[Jesse S @ Nov 30th 2007 7:43PM]

ATT Tilt, if you can stand HTC's terrible build quality and ATT's terrible network. Mogul if you can stand HTC's terrible build quality. i760 (Samsung, Verizon) is what I myself prefer...Amazing build quality, and it's CDMA.

The Tilt is the most powerful though. I just cannot stand HTC's slider mechanism...

[Sam Zebian @ Nov 30th 2007 8:25PM]

CDMA sux, how is that a good thing, it will basically only work in the us, maybe in a few countries, I'm not exactly sure, but UTMS and GSM are the best, because they're universal (except in Japan)

[wickedpheonix @ Nov 30th 2007 8:49PM]

@sam zebian

you've never lived in the Wash. DC area. GSM absolutely sucks down here, can only get a signal in about half the city. Verizon (CDMA) covers most of the city and even is down in the subways, which makes it indisputable for commuters (and therefore tens of thousands of people) since GSM isn't down there at all. I would like GSM to be everywhere in DC, but unfortunately our nation's capital is an oasis of the Dark Ages.

[Mike @ Nov 30th 2007 9:41PM]

@Sam -

For the most part, GSM vs CDMA does not matter for most Americans. If you are stating that CDMA sucks because you are not American and do not live in America; then you might have a point. But for the majority of Americans who do not travel outside of the US or need their data & US cell phone number outside the US, this is a moot point. GSM vs CDMA should really be about the coverage where you plan to use it most, not about where you theoretically could use it most.

[CB17 @ Nov 30th 2007 10:00PM]

@Mike and Wicked
CDMA SUCKS...PERIOD. Especially the way Sprint and Verizon implement it with their completely locked down networks and horrible phone options. GSM and Cingular (yes, Cingular because it really IS the same thing as the "new ATT") = OPEN and USE ANY GSM PHONE on the market. Plus faster speeds and a bunch of other stuff...

[Jesse S @ Nov 30th 2007 11:24PM]

I guess you haven't heard of VZW becoming semi-open in 2008? Or about how CDMA has better voice quality? Or faster data speeds? Or more bandwidth? Or soft-handoffs between towers, which means less dropped calls?

You do realize that CDMA is superior to GSM in ever single way, right? And it supports R-UIM, which are essentially SIM cards for CDMA.

I wonder why China, Korea, and parts of Japan use CDMA? One could call them the fastest advancing countries in the world, and look at their choice.

Why am I lowest ranked? HTC has terrible build quality compared to Samsung. GSM sucks.

[CUBSWILLWIN @ Nov 30th 2007 11:40PM]

you have a point there on the R-UIM cards. I mean, those cards have the potential of say running an iphone on sprint or verizon. I mean I would love that as a sprint customer.

[csjk789 @ Dec 1st 2007 12:25AM]

Too freaking bad that this post is talking about the best 3G smartphone. If you get a CDMA phone in the United States, you are getting EV-DO.... ha!

I agree with you that CDMA is better for data, but nothing beats GSM for efficient voice quality. Therefore, in the US, AT&T is the best carrier. They use GSM for voice (you need 5 CDMA towers for every one GSM tower) and HSDPA (CDMA!) for data. Best of both worlds.

Case closed.

[CB17 @ Dec 1st 2007 12:33AM]

@Jesse
It's funny you bring up Verizon's newfound "openess". Mainly because you have no idea what it entails and still wouldn't give the flexibility that ATT's current infrastructure with GSM and SIM cards provide, which, btw, is the way it's been for the last several years. Who knows what Verizon's "open" plan is. I guarantee you one thing though, they're still gonna lock down and uglify the phones they provide.

And as for the bandwidth, I encourage you to WIKI the specs for EVDO rev. A (current revision) vs. HSPA (current GSM technology) I think you'll find that you have no idea what you're talking about. Plus like I've mentioned many times before, with HSPA you get simultaneous voice and data which is not only convenient by itself but also allows for Video Calling.

[CUBSWILLWIN @ Dec 1st 2007 8:23AM]

isn't EV-DO 3G by cdma stabdards. It's pretty much as fast as 3g. I know. I've been with at&t's 3G and I'm currently a sprint customer on an unlimited EV-DO plan

[Jesse S @ Dec 1st 2007 10:24AM]

In real-life application, EV-DO has higher bandwidth.

And you know why you have to have 5 CDMA towers for every 1 GSM tower? Soft hand-offs, which means less dropped calls. And CDMA does have better voice quality.

I know Verizon is still going to be locked down, why do you think I said "semi-open"? I'm not an idiot, I know they're still going to delay phones for almost a year and lock out a feature or two, but it's better than it being completely locked.

The only reason GSM is used is because it's cheaper than CDMA.

[xbit @ Dec 1st 2007 1:36PM]

@Jesse S
You do realise that Verizon are migrating to a GSM Association technology (LTE) for 4G, right? That's how they're opening up their network. And you do realise that the GSM Association 3G standard (UMTS/HSDPA) is based on a CDMA air interface?

CDMA doesn't suck. Qualcomm's implementation of CDMA does suck.

[Jesse S @ Dec 1st 2007 1:41PM]

I do know that Verizon is moving to LTE, but isn't that only for data?