Engadget's Holiday Gift Guide: Smartphones
By Chris Ziegler 
posted December 2nd 2009 2:54PM
posted December 2nd 2009 2:54PM
Welcome to the Engadget Holiday Gift Guide! The team here is well aware of the heartbreaking difficulties of the seasonal shopping experience, and we want to help you sort through the trash and come up with the treasures this year. Below is today's bevy of hand curated picks, and you can head back to the Gift Guide hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the holiday season.
If your BFF's HTC has a code name like Blue Angel, Harrier, or Canary, trust us: the time has come to intervene and forcefully bring that particular chapter of their technological life to a close. It's 2009, after all, and with devices like the Pre, iPhone 3GS, and Droid all coming to market in the past few months, there's never been a better time to be a smartphone lover, buyer, or -- in this case -- giver. Of course, in the States, giving a phone as a gift isn't the easiest thing in the world since you've got contracts to worry about, but it can be done -- even if you've got to drag the lucky recipient kicking and screaming into the store and hold their hand to the dotted line. So let's get to it, shall we?
Samsung Omnia - As gifts go, it's hard to beat "free," especially if the free thing isn't a hunk of crap. Verizon's original Omnia was a pretty stellar smartphone when it launched last year, and it's every bit as good today -- especially when you consider that the launch of the Omnia II has pushed its asking price down into oblivion. Seriously, there aren't many smartphones that you can get on contract for less than a disposable plastic flip on contract, let alone good ones, and this time-tested old-timer should be a welcome freebie for anyone with contract room to spare and a penchant for Verizon.
Free - Buy from Verizon
Nokia E71x - Say what you will of S60, the E71 series is arguably the best phone Nokia has ever made -- and there were more when a few heartfelt cheers let loose when AT&T finally confirmed that it'd be bringing it in a particularly sexy blacked-out scheme as the E71x. The phone was a good value back when it launched at $99.99, but thanks to the magic of competition, price pressure, and time's merciless march, it's now down to $49.99 on a new contract. BlackBerry fans might cringe, but we dare you to find a BlackBerry that feels this good in the hand.
$49.99 - Buy from AT&T
T-Mobile Shadow - That Omnia up there isn't the only WinMo-based device that's a ridiculously good deal right now. T-Mobile's revised Shadow, sourced from none other than HTC, is just about the funkiest smartphone you've never heard of with availability in two colors, a sliding 20-key keyboard, and -- this is important -- compatibility with the carrier's WiFi calling service. Considering that it sold for $199.99 when it launched earlier this year, $29.99 on contract after rebate is a heck of a deal -- you can almost picture it in your teenager's too-baggy pants pocket, can't you?
$29.99 - Buy from T-Mobile
Palm Pixi - Alright, yes, we wish it had WiFi and a slightly faster processor -- and frankly, so will your giftee. But at the end of the day, the Pixi makes a fine Centro successor, and considering the Centro's epic popularity, it seems that the public at large is pretty enamored with this particular form factor. Plus, we're shocked by how much we like the Pixi's keyboard -- and webOS is still one of the prettiest smartphone platforms on the market today (if not the prettiest), which'll at least keep your loved one occupied from morning all the way through to holiday supper as they fiddle their way through cards, gestures, and app trials. That's a win in our book.
$99.99 - Buy from Sprint
HTC Droid Eris - The Droid Eris gets just a small fraction of the publicity and advertising dollars that its flashier brother from another mother gets, but what Verizon fails to properly explain is that this phone is perhaps the best Hero variant on the market today. The firmware is reasonably snappy, it carries over the 5 megapixel cam, and it's got a proximity sensor that you won't find on Sprint's version or any other -- and trust us, your lucky recipient will thank you for this each and every time they need to enter touch tones during a call.
$99.99 - Buy from Verizon
RIM BlackBerry 8520 Curve - The Curve line has been a tremendous success for RIM, and for good reason -- it kicks BlackBerry's buttoned-up image down a notch or three for that corporate hipster in your life while keeping all of the enterprise and security features that make their office IT guy happy. The 8520 ups the ante by throwing in an optical pad, a feature viewed with much consternation from longtime BlackBerry users that typically causes their icy heart to melt the first time they actually use it. While it's just out of stocking stuffer territory, it's still pretty cheap for a full QWERTY BlackBerry -- and the corporate raider in your life will be eternally grateful. Or, at least until the same time next year.
