The 10 Best Upcoming Cell Phones
Sure, you want a new phone right now, but carriers and manufacturers have promised some truly spectacular, knock-your-socks-off phones coming to U.S. shelves between now and June. With 4G right around the corner and mobile hardware and software getting better and better, you should take a look at what's coming down the pike in the next couple of months before you buy. The first three weeks of the year have seen more than a dozen announcements from top U.S. carriers, and we're sure to see more at the Mobile World Congress trade show in mid-February. Whether you're with AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, or Verizon Wireless, there's something exciting on the horizon. It wasn't easy keeping it to just 10, but we've come up with this list of the most exciting phones that you'll be able to buy in the coming months.
Sony Ericsson's big comeback could come from this Android 2.3 "Gingerbread" phone with a razor-sharp screen, spectacular camera, and the ability to be manipulated by your TV's remote control. While the company told us it wants to sell this phone here in the U.S, we've put it in last place on this list because Sony Ericsson has a lousy track record of getting its phones picked up by U.S. carriers. If it does appear, the Xperia Arc will most likely show up on AT&T.
Verizon debuted four new LTE, Android-based phones at CES this year. The LG Revolution's key features include 1080p HD video capture and the ability to organize your Android apps into folders, preventing your app tray from getting much too long.
T-Mobile's Editors' Choice-winning Samsung Vibrant is getting a faster cousin on February 13 with the introduction of the Galaxy S 4G, which T-Mobile pre-announced on January 20. We don't know much about the new generation Galaxy S, although we're hoping T-Mobile's phone is the same as the dual-core Galaxy S lineup that Samsung is promising.
Sony Ericsson's big comeback could come from this Android 2.3 "Gingerbread" phone with a razor-sharp screen, spectacular camera, and the ability to be manipulated by your TV's remote control. While the company told us it wants to sell this phone here in the U.S, we've put it in last place on this list because Sony Ericsson has a lousy track record of getting its phones picked up by U.S. carriers. If it does appear, the Xperia Arc will most likely show up on AT&T.Also notable: Sony Ericsson is expected to debut a "PlayStation phone" next month, though we don't know whether that's ever coming to the U.S. We should know more when MWC commences on Feb. 13.
The Xperia Arc is a big (4.2-inch screen), slim (only 8.7mm) slab phone running Android 2.3 on a 1Ghz Qualcomm second-generation Snapdragon processor. With a metal band around the edge and an unusually rich 16.7m-color screen, it feels fancy and expensive. Performance seemed to be on par with other gigahertz-class Android phones.
Windows Phone 7 will debut on Sprint very, very soon with this big, sliding-QWERTY-keyboard model. Like many other Windows Phone 7 devices, the 7 Pro has a 1GHz processor and a 5-megapixel camera. The form factor is the selling point here, with a tilting screen that makes it look like a little laptop.
The Sprint HTC Arrive is the first WP7 CDMA Smartphone available and it is a decent device. The specs are at least a year old and the WP7 OS does poorly at supporting landscape orientation.
Windows Phone 7 launched last fall for GSM carriers and this weekend you will finally be able to pick up a CDMA model in the USA. The HTC 7 Pro launches as the HTC Arrive on Sprint for $199.99. Overall, it is a solid WP7 device, but the limited landscape support makes the device look a bit silly at times and WP7 just is not ready to support these types of form factors.
Verizon debuted four new LTE, Android-based phones at CES this year. The LG Revolution's key features include 1080p HD video capture and the ability to organize your Android apps into folders, preventing your app tray from getting much too long.
T-Mobile's Editors' Choice-winning Samsung Vibrant is getting a faster cousin on February 13 with the introduction of the Galaxy S 4G, which T-Mobile pre-announced on January 20. We don't know much about the new generation Galaxy S, although we're hoping T-Mobile's phone is the same as the dual-core Galaxy S lineup that Samsung is promising.
T-Mobile offered up some fresh details about two upcoming flagship devices that will run on its HSPA+ network: a 4G version of Samsung's Galaxy S Smartphone and LG's G-Slate Android tablet. The first is an update to the Vibrant, with the most notable addition being the front-facing camera and a slight battery capacity bump to cope with the beefier radio.
Other specs include a 1GHz Cortex A8 Hummingbird processor, 4-inch Super AMOLED touch screen, 5-megapixel rear camera, a 16GB microSD card, and Android 2.2 "Froyo". A number of applications are bundled with the smartphone, including DoubleTwist with AirSync, Slacker Radio, Amazon Kindle for Android, and Qik for video chats, while T-Mobile is also bundling a copy of Christopher Nolan's Inception with every phone.
Other specs include a 1GHz Cortex A8 Hummingbird processor, 4-inch Super AMOLED touch screen, 5-megapixel rear camera, a 16GB microSD card, and Android 2.2 "Froyo". A number of applications are bundled with the smartphone, including DoubleTwist with AirSync, Slacker Radio, Amazon Kindle for Android, and Qik for video chats, while T-Mobile is also bundling a copy of Christopher Nolan's Inception with every phone.
