Top 10 smartphones to kick off 2012

Summary: It was a bit easier to pick my top 10 smartphones to start 2012 and I ended up with four of them being Windows Phone devices. Which is your current favorite?

As we head into April, I think it is appropriate to once again look at the current smartphone market and see what I consider the top smartphones available or coming soon to the U.S. market. CES and MWC is behind us with CTIA coming in May so the majority of new smartphones for the first half of 2012 have been revealed. This post includes phones that have been announced, but does not include any rumored devices in the top 10 list. Some do not have exact release dates or pricing, but they should all be here within the next couple of months. You can check out several product photos of these top 10 devices in my image gallery, but I also highly recommend you visit your carrier store or local electronics retailer to get some hands-on time with a device before you make your purchase decision.

Just so you know where my personal perspective is coming from I am a long time (over 10 years) T-Mobile subscriber with five phones on a family plan and also have a Verizon account with the Apple iPhone 4S. I had an AT&T account (mainly used only with data) for a couple of years and was a Sprint subscriber for about a year with devices like the HTC EVO 4G. I do have some experiences with each of the four major US wireless carriers and have also been purchasing SIM-unlocked smartphones for over 7 years. I personally will switch and pay the ETF to get a new device and jump to a carrier that offers me more for my money, but like most of you the quality and reliability of the carrier is more important than the device itself.

IMHO, smartphones today are all very good at helping you stay connected and get a lot done on the go and while I have some preferences I also switch around a lot and enjoy every mobile platform. So, without further rambling, here are my Top 10 Smartphones to Kick Off 2012.

The Apple iPhone is an extremely popular smartphone and after using my iPhone 4S on Verizon for several months I have to say it is one of my favorite phones ever. It may not give you all the customizability you want and the fastest data connection available, but the camera is fantastic, Siri is very useful, applications are outstanding, battery life is decent, signal strength is better than I have seen on any other Verizon phone, and the display is still better than anything else in the smartphone market.

You can now purchase an iPhone 4S on Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T so the majority of mobile phone customers can choose this device and stick with their existing carrier. I’m not sure what Apple can do to make the iPhone better, other than supporting LTE data, and imagine the next update will be focused on that aspect since everything else is already excellent.

HTC announced that the One X will be coming to AT&T this spring and the device looks to take the lead as the top Android smartphone with amazing hardware, camera features that blow away nearly every other device, and audio enhancements that are sure to impress the audiophile. The HTC One X sports a Snapdragon S4 duel-core 1.5 GHz processor, 4.7-inch, 720p HD screen crafted from contoured Corning Gorilla Glass, HTC Sense 4.0 with Ice Cream Sandwich, Bluetooth 4.0, 8 megapixel camera with f/2.0 lens, and Beats Audio. Dropbox is integrated too so integrated storage isn’t much of a limitation.

The HTC One X on AT&T will support their LTE data network so should be one of the fastest Android devices around. We don’t know the price yet, but looking at other LTE devices I imagine it will be around $299 with a 2-year contract.
Regular readers know I am a major fan of Windows Phone and as we saw at CES this year, the Nokia Lumia 900 looks to be one of the best Windows Phone devices of 2012. AT&T just revealed the Lumia 900 will be launching for just $99.99 on 8 April and I am seriously considering adding an AT&T account and making this my Windows Phone device.

The Nokia Lumia 900 has that lovely form factor we saw on the N9 and Lumia 800 with a larger 4.3 inch AMOLED ClearBlack display. You can also find an 8 megapixel camera, 1 megapixel front facing camera, LTE, 1.4 GHz processor, and more.

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