Motorola Razr2 V9m (Sprint)

Product summary

The good: The Motorola Razr2 V9m offers an updated, sexy design that features user-friendly controls with vibrating tactile feedback. The feature set is generous, and its performance is admirable.

The bad: The Motorola Razr2 V9m is saddled with a low-resolution internal display and poor streaming-video quality.

The bottom line: In a Razr-weary world, the Motorola Razr2 V9m surpassed our expectations by offering a fresh and dynamic new approach to the Razr line. Video performance was below par but the phone succeeded on other fronts.

Specs: Band / mode: CDMA2000 1X 1900/800; Talk time: Up to 220 min; Combined with: With digital camera / digital player See full specs >>

Price range: $249.99

Sony Ericsson W580i - style white (AT&T)

Product summary

The good: The Sony Ericsson W580i has an attractive, easy-to-use design, a satisfying feature set, and admirable call quality.

The bad: The Sony Ericsson W580i's audio was harsh at the highest volume levels, and the keypad buttons are somewhat cramped. Also, the battery life wasn't reliable.

The bottom line: The Sony Ericsson W580i is a stylish multimedia cell phone with good performance on all fronts.

Specs: Band / mode: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband); Talk time: Up to 540 min; Combined with: With digital camera / digital player / FM radio See full specs >>

Price range: $269.99

Palm Centro - red (Sprint)

Product summary

The good: The Palm Centro sheds some of the weight and bulk of Palm Treo to make for a more compact smartphone. It also carries an attractive price tag and offers a lot for the money, including Bluetooth, EV-DO support, push e-mail, and a suite of productivity apps.

The bad: The Centro's QWERTY keyboard is extremely cramped and the hardware feels a bit toylike. The phone's speaker is on the weaker side, and it lacks Wi-Fi.

The bottom line: The Palm Centro isn't the innovative product we were looking for from the company, but with its slimmer size, ease of use, and affordable price tag, the Centro is a good option for those looking for their first smartphone.

Specs: OS provided: Palm OS 5.4.9; Installed RAM: 128 MB; Processor: Texas Instruments 201 MHz See full specs >>

Price range: $99.99 - $399.00

LG Chocolate VX8550 - blue mint Verizon

Product summary

The good: The LG VX8550 Chocolate has a much improved design over the original Chocolate, with a mechanical scroll wheel that has a trace motion light, a touch pad that vibrates, and an overall sleeker look. It has an impressive multimedia feature set that includes a megapixel camera, a music player, and access to Verizon's V Cast service.

The bad: Even though we liked the vibrating feedback of the LG VX8550 Chocolate's touchpad, we still missed the feeling of tactile keys. You also have to get the Music Set, which costs more, if you want the microSD card and USB cable along with the phone.

The bottom line: The LG VX8550 Chocolate is definitely a big improvement over the original Chocolate, with a beautiful yet functional design plus a host of impressive features to boot.

Specs: Band / mode: CDMA2000 1X 1900/800; Talk time: Up to 250 min; Combined with: With digital camera / digital player See full specs >>

Price range: $99.99