Super-thin, with a super-huge, Super AMOLED Plus screen, the Samsung Infuse will give you a truly cinematic Android experience. The 4.5-inch display carries the same 800-by-480 resolution as most other smartphones, but Samsung says Super AMOLED Plus will improve its colors. The Infuse will be one of the first phones to run on AT&T's fast HSPA+ network. The screen’s amazing luminance allows you to easily read the display even in daylight. With its brilliant color and thin design, the Infuse 4G is fantastic for social messaging, outstanding browsing and entertainment on-the-go. With the Infuse 4G, you're only seconds away from being able to watch hit movies and TV shows from Samsung Media Hub. It's your best entertainment experience on-the-go in a handheld device. And there is a 2GB microSD card that comes pre-loaded with this summer’s hottest movie trailers. With the brilliant color and sound, videos and TV shows come to life. Once you choose a movie or show to watch, the content can be shared with up to four other devices.
HTC is beloved for giving a bit more style and finish to its Android phones than some other manufacturers, and the 4G HTC Thunderbolt comes with the company's award-winning Sense UI overlay. It also has an 8-megapixel camera and an HD video recorder, which may make this an excellent 4G phone for YouTube devotees. The HTC Thunderbolt looks and feels huge. It's classy looking, though, in all-gray with a glass front and a soft-touch back. There's a small 1.3-megapixel camera next to the earpiece, and a larger 8-megapixel shooter on the back, along with a kickstand, so you can prop the phone up on a table or a desk. The 4.3-inch, 800-by-480 screen looks unusually rich. But at 6.4 ounces, the Thunderbolt will weigh down any pocket, and at 4.8 by 2.6 by 0.5 inches (HWD), it won't fit in some of them. That's the price you pay for being an early LTE adopter. The HTC Thunderbolt is a smartphone that resembles the HTC EVO 4G, the first phone to run on a 4G network. The EVO 4G ran on Sprint’s WiMax Network, while the HTC Thunderbolt runs on Verizon’s LTE 4G network. It’s been about a year since the EVO 4G was introduced, which means there’s been time for Android phones to evolve. The HTC Thunderbolt is more feature-packed than the EVO 4G and has beefier specs.
The HTC Thunderbolt is the first phone to run on Verizon’s speedy LTE network. The Verizon LTE Network promises average download speeds of 5-12 mbps and average upload speeds of 2-5mbps. Thunderbolt users will be able to make calls and use the data connection simultaneously, something that is not possible on the Verizon version of the iPhone 4.
The T-Mobile Sidekick is a cult device with an intensely faithful following. After Sidekick-maker Danger was bought by Microsoft, fans thought they'd never see a new model. T-Mobile recently said the Sidekick is coming back as a 4G HSPA+ Android phone, but didn't give many details. The new Sidekick 4G leverages its quality keyboard along with Sidekick Group Text™ and Cloud Text™ to redefine messaging. Sidekick’s Group Text feature lets customers create, name, manage and participate in reply-all group text conversations, enabling them to lead their network in conversation and social planning. Group Text breathes new life into one of the most popular forms of messaging allowing Sidekick 4G customers to initiate and share the benefit of the application with SMS-capable devices from flip phones to smartphones. In addition, Cloud Text provides the option to text with friends or groups across platforms, whether from the comfort of their PC’s large screen and keyboard, or from their new Sidekick 4G.
The dual-core, NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor in the Motorola Droid Bionic means this 4G LTE phone will be up to twice as fast as other top smartphones. I've seen the Tegra difference when playing games, and it means sharper backgrounds, better shadows, and more enemies to fight. The Droid Bionic may very well be Verizon's power leader when it launches. Motorola’s DROID BIONIC gives new meaning to the word “socialize” by delivering multiple ways for customers to stay connected. With the device’s front-facing VGA camera and See What I See video feature, consumers can share experiences – either via Wi-Fi or 4G – with family, friends and co-workers. A rear-facing 8-megapixel camera also allows consumers to capture their favorite pictures and videos.
The most interesting phone I saw at CES and the one I'm personally waiting most anxiously for, the Motorola Atrix is an Android phone that turns into a Linux-powered, desktop or laptop PC when it's popped into the appropriate dock. The phone will indeed have a 4.3-inch qHD display, an 8 megapixel AF cam with single LED flash, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of on-board storage with expansion to a total of 40GB, and there'll be a 2GB card in the box. There's no mention of LTE anywhere, which is consistent with what we'd found (and notice that they might end up using a "4G" indicator in the status bar instead of "H+" after all). Motorola is quoting talk time of "up to" 8.5 hours and max standby time of 15.9 days; bear in mind it uses a slightly smaller battery than the original Atrix, but these numbers aren't vastly different.
We couldn't ignore the next-gen Jesus phone. Nobody knows anything reliable about the upcoming iPhone, although noisy blog speculation is already in full force. We don't know if it will be called iPhone 5, iPhone 4G, or something else. But we're pretty sure it's coming in June or July—iPhones always do. Surely Apple will have plenty of surprises for us, and it's likely that a new iPhone will come with industry-leading features.
Besides these 10 best upcoming cell phones, a new addition from Nokia is also highly anticipated featuring the windows Phone 7 OS for the first time. Dubbed as Sea Ray, the handset is confirmed to roll out from manufacturing by this fall and will soon be followed by a volume shipment starting 2012.
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