Best Smartphones 2012

The design - this is an important aspect to many people, the way the smartphone presents itself to other people. Some of them have cool designs, while others keep it clean and simple. Some of them are strictly functional in nature, while others add that extra edge to make the phone stand out in a crowd.

Features - smartphones are basically simple calling machines which incorporate a lot of functionality. Aside from their original calling feature, most of them are able to take pictures, record videos, play videos, incorporate games, etc. The more features a phone has, the better it's seen in the consumer market, it seems.

Battery life - another important thing to look out for is the battery life of your smartphone device. If it's gonna run for a few hours and simply die on you while you need it the most, maybe it's wise to consider an alternative. But smart tech implementation will usually mean top brands have the battery longevity issue figured out so it's no longer an issue with most people. It really depends on how heavili you use all the extra features and media along with the intensity you set in the device (e.g. setting the smartphone to the loudest ringtone + a vibration feature, setting the camera flash to always on, watching movies, screen brightness to highest are all extras that will suck up on battery life in no time).

Other Features - aside from the popular features most smartphones carry today, a tight pack of them have even more to offer than basic functionality. They have GPS capabilities which allow you to navigate the real world with real time directions.
Others have incorporated basic Office apps, so you need not carry a bulky computing machine since your phone can do the work. Also, surfing the web has never been easier, since most phones do carry "light weight" browsers so you can stay in touch with the online world wherever you are.

Performance and memory - since most smartphones today are really compact computing devices, it's pretty logical that they carry a processor along with memory to run the phone OS and the apps installed. Newer advances in technology have allowed a few manufacturers to even implement dual-core processors in today's phones. This goes without saying that a mobile phone with a dual-core processor will eventually be able to handle similar tasks to what a laptop could handle.