keyboard, an ...

Gorgeous AMOLED display Great multimedia features

No camera flash No 3.5mm headphone jack

Regrettably, the Impression's 3-megapixel camera disappoints, which is a shame since photos look so fantastic on the AMOLED display. Because the Impression lacks a flash--a surprising omission given its other features--the snapshots I took in low ...