Smartphones of 2010 - the best so far

The first month of 2010 has already given us some amazing mobile phones, a selection of which were carried over from2009. Let's check out the best of the bestow the year so far.

Nokia N900

We start with the best smartphone in the Nokia catalogue. Their newest smartphone is the first of a new breed; this is the first handset ever to use the open-source Maemo operating system (which was previously to be found only in the Finnish manufacturer's selection of tablet computers). Say hello to the Nokia N900. This Maemo OS gives the Nokia N900 a finger friendly interface, and not only that, but the device has a built in QWERTY keypad, and it has more methods of interacting with the phone than ever before. It's not just about the interface, though, as the Nokia N900 is packed to the gills with top-end features. A 5 megapixel camera makes for superb photos, the media player is stunning, and best of all, the Nokia N900 has a web browser, based on the world famous Firefox browser, which even supports Flash.

Palm Pre

However, when it comes to phone interfaces, one single phone canes both of the other mobile phones in this list, without a doubt: the unique Palm Pre. You see, the Palm Pre is built on a totally bespoke UI known as WebOS, that is definitely the sleekest, most user-friendly operating system that has ever been made. With simple gesture controls and finger sweeps for EVERY action on the phone, the Palm Pre also includes tight synergy between its apps. Book a cinema ticket using one app, and the Palm Pre automatically updates your calendar with the show time. Multitask lots of powerful apps, and watch the Palm Pre run without even breaking a sweat. In the world of the user interface, essentially, the Palm Pre is unbeatable!

HTC HD2

So, we have the Nokia N900 with that Maemo OS, and then there is the Palm Pre, which sports WebOS. And then you've got the Windows Mobile contender, the HTC HD2; it holds the record for the biggest display seen on a mobile phone. Weighing in at a whopping 4.3 inches, it is truly gargantuan, and the high, 800x480 resolution makes it genuinely easy to interact with things like scrollbars and drop-down menus. However, the HTC HD2 actually does a superb job of making it so you don't need to drill down into the standard Windows menus very often, as on top of the operating system, the OS is HTC's brilliant Sense UI, where you do everything through various finger swipes and sweeping motions. It is incredibly simple to use, and it (along with the truly awesome 1GHz Snapdragon processor) is the reason why the HTC HD2 is such a pleasure to use. Of course, it's not all about being raw processing power, a phone needs to have compelling features and the HTC HD2 has them in spades, from the 5 megapixel camera, through GPS, to incredibly fast HSDPA internet access (not to mention the superb Opera Mobile web browser), which is why many people see it as the best mobile phone EVER.