$129.99 - Buy from T-Mobile
$49.99 - Buy from AT&T
Palm Pre - Look, the Pixi isn't for everyone -- and frankly, if you tried to give it to a true WiFi-loving geek this holiday season, you stand a very real chance of getting a brand new phone thrown directly at your melon. If you want to give the gift of webOS but step up to a faster processor, 802.11b / g, and a sliding keyboard, you might want to pony up for the Pre which runs $50 more -- pricier, sure, but still $50 less than what it went for at launch.
$149.99 - Buy from Sprint
HTC Touch Pro2 / Tilt2 - HTC's latest full landscape QWERTY venture is a one-two punch of awesome: not only did we find it to be an absolutely fantastic WinMo device in our testing, but it's one of those mega-rare phones that's available on all four US national carriers, which means you can buy this sucker for your sweetie regardless of their carrier preference. You might call it a win / win / win / win. Be sure to write that in the card... and credit us for it.
$349.99 - Buy from T-Mobile
$199.99 - Buy from Verizon
$299.99 - Buy from AT&T
$349.99 - Buy from Sprint
Motorola Droid - It's impossible to escape this holiday season without a few mentions of Motorola's Android-laden beast, and odds are good that you know a couple people on your list that wouldn't mind stuffing one in their pocket. As a refresher, the Droid's got Android 2.0, a lovely capacitive WVGA display, 5 megapixel cam with LED flash, and OMAP3 horsepower -- better than the typical Android device's ARM11 core that's in widespread use these days.
$199.99 - Buy from Verizon
Apple iPhone 3GS - Oh, come on -- if you're telling us you can't think of a friend or family member that wants an iPhone 3GS on some level and hasn't yet taken the plunge... well, perhaps you've just done a really good job of equipping them with Pres and Android handsets, but the more likely scenario is that you're lying to yourself. What makes the iPhone particularly cool as a gift is that Apple offers gift cards specifically for the phone -- something carriers usually don't, which makes it a relatively painless process for your recipient.
$199.00 to $299.00 - Buy from AT&T, Buy from Apple
If your BFF's HTC has a code name like Blue Angel, Harrier, or Canary, trust us: the time has come to intervene and forcefully bring that particular chapter of their technological life to a close. It's 2009, after all, and with devices like the Pre, iPhone 3GS, and Droid all coming to market in the past few months, there's never been a better time to be a smartphone lover, buyer, or -- in this case -- giver. Of course, in the States, giving a phone as a gift isn't the easiest thing in the world since you've got contracts to worry about, but it can be done -- even if you've got to drag the lucky recipient kicking and screaming into the store and hold their hand to the dotted line. So let's get to it, shall we?
Stocking Stuffer
Free - Buy from Verizon
Nokia E71x - Say what you will of S60, the E71 series is arguably the best phone Nokia has ever made -- and there were more when a few heartfelt cheers let loose when AT&T finally confirmed that it'd be bringing it in a particularly sexy blacked-out scheme as the E71x. The phone was a good value back when it launched at $99.99, but thanks to the magic of competition, price pressure, and time's merciless march, it's now down to $49.99 on a new contract. BlackBerry fans might cringe, but we dare you to find a BlackBerry that feels this good in the hand.
$49.99 - Buy from AT&T
T-Mobile Shadow - That Omnia up there isn't the only WinMo-based device that's a ridiculously good deal right now. T-Mobile's revised Shadow, sourced from none other than HTC, is just about the funkiest smartphone you've never heard of with availability in two colors, a sliding 20-key keyboard, and -- this is important -- compatibility with the carrier's WiFi calling service. Considering that it sold for $199.99 when it launched earlier this year, $29.99 on contract after rebate is a heck of a deal -- you can almost picture it in your teenager's too-baggy pants pocket, can't you?
$29.99 - Buy from T-Mobile
You shouldn't have
Palm Pixi - Alright, yes, we wish it had WiFi and a slightly faster processor -- and frankly, so will your giftee. But at the end of the day, the Pixi makes a fine Centro successor, and considering the Centro's epic popularity, it seems that the public at large is pretty enamored with this particular form factor. Plus, we're shocked by how much we like the Pixi's keyboard -- and webOS is still one of the prettiest smartphone platforms on the market today (if not the prettiest), which'll at least keep your loved one occupied from morning all the way through to holiday supper as they fiddle their way through cards, gestures, and app trials. That's a win in our book.
$99.99 - Buy from Sprint
HTC Droid Eris - The Droid Eris gets just a small fraction of the publicity and advertising dollars that its flashier brother from another mother gets, but what Verizon fails to properly explain is that this phone is perhaps the best Hero variant on the market today. The firmware is reasonably snappy, it carries over the 5 megapixel cam, and it's got a proximity sensor that you won't find on Sprint's version or any other -- and trust us, your lucky recipient will thank you for this each and every time they need to enter touch tones during a call.
