Best phones: Motorola Droid Razr

As we approach the holiday weekend and CNET editors catch a breath before CES, it's time to pause and look back at the mobile year that was. Throughout 2011 your trusty cell phone reviews team evaluated 165 handsets, from simple models that made calls to complicated smartphones than can run your life. Recapping each of them would take a lot of time (and more slides than you could handle), so we're going to show you the highs and the lows instead. So here they are, the best and worst cell phones that CNET reviewed in 2011.

Editors' note: Though the best and worst phones are separated into distinct groups, the devices within each category are listed in no particular order.

In my eight years at CNET, Verizon's Droid Razr was the first cell phone I can remember to reach a score of 9.0 out of 10. But it was with good reason. Our former reviews editor Nicole Lee loved almost everything about it including the slim and sturdy design, the gorgeous display, the 1.2GHz dual-core processor, and the loaded feature set. Sure the camera wasn't stellar, but everything else about the Droid Razr was. And speaking of Droids, Moto's Droid Bionic also impressed.

Editors' rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

The bottom line: With its razor-thin design, jam-packed features, and blazing speed, the Motorola Droid Razr is easily one of the year's top Android smartphones.

Read CNET's full review