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Engadget's smartphone buyer's guide: spring 2012 edition
Springtime is here. It's a season of renewal, and similarly, an ideal time to replace your aging phone with one that you'll adore. With this in mind, we give you Engadget's smartphone buyer's guide -- your one-stop resource for selecting the best handset that fits your desires and budget. This time around, we're doing things a bit differently. In addition to naming the top phones for each provider, you'll now find more comparisons across carriers. This should help you find the best possible handset -- regardless of network -- if you're willing to make the switch. Also, you'll no longer see limited-time offers as our budget picks -- they'll still get a mention, but now, only phones that commonly retail below $80 will qualify for this coveted spot. Naturally, new smartphones are always coming onto the market, so before you make your final selection, be sure to consult our reviews hub for the very latest recommendations. With that in mind, read on as we round up the best smartphones of the season.
Engadget's smartphone buyer's guide: fall 2011 edition
Shopping for a new smartphone is an exciting and arduous experience. It holds the promise of something better and the fear of a two-year commitment. For gadget enthusiasts, it also involves pouring over specs and reviews, and fretting over what's coming out in the near-term. As we publish this buyer's guide, we face potential upheavals in the mobile space. Samsung's Galaxy S II lineup will arrive at three major US carriers, the next iPhone perpetually looms in the distance, and a new generation of Windows Phone handsets is close upon us. You might ask, "Why would anyone buy a smartphone today, when something better is coming tomorrow?" Friends, that's the blessing and curse of the mobile world -- there's always something better coming. You can't wait forever, though, and if you want to purchase a smartphone today, we're here to make the process easier and help you make an informed decision. While our choices are sometimes contentious, they're backed with experience that you can rely upon. If you're looking to make a quick decision without much effort, you can rest assured that our selections won't steer you wrong. Still, we encourage you to educate yourself before you decide on a smartphone that best fits your needs. Our Primed series is an excellent place to start, where you can learn about dual-core processors and mobile displays. As always, you're encouraged to share your own experience in the comments, and we hope you have fun listing your own favorites, too. Just remember that we have an $80 ceiling for our budget selections. Compared to our previous buyer's guide, Samsung has begun to lose ground, and while Android maintains dominance, it's found some unexpected competition. Curious to see how it played out? Read on, as we round up the best smartphones of the day.
LG Optimus V is seriously, officially official for Virgin Mobile at $150
It was apparently on sale in some locations if you looked hard enough last week, but the latest rendition of LG's ubiquitous Optimus series of midrange Android phones -- the Optimus V -- is now totally official for Virgin Mobile USA. Though it's basically a dead ringer for the Optimus S sold by parent company Sprint, Virgin has naturally red-ified the UI... and it has also inexplicably changed the order of the physical buttons, continuing Android's proud, longstanding tradition of hitting end users with every possible permutation of button order under the sun. It's available immediately online and from Radio Shack for $149.99 off-contract with other retailers picking up stock throughout the month. Follow the break for the full press release.
LG Optimus V for Virgin Mobile starts leaking at retail
LG's been pulling a good old-fashioned Galaxy S with its midrange Optimus line in the States, having launched on Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular, and MetroPCS over the past several months -- and the latest to take delivery will be Virgin Mobile, which shouldn't come as a big surprise seeing how Virgin's a Sprint brand. We know this because the so-called Optimus V actually already starting to go on sale in some places, which has led eager buyers to post a few shots and videos of the phone doing its thing in the wild; as you might expect, it's essentially an Optimus S with Virgin software swapped in place of the Sprint stuff. Pricing looks to be $150 off-contract, which is pretty aggressive -- especially when you put it up against the $250 Samsung Intercept. Follow the break for a quick video of this thing out in the concrete jungle. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
