With the standard Android operating system 2.3 built into this phone, it operates at a fast pace and is capable of performing several tasks at once. Most Android phones now have an average of 100,000 apps available and their entertainment value is vast. The standard Android phones’ Swype text input is found on this model, offering fast typing on the QWERTY keyboard.

Android phones are popular because of their high level of compatibility with social networking, and the Samsung S2 is no exception. This phone provides the user with the capability to browse Facebook and Twitter, and to access instant messaging anywhere. As with all Android phones, this unit provides full access to the reader’s hub platform. This informative guide allows users of the Android phone the option to access over 2,000 newspapers. The Android phones now available also allow easy access to the popular music hub that allows both the purchase and playing of all forms of music.

An Android phone will come preloaded with many popular apps, including Gmail, YouTube, Google Talk and Google. Android phones are perfect for both the business and leisure users.

Some of the giants leading the field today include Apple, whose iconic iPhones and iPads continue to earn them praise and win more and more fans, Samsung, whose Galaxy range of phones are consistently highly rated by experts and users alike, innovative HTC, who create cutting edge technology combined with good looking handsets, while Nokia, Motorola and Sony Ericsson have all made forays into the sector and come up with well received products that may steal an edge on their rivals.  BlackBerry, known more for its share of the business market, has also come up with smartphones to rival some of its main competitors. 

Some of the models that have earned the highest praise by customers and reviewers alike include the HTC One series of smartphones, the Samsung Galaxy S2, the Nokia Lumia 800 and the Motorola Razr.  Meanwhile, the latest iPhone, the Apple iPhone 4S, continues to reap praise and gain new users.  The Samsung Galaxy Nexus continues to hold its appeal as one of the best Android smartphones on the market, and high praise has also been dished out to the Sony Xperia series which includes the Sony Xperia Ray and Sony Xperia Arc, which has put Sony firmly back on the smartphone map. 

Hotly awaited in 2012 is the forthcoming Samsung Galaxy S3, yet to make its debut on the world stage but expected to run on the most powerful technology using a quad core processor.  It has also been announced that Vodaphone will initially offer Samsung Galaxy S3 deals when the phone is unveiled to the UK market later in the year.

The Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro mobile phone comes with additional features, such as the inbuilt GPS in the form of the popular Google Maps. This satellite navigation system works quickly thanks to the large 16GB memory, which is supported by a fast processor. The Sony Ericsson mobile phones now available include ones with a five megapixel camera that provides perfect images every time using the auto focus feature and built in flash.

This phone also has an additional feature in the slide out keyboard. Mimicking the style and look of a full keyboard, the keys are accessible at the touch of a button. Texts and emails can be typed quickly using the slide out keyboard and sent instantly with the large icons on the home screen that give this phone easy one handed operation.

Some of the major telecommunications companies seem to be constantly unveiling their new handsets at industry press conferences, but unless one is a phone expert the choice can prove to be bewildering. Increasingly, the consumer is seeking the advice of the mobile phone review sites. Their trusted reviewers and analysts can guide the less knowledgeable around the pitfalls of the industry and they will also record the best deals and contracts available. For a parent who wants their offspring to have a phone on them at all times but does not want to invest in a long-term and possibly expensive contract, the reviewers compare all of the Pay As You Go Options.

Some of these review sites have inside information and are remarkably efficient at analysing announcements from within the telecommunications industry. The independent review site Recombu is particularly good at keeping abreast of all the new announcements and deciphering them for the general public.

Another advantage of review sites is that they make an excellent job of translating ‘tech speak’ into English. For example, an Ice Cream Sandwich is not just a lovely treat on a cone; in the phone industry, it’s the Android 4 upgrade. The reviewers see their mission to explain, criticise and analyse each new launch in order that the buyer can make the most informed choice. If a phone is not all that its publicity claims, these independent sites will reveal its weaknesses. In fact, anyone wanting to buy a phone would be foolhardy if they did not visit one of these sites.

Experienced analysts will have tested all the phones mentioned by the review sites and therefore the buyer can rest assured that they will be well informed when they finally come to select their new phone. From the Orange San Francisco II review to the very new Samsung Galaxy Y review, the consumer will be able to evaluate the best choice for them. 

