All Personal Communication and Navigation

The Bottom Line: It doesn't have all the features we'd like, but the Nexus One greatly enhances the Google Android family with a fast processor, good call quality, and improved voice control features. What's more, we love that all versions of the phone will be unlocked.

Specs: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband) / UMTS 900/2100 (Dual Band), Up to 600 min (2G), Up to 420 min (3G), With digital camera / digital player, 0.3 lbs

The Bottom Line: It doesn't have all the features we'd like, but the Nexus One greatly enhances the Google Android family with a fast processor, good call quality, and improved voice control features. What's more, we love that all versions of the phone will be unlocked.

Specs: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband) / UMTS 900/2100 (Dual Band), Up to 420 min, With digital camera / digital player, 130 g

The Bottom Line: Consumer Cellular is a no-contract MVNO that specializes in senior-friendly phones and services.

The Bottom Line: The Cricket MSGM8 is a decent starter messaging phone with a few design flaws.

Specs: With digital camera

The Bottom Line: The Insignia NS-CNV43 offers advanced Internet-connected features that we like at a very competitive price, but its shaky implementation of key basic features and slow performance spoil the navigation experience.

Specs: 24 channel, Automotive, Audible signal(s), 0.4 lbs

The Bottom Line: Offering the bare minimum, the HP iPaq Glisten fails to impress us. It can serve the role of a basic messaging smartphone, but there are better alternatives out there.

Specs: WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM 850/900/1800/1900, 300 min, With digital camera / digital player, 5.3 oz

The Bottom Line: The LG Shine II isn't a top-notch performer, but its sturdy metal build and broad feature set will attract some people.

The Bottom Line: While it has yet to reach its full potential, the Nokia N900 is a powerful mobile device with excellent browsing capabilities and vast customization options. However, its unintuitive interface and other limitations make this a smartphone for tech enthusiasts and early adopters only.

Specs: WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM 850/900/1800/1900, Up to 540 min (GSM), Up to 300 min (WCDMA), 6.4 oz

The Bottom Line: The Casio G'zOne Rock is the ultimate all-in-one phone for the outdoors enthusiast, but we did wish it had better performance.

Specs: CDMA 800/1900 (Dual Band), 300 min, With digital camera / digital player, 4.4 oz

The Bottom Line: The Sony Ericsson Aino's luscious display and multimedia offerings make it one of the better unlocked phones we've seen this year.

Specs: WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM 850/900/1800/1900, Up to 780 min, With digital camera / digital player / FM radio, 4.7 oz