What's the best mobile phone? Our verdict on the best smartphone / best phones - constantly updated
We've all got at least one mobile phone each, right? The trouble is, how do you decide which is the best one for you?
If you've read our list of the hottest pre-release new mobile phones and are still stumped, well, this is where we make it easy. Because here we have our constantly-updated comparison of the top 20 best smartphones you can get in the UK.
And now, after a glut of top-end mobile phones steaming out from Mobile World Congress 2011, we've just brought you our biggest update ever to this definitive chart.
The big surprise in the last update was the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc nabbing the top spot - the combo of Android 2.3 and a beautiful screen in a tightly packaged body saw it head straight to the top of the pile.
But now the long-awaited Samsung Galaxy S2 has landed in the UK, we spent a frantic weekend trying out the myriad functions it's got packed into its teeny frame. So now we can finally give it a place in our top 20 ranking of our mobile phone recommendations - and now we're feverishly awaiting the launch of the new iPhone 5 or iPhone 4S to see if they'll have waht it takes to finally get an iPhone on top spot.
If that still doesn't help, well, there's always our extensive mobile phone reviews pages as well.
And when you've decided what new phone to buy, why not cash in your old one with our phone recycling price comparison service?
Here are our rankings for the best mobile phones around, currently available in the UK.
Your comments (181) Click to add a new comment
scottgilbert
September 7th
181. at incrediblevistas at 180, by what criteria's do you define the sensation to be a better phone?
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incrediblevistas
September 3rd
180. The Incredible S can not be beaten, it is miles better than any other smartphone
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nat26han
August 29th
179. In my opinion i would have to slightly disagree and say:
6. iPhone 4
5. Sony Xperia Arc
4. HTC Desire S
3. HTC Incredible S
2. HTC Sensation
1. Samsung Galaxy S2
The incredible s is better than the desire s, apart from opprating system which can be updated with ease, and the unique design makes the phone interesting.
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ccs001
August 28th
178. Hello. I just came back to check out the top phone list and was really pleased to see that I do not have to trawl through the first 15 phones just to get to the interesting ones! Much better, well done TR.
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uchihanikki
August 25th
177. nice review techradar
SGSII is the King, I totally agree with that.
those who are having or encountering problems with this phone is a NOOB in the android world.
word of advice, you'd better stick to your user friendly IOS, because you will never control this beast..
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zzzxtreme
August 25th
176. all these "best phones" has lousy battery life, and the phones with good battery life are running symbian, but symbian is so damn lousy. no phone deserves to be in this list if it needs to be recharged every day! mankind are doomed
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jjb1001
August 18th
175. what about the htc desire HD, Its a great phone!
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johnmarvintan
August 4th
174. before i bought my phone, i have read this review first. i followede their advice, i bought a galaxy s2, and the rest is history, the best decision ive ever made.
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combust
August 3rd
173. I've had my Samsung Galaxy for almost about a month now and frankly, to be honest, I don't think it deserves the number 1 spot. If the Motorola Atrix was bumped down a few places because of Software issues then I think SGS II should unfortunately also go down a few places. Here's a list of problems I've encountered:
Crashes and Freezes: There's no way in hell a user can play Pocket Legends, Star Legends without it crashing or freezing which makes the games totally unplayable. Heck, even Inotia freezes every now and then. I've even encountered a black screen whilst going to the gallery or checking out my phonebook. It even froze and restarted whilst writing this reply!
Social Hub: The intergration of Facebook contacts into the phonebook is a nice touch but it consumes data excessively. You then have the Social Hub updating status's, the Facebook for Andoid app updating status's, and the phonebook updating aswell. Also, Social Hub is TERRIBLE to put it mildly. It's also visually unsatisfying and also just a burden on the phone. The built-in email app. is even worse. It doesn't even allow me to send PDF documents unless I download Adobe's PDF viewer. I had to download K 9 email client to resolve this issue, in fact, almost everything that is of Samsung are useless.
Samsung Keyboard: It's probably the worst keyboard available on the Android OS. I had to download an application called 'Anykeyboard' which makes the stock keyboard look like childsplay. One programmer can create such a brilliant keyboard app yet Samsung's entire team can't even match it.
Music Player: It's okay but compared to what Symbian Anna has it should crawl into the dark hole it came out of. I had to download a paid app called 'Power AMP and 'Songbird' aswell.
Camera: It's ****. It looks nice but compared to other phones it's also useless like the rest.
I should have waited a few months for the HTC Sensation as this phone is a major dissapointment. I don't recommend you get it until Samsung pulls up their socks and fixes the SGS II's issues.
I suspect it has something to do with Samsung's dual core and the fact that it has something to do with Gingerbread not being able to support Multi-core processors but that's my own guess.
So I beg to differ. What irritates me the most is I purchased this phone because of Techradar's review on it as Techradar is simply the best and most reliable review site on the net.
I opt for an investigation as no other site has done this yet. That the SGS II is not the greatest phone on Earth...
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cellpig
August 2nd
172. The caption on the first picture answers the question; the iPhone 4 is at the top. No questions asked. Anyone have any more rumors on the release of the iPhone 5? Ha. We should be getting the dimensions pre-launch and we'll have skins available on day one at http://cellpig.com
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vu2ikl
July 22nd
171. Ah!!! finally a tech site which is balanced enough. unlike apple mouthpiece "engadget".
Thanks guys, this is very good ranking. Just one.
good job.
-Happy owner of xperia arc :)
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alainpaum
July 22nd
170. The Google nexus S is the best
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alainpaum
July 22nd
169. The Google nexus S is the best
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redj101
July 9th
168. Hey guys, I think you've made a mistake here. Number 1 is the Samsung Galaxy S2 right, however on the review video it shows a review for the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc...
Small glitch I guess, but never the less keep up the good work. :)
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heeners3
June 12th
167. I have just spent half an hour messing around with my 4 contenders, The S2, Desire S, Incredible S and The Arc. There was no way I was really considering buying the S2 as it wouldnt fit in my pocket! After fiddling about with the S2, Im getting new trousers with bigger pockets. It is incredible. It really does blow the competition out of the water. The Desire S is a great, and smaller phone, The Incredible S, the same but a touch bigger. The Arc has a beautifull Chasis and does the job. However these 3 look cheap and amateurish compared to the S2
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titus1000
June 10th
166. The Desire is old...that's it.
The only reason I can think of why it was sliding off the rank. Though it was "revolutionary" at that time.
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lemdagalea
June 8th
165. Wait, I take my last comment back. How come the large customizability of the HTC Desire be ignored? Apparently, all the iPhone 4 has to do is lose a few bucks in the price tag while the Desire has always been fair and gentle in most people's wallets.
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darth_daver
June 6th
164. Techradar, can you please explain to me how the iPhone 4 is now better than the HTC desire. I'm confused because you've had the desire ahead for almost a year.
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dreamrockman
June 3rd
163. But iPhone 4 has never been better than HTC Desire!!
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