HTC Droid Incredible
Verizon’s HTC Droid Incredible runs the Sense interface on top of Android OS 2.1. The Droid Incredible ($200 with a two-year contract) features a 3.7-inch AMOLED touchscreen display, a fast 1GHz processor, an 8-megapixel camera, MicroSD-card expansion up to 32 gigabytes, multitasking, and the Friend Stream social network aggregator.
The Droid Incredible lacks a physical keyboard. Its touchscreen provides the primary user interface; voice command is also an option for calls, search, and GPS navigation.
For more information on this and the other phones shown here, check out our Top 10 Android Smartphones chart.
Motorola Droid
Verizon’s Motorola Droid features a slide-out keyboard, a 3.7-inch, 480-by-854-pixel touchscreen display, Android OS 2.1, MicroSD-card expansion up to 32 gigabytes, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 support, a 5-megapixel camera, and hardware-accelerated graphics.
The Droid ($200 with a two-year contract) features an excellent and surprisingly fun voice-enabled search and GPS navigation capability. This makes the Droid stand out from older Android smartphone offerings.
Samsung Behold II
The T-Mobile Samsung Behold II has a brilliant 3.2-inch, 320-by-480-pixel AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display, a 5-megapixel camera, and TouchWiz 2.0, a touch-friendly user interface running over the now-outdated Android OS 1.5.
Note: the newest Android Market apps may require Android OS 2.1 for full functionality.
Google Nexus One
The first Android smartphone to run Android OS 2.1, the Google Nexus One boasts a brilliant 3.7-inch, 400-by-800-pixel AMOLED display, a fast 1GHz Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm, a 5-megapixel camera, and voice-powered navigation and search software. This phone is offered for direct purchase by Google for $529, and also by T-Mobile for $179 with a two-year contract.
Reports of problems with poor network reception issues have reduced the appeal of this phone, and both Sprint and Verizon have decided to nix the Nexus One.
Motorola Cliq
The T-Mobile Motorola Cliq features a slide-out keyboard, a 3.1-inch, 320-by-480-pixel capacitive touch display, and the MotoBlur social network aggregator. The Cliq ($150 with two-year contract) has Wi-Fi support, turn-by-turn GPS, a 5-megapixel camera, and a standard 3.5-mm headphone jack.
It runs the now-dated Android OS 1.6, so don’t expect some of the latest Android OS 2.1 apps to work.
Samsung Moment
The Sprint Samsung Moment ($100 with a two-year contract) features a slide-out keyboard, a 3.2-inch, 320-by-480-pixel AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display, a 3.32-megapixel camera, and Android OS 1.5.
Prospective buyers should be aware that the Moment does not take advantage of the latest features to be found in Android OS 2.1.
HTC Hero
Sprint’s HTC Hero ($100 with a two-year contract) features a 3.2-inch, 480-by-320 capacitive touchscreen display with multitouch, pinch-to-zoom functionality. One of the biggest draws of the Hero is that it is the first Android handset to support Flash Lite 9. Unfortunately, video playback remains a mixed bag—many video sites still don’t play properly.
The HTC Hero has a 5-megapixel camera and a 3.5-mm headphone jack. It is becoming a little outdated with the release of newer Android smartphones like the EVO 4G, and its current price reflects that fact.
T-Mobile myTouch 3G
The T-Mobile myTouch 3G (available for $150 with a two-year contract) features a 3.2-inch, 320-by-480-resolution (HVGA) capacitive touchscreen display, a 3-megapixel camera, and Android OS 1.5.
Note: Prospective buyers should be aware that the myTouch 3G does not take advantage of the latest features to be found in Android OS 2.1.
Motorola Devour
The Verizon Motorola Devour ($150 with a two-year contract) features a slide-out keyboard, a 3.1-inch touchscreen display, MicroSD-card expansion, a 3-megapixel camera, and the MotoBlur social network aggregator. The Devour is similar in appearance to the Droid, but has lower-spec hardware.
The Devour runs the older Android OS 1.6, whereas the Droid runs Android 2.1, so some newer Android Market apps may not perform well.
HTC Droid Eris
The HTC Droid Eris is offered by Verizon for $80 with a two-year contract. Lacking a physical keyboard, the handset relies on a 3.2-inch, 480-by-320-pixel touchscreen for navigation. The Droid Eris has a 528MHz Qualcomm MSM 7600 CPU, a 5-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, and a GPS receiver.
However, the phone runs the Android OS 1.5, which means that it can’t take advantage of some of the most recent features available in Android OS 2.1. If that doesn’t bother you, the Droid Eris should be a cheaper alternative to the Droid.
For more smartphone coverage, check out our Get Smart: PCWorld’s Top 10 Smartphones slideshow, our Top 10 Cell Phones chart, and our Top 10 Android Phones chart.
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