Mobility

Slideshow: The 12 best Android smartphones

By · December 5, 2010, 10:13 PM PST · jasonhiner

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  • Android's best of the best

    A hot, new Android phone seems to hit the market almost every week. To help you sort through them all, here's our updated list of the 12 best Android smartphones, based on the quality and value of each device.

    To view this as a list and read more, see the article:
    Leaderboard: The 12 best Android smartphones

  • 1. HTC EVO 4G

    HTC EVO 4G: "'The Hummer of smartphones' because it's so huge and it's such a power hog, but there's no denying that it is the elite of the Android fleet."

    To view this as a list and read more, see the article:
    Leaderboard: The 12 best Android smartphones

  • 2. Google Nexus One

    Google Nexus One: "It remains the gold standard and as long as Google keeps selling it in one form or another, it will likely remain on this list."

    To view this as a list and read more, see the article:
    Leaderboard: The 12 best Android smartphones

  • 3. Samsung Vibrant

    Samsung Vibrant: "T-Mobile's Samsung Vibrant is thin, powerful, has a great screen, and does the least amount of fiddling with the stock Android OS [of any of the Galaxy S models]."

    To view this as a list and read more, see the article:
    Leaderboard: The 12 best Android smartphones

  • 4. HTC Desire

    HTC Desire: "The Desire has nearly-identical hardware specs to the Nexus One and a very similar, high-quality outer shell that gives it an excellent build quality."

    To view this as a list and read more, see the article:
    Leaderboard: The 12 best Android smartphones

  • 5. HTC Incredible

    HTC Incredible: "It’s not quite as elegant or high-end as the Nexus One, but the Incredible is the next best thing."

    To view this as a list and read more, see the article:
    Leaderboard: The 12 best Android smartphones

  • 6. Motorola Droid X

    Motorola Droid X: "With Sprint’s HTC EVO 4G drawing much of the attention of the Android world since its unveiling at CTIA 2010 ... the response from Motorola and Verizon (the previous darlings of the Android world) was the Droid X."

    To view this as a list and read more, see the article:
    Leaderboard: The 12 best Android smartphones

  • 7. Samsung Epic 4G

    Samsung Epic 4G: "With it’s large keys and dedicated row for number keys, it is arguably the best hardware qwerty on any Android device."

    To view this as a list and read more, see the article:
    Leaderboard: The 12 best Android smartphones

  • 8. Motorola Droid Pro

    Motorola Droid Pro: "This device will definitely appeal to those users who cling to the idea that they want and need a hardware keyboard, especially BlackBerry converts."

    To view this as a list and read more, see the article:
    Leaderboard: The 12 best Android smartphones

  • 9. Samsung Captivate

    Samsung Captivate: "AT&T's [Galaxy S] model combines the thinness of the Captivate with lots of punch and high-end features to make this a very attractive phone."

    To view this as a list and read more, see the article:
    Leaderboard: The 12 best Android smartphones

  • 10. Motorola Droid 2

    Motorola Droid 2: "For those who prefer a physical keyboard and Verizon’s top-notch coverage, the Droid 2 remains a great choice."

    To view this as a list and read more, see the article:
    Leaderboard: The 12 best Android smartphones

  • 11. HTC Aria

    HTC Aria: "The HTC Aria might be one of the best kept secrets of the Android world... It looks a lot like the EVO, but in a far smaller package."

    To view this as a list and read more, see the article:
    Leaderboard: The 12 best Android smartphones

  • 12. LG Ally

    LG Ally: "It has a great little hardware keyboard — the best hardware keyboard on an Android device next to the Epic 4G."

    To view this as a list and read more, see the article:
    Leaderboard: The 12 best Android smartphones

Android's best of the best

A hot, new Android phone seems to hit the market almost every week. To help you sort through them all, here's our updated list of the 12 best Android smartphones, based on the quality and value of each device.

To view this as a list and read more, see the article:
Leaderboard: The 12 best Android smartphones
Related Topics:
Mobility Security Hardware Software Apple Android Google

By Jason Hiner

Jason Hiner is Editorial Director of CNET and former Editor in Chief of TechRepublic. He's co-author of the book, Follow the Geeks.

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