$99.99 - Buy from Verizon
RIM BlackBerry 8520 Curve - The Curve line has been a tremendous success for RIM, and for good reason -- it kicks BlackBerry's buttoned-up image down a notch or three for that corporate hipster in your life while keeping all of the enterprise and security features that make their office IT guy happy. The 8520 ups the ante by throwing in an optical pad, a feature viewed with much consternation from longtime BlackBerry users that typically causes their icy heart to melt the first time they actually use it. While it's just out of stocking stuffer territory, it's still pretty cheap for a full QWERTY BlackBerry -- and the corporate raider in your life will be eternally grateful. Or, at least until the same time next year.
$129.99 - Buy from T-Mobile
$49.99 - Buy from AT&T
Palm Pre - Look, the Pixi isn't for everyone -- and frankly, if you tried to give it to a true WiFi-loving geek this holiday season, you stand a very real chance of getting a brand new phone thrown directly at your melon. If you want to give the gift of webOS but step up to a faster processor, 802.11b / g, and a sliding keyboard, you might want to pony up for the Pre which runs $50 more -- pricier, sure, but still $50 less than what it went for at launch.
$149.99 - Buy from Sprint
We can't afford the rent now, can we?
HTC Touch Pro2 / Tilt2 - HTC's latest full landscape QWERTY venture is a one-two punch of awesome: not only did we find it to be an absolutely fantastic WinMo device in our testing, but it's one of those mega-rare phones that's available on all four US national carriers, which means you can buy this sucker for your sweetie regardless of their carrier preference. You might call it a win / win / win / win. Be sure to write that in the card... and credit us for it.
$349.99 - Buy from T-Mobile
$199.99 - Buy from Verizon
$299.99 - Buy from AT&T
$349.99 - Buy from Sprint
Motorola Droid - It's impossible to escape this holiday season without a few mentions of Motorola's Android-laden beast, and odds are good that you know a couple people on your list that wouldn't mind stuffing one in their pocket. As a refresher, the Droid's got Android 2.0, a lovely capacitive WVGA display, 5 megapixel cam with LED flash, and OMAP3 horsepower -- better than the typical Android device's ARM11 core that's in widespread use these days.
$199.99 - Buy from Verizon
Apple iPhone 3GS - Oh, come on -- if you're telling us you can't think of a friend or family member that wants an iPhone 3GS on some level and hasn't yet taken the plunge... well, perhaps you've just done a really good job of equipping them with Pres and Android handsets, but the more likely scenario is that you're lying to yourself. What makes the iPhone particularly cool as a gift is that Apple offers gift cards specifically for the phone -- something carriers usually don't, which makes it a relatively painless process for your recipient.
$199.00 to $299.00 - Buy from AT&T, Buy from Apple
Looking forward to the one next years when Nokia finally begins shipping the N900 worldwide as they´ve been promising for ages.
@MikeZ
I always wanted a phone without MMS and that can only be used in landscape, because portrait is not an option.
@Mentat Considering in over ten years of owning various cell phones I´ve only sent three MMS I honestly don't give a shit. The iPhone didn't have MMS support for years and people still survived without.
And as for the layout what' s the point in a less efficient screen orientation? Even though it will be eventually added at some point considering the N900 is more like a Debian-based miniature computer where the phone is just another application there's not much use for portrait mode. Once my main phone was a Nokia 7710 and the number of times I used portrait mode came down to a total of zero point zero in over two years.
So you were saying???
@MikeZ
Stop feeding the troll, what you do is useless.
No N900?
@rjzak - i think they stuck with phones available in the U.S. ....
@PSIREX The N900 is available and people have reported receiving them. http://forums.t-mobile.com/t5/Help-General-Discussion/Request-for-N900-Thread-2/m-p/267111#M2428
@rjzak He probably meant phones that are available in the US by US carriers.
You forgot the "Do your loved ones a favor by buying unlocked and saving them from a contract" category. Which should easily include the N900 on the high side for those that want it all and the Motorola F3 on the dirt cheap side for those that want the most basic of basics.
@(Unverified) in that case why not mention the HTC HD2....
@(Unverified)
what is so wonderful about the N900? its user interface is clunky they went for the whole "our phones as cool as the iPhone see we cant do MMS either" line and you cant even use the device in portrait mode. I'm not trolling I believe that the UI is years ahead symbian... but thats not saying much
Why is there a picture of the pixi for the pre
@antriver - look again.... (hint is the slide out keyboard)
@PSIREX
It was a pixi, they changed it to a pre now, see chris' comment below
@antriver - i saw it afterwards
Quite a nice gift guide, why do they have a Pixi Picture and not a picture of the pre, when it's the pre they are talking about? Just wondering
if i put skype on my laptop can i call it a smartphone?
no
@notbuttershift1 Granted, the lines between phone and computer are very blurry ... but I think being able to hold the device to your ear is still a general requirement in the phone category.
