Best Smartphones 2014

It has never been a better time to buy a new smartphone, with the competition between manufacturers cut-throat, and iOS, Android, and Windows 8 all offering fantastic mobile operating systems with their own strengths.

Your mobile phone is your closest gadget with it in your pocket all day and at your bedside at night – so it is worth doing some investigation into which one is the best for you. Some people love the smoothness of Apple’s iOS, others like the customisation available on Android, whilst other love the social and live-updating Metro UI on Windows Phone 7. Do you want a top of the range camera, or a huge screen? Fan of apps or prefer consuming content via the web? There is a smartphone for everyone and here we run down our favourites available in the UK each month.

Best Smartphones For 2014

UPDATED: April 2012

1. HTC One X – the latest flagship HTC smartphone comes packing some of the latest technologies with the fastest quad-core processor largest screen, all running the latest version of Android – Ice Cream Sandwich. It is no surprise then, that the One X takes the top spot from the Galaxy Nexus and iPhone 4S.

2. Apple iPhone 4S – the iPhone has long reigned supreme in the smartphone world, but the iPhone 4S was only a minor upgrade to the iPhone 4 has seen it slip into second place. The retina screen is still beautiful, iOS is still a breeze to use, and the camera is probably the best available on a smartphone. However, the screen now looks a little small compared to its rivals, Siri only really works in the US, and it lacks NFC.

3. Samsung Galaxy Nexus – the current flagship Android device with a screaming fast dual-core processor, a beautiful and bright Super AMOLED screen, and all running Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) puts this phone in the lead going into 2012. The introduction of NFC and the best network download speeds available don’t hurt either.

Runners Up: Nokia Lumia 800, HTC One S

	HTC One X	Apple iPhone 4S	Samsung Galaxy Nexus
OS	Android 4.0 (ICS)	iOS5	Android 4.0 (ICS)
Dimensions	69.9 x 134.4 x 8.9 mm	59 x 115 x 9 mm	68 x 136 x 9 mm
Weight	130g	140g	135g
CPU	Quad-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A9	Dual-core 1 GHz Cortex-A9	Dual-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A9
Display	4.7" Super IPS LCD2 (720x1280px)	3.5″ LED-backlit IPS TFT (640x960px)	4.65" Super AMOLED (720x1280px)
Storage	32GB	16/32/64GB	16/32GB
RAM	1GB	512MB	1GB
Camera	8MP w/ LED flash (1080p@30fps video)	8MP w/ LED flash (1080p@30fps video)	5MP w/ LED flash (1080p@30fps video)
Battery	Li-Po 1800 mAh (204h standby)	1432 mAh (200h standby/8h talktime (3g))	1750 mAh (290h standby/8h talktime (3g))
Connectivity	WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth, MicroUSB	WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth, Apple-connector	WiFi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth, MicroUSB, NFC
Network	2G, 3G, 4G (LTE)	2G, 3G	2G, 3G, 4G (LTE)
Data	GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA 14.4Mbps	GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA 14.4Mbps	GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA 21Mbps
Release Date	February 2012	September 2011	November 2011
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