Many individuals may use their phones almost exclusively for purely social interaction, whereas others will need them for business reasons. A careful analysis of the mobile phone reviews will help the consumer make the most informed choice.

These sites also remark on the upgrades, not all are beneficial and therefore the consumer may be better off saving their money and just reading the online sites’ news sections, which provide information on all the new launches that are on the horizon.

The majority of the phones offer Bluetooth, while some have GPS and others have Wi-Fi.  These features are fairly popular and therefore in demand. Some of Samsung’s phones include a high quality video recorder and camera. The memory capacity varies on the different Samsung phones. Some have a fairly large inbuilt memory storage offering 16GB of memory, while others can be fed a memory card so that you can store your photos, videos and music securely. And if it is music you like, many of the phones include MP3 players so that you can listen to your favourite music wherever you are. 

This cool smartphone has an upgrade of Android 2.3, an 800MHz processor, an increase of 200 MHz on the original model; the camera has also been upgraded to 5 megapixels from 3.1. Orange San Francisco II reviews show that the 3.5-inch touchscreen offers excellent value for money in terms of quality and brightness. The screen is both easy to use and highly responsive. The phone also comes loaded with all the latest Google Maps apps, including Streetview and a Google Sat Nav app, known as Google Maps Application. The inbuilt Wi-Fi means that web surfing is easy.

The phone is light; it only weighs 120 grams and its overall dimensions come are 117 x 58.5 x 10.6mm. The main bonus for this handset is its price, with many Orange contracts that start from as little as £10.50 per month for a 24-month contract.

The phone model has a 3.7 inch screen which is slightly smaller than its cousin the Sony Xperia S which has a 4.3 inch screen, but this difference is negligible.  Both phones have an NFC functionality, which allows the user to pay for goods using your phone just like using a credit card.  You can scan tags that give you more information about a specific product or service, exchange data with other phones or devices and you can even use it to instruct your phone to actually perform a task.  This phone really is very clever.   

In many a Sony Xperia S review, the phone is deemed one of the highest spec phones available, with many of the standard features you would find on any smartphone plus more.  It has an impressive 12.1 megapixel camera with a high-resolution screen that sets it apart from some of the other phones.  It has a HD video and an amazing 32GB of internal memory and to top it all it is a good looking phone.  All in all the Sony Xperia S is an excellent phone, so the Xperia Sola can only be better.

Users will also notice that the buttons on the phone that used to be physical buttons on previous models are not the same and will also change according to the way the phone is being held and the mode being used.  The Android system allows the user to access the apps that are used most recently and most frequently and gamers will find the handset ideal for their needs.

The keyboard is a touchscreen version and there is now a better spellchecking system and the browser on the phone will allow users to save any webpage to access later in an offline format.  The calendar and camera on the phone have also been improved a great deal.

Modern technical features such as a ‘face unlock’ where the phone can read the user’s face to unlock rather than a pin code will suit those who find it difficult to remember numbers.  There is also a feature that allows files to be sent from one phone to another.  The phone is ideal for those who are new to the smartphone market and there are plenty of Google Nexus S deals to be found with a number of operators offering the handset free of charge on certain contracts.

The place of Samsung in the wider global economy as an electronic giant gives them an advantage in the expertise required for offering key technologies as part of their mobile phone arm.  The popularity of Android as an operating system across a number of platforms has been key to Samsung’s recent success, and the Galaxy range of mobile phones rightly deserve their place at the top end of the market.

The most popular Galaxy phones include the S, S2, Ace, Mini, Nexus and Y.  All of them operate a 3.5G band chipset, and have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi capability.  The S2 also has an 8 megapixel camera with HD video capability and a 16GB internal storage; which is almost identical to the S model, apart from the 5 megapixel camera available in the older model.  The Ace and Nexus have similar specs, albeit with a 5 megapixel camera and the addition of an MP3 player.  The Mini has many of the same features of the Ace; the only difference being that the camera operates on a 3 megapixel resolution.  The Galaxy Y model is an earlier version of the smartphone with a 2 megapixel camera and an MP3 player.