Editors' Note: This piece was originally published on June 12, 2012 and is updated regularly. Whatever your reasons for side-stepping your carrier, unlocked smartphones offer a sense of freedom and convenience we can all appreciate. Simply buy a SIM card It is hard to think of a device that’s had more impact on our lives over the past five years than the smartphone. Some 32 million of us own one, and we would no more leave the house without it than our keys. Smartphones are indeed just that — smart. Buying a smartphone is an effort in optimization. The answer won’t always be the iPhone, and paying the most won’t always ensure you’re getting the best phone. Most smartphones do all the basics pretty well: social networking, mail, productivity and Let's be completely honest here — LG's generally known as the other South Korean smartphone company. But if that's all you think about LG, you're sorely missing out, as it's been making really good smartphones that too often fly under the radar. You can’t say that about any of the aforementioned choices. It’s also the best designed of the above phones and has the best camera too. But the screen is just not that good, which is why it ranks at the absolute bottom of our choices; buy it only if you can find a new phone this season that you'll love and that your friends and family will covet. Given so many solid choices, we've broken down the best smartphone options by carrier, offering two top picks and an honorable mention for each of the big .
For about five years now, the question for smartphone buyers has been a classic either/or: "Android or iPhone?" Answering that question is more difficult than ever, thanks to large advances in Android, as well as the emergence of a third viable option and six of the top hardware manufacturers. It's a Smartphone All-Star Team, if you will. So without further ado, let's break down some of the biggest smartphones of the year. Sizes are all over the place, ranging from Apple's relatively small iPhones to For the lawyer’s smartphone, there is no storm brewing over our top choices: The Apple iPhone 3G and the BlackBerry Bold are two of the best smartphones available. Price is the minor part of the equation—user plan expenses, cost of additional Mashable Choice highlights the products and services we've tested and would recommend to others. Consider it Liked, Favorited, +1'ed and Pinned. You'd be forgiven for scratching your head at the mention of the OnePlus One. Even once you've gotten past the .
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