@setulf It was a joke, but the fact that people are taking it somewhat seriously is a strong sign that the lines are indeed blurring.
@notbuttershift1 Wait until internet tablets get popular then people can't see a line anymore ^^
Hey I didn't know that the Pre and Pixi looked identical...
@when2k - they don't....
Sorry guys, technical issue with the Pre image -- fixed now!
@Chris Ziegler - thanks...
@Chris Ziegler no doubt to save your precious "Iphone and Ipod" apple devices
@Chris Ziegler you should have put this in the order of bestness instead of handset price. because honestly, it's the contract that matters. And how good the phone is.
@AndroidRokz
Damn it man. Stop it. It's gotten very old. I'm tired of you and the iPhone Hate obsession you got going on with Chris Ziegler.
Seriously half of the regularly posting membership asked for you to be banned one day because its so annoying. Just STOP!
it's NOT a gift unless you pay the 2 year contract for the receiver as well. ;)
@htd That's for sure! Let's see....$2000 or $3000+ for 2 years. Pretty nice gift!
@htd
Yeah, I've never quite understood the idea of giving a cell phone as a gift. You can't renew somebody's contract without them being there, and as long as they're at the store with you signing paperwork then why not just let them pick out their own phone? The logistics of making this type of gift happen just don't add up.
@htd
Ye. Never understood giving locked phones as a gift.
Do you give other things that cost more to the receiver than giver too? Like hazardous industrial waste that costs a bundle to get rid of?
You know,
If andoid keeps going the way its going (and damm.. its going this way) I might just have to drop my iphone 3g come contract renewal time and go andoid (or droid as verizon seems to created the nickname, and engadget has continued it)...
Question though to the android users:
Is there any decent apps yet?
@(Unverified) Are there any decent apps?
Yes. Granted, there currently isn't as vast of a selection as the iPhone store has, but it's growing quickly!
I own an Android phone. All of my coworkers have iPhones as their work phone. So far, application wise, we're evenly matched. There are a few applications their iPhones have, that my Android phone does not. And there are a few applications that my Android phone has that their iPhones do not.
@(Unverified) LoL... there's an app for everything I could have ever wanted. I have a G1 and I have an app for practically anything you could ever want on a phone, and I even have Google Navigation! And just when I don't think the apps could get any better, they do! Twidroid never ceases to amaze me with their features on every update, along with a few of my other apps.
@(Unverified) android has almost 20,000, iPhone has around 99,000
but the ones on android are better because they can run in the background and can do things that they cannot do on the iphone
HTC HD2! Loving it so far!
If only gifting someone a phone thats free on contract were anywhere near free. IMO these all land in the "Way out of my budget" category
With the right firmware the TP2 is an unbelievable device, although I'd suggest paying a lot less than the prices linked when it goes on sale.
This is the guide I've been waiting for.
Buy the E71 unlocked. Its the best way to take advantage of it. Carrier molestation ruins good Smartphones.
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?addr=10453&hl=en&safe=off&num=100&q=e71&cid=14356509381445718459&scoring=tp&sl=on#
@Eternity not to mention an all around BA phone in general
E71x- EEEEEWWWWWWWW. It's a crippled, overpriced POS. I love my E71-2 NAM. It's a LOT cheaper and I can customize those buttons and what network I use. Great hardware, don't let AT&T ruin it. Wish they had a blacked out E71-2 NAM though...
I think the price for the TP2 is a little outrageous considering that there are phones with more power and features for nearly half the price....
I got the Droid Eris and I love it. I thought I might regret not getting the Droid instead, but not so. No complaints so far
This guide is misleading. It suggests that the Pixi and TP2 are better gifts than the E71, just because they're more expensive. The E71 has way more features than the Pixi, and S60 is (in my opinion) way better than WinMo. Also, I agree with those who have suggested getting the unlocked E71 over the E71x.
@CtrlBurn
And that's YOUR opinion. Personally, I'll take the Touch Pro 2, and run one of the HD2 ROMs. That trumps just about anything other than the HD2 shipping this side of the Atlantic.
WHAT!!!!?????!!!!
the droid eris and droid moto does not have the same parents?
@va jj what the hell are you talking about??????????
@va jj
He meant the Hero.