Updated 01/04/12

With so many different Android phones on the market now, picking the best of them can be a bit of a challenge.

I’m throwing this little guide together to help you determine the best Android phone and I’ll even separate it by carrier so if you would like to remain with your current cell phone provider, I’ll give you the best Android powered phone they’ve got.

In general, Verizon seems to have really positioned itself as the leader for high end Android powered smartphones with its “Droid” line.  With the recent addition of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus to Verizon’s already formidable lineup, there’s no doubt that Verizon currently offers the best Android phones.

Also, all the phones on this list are popular, which means they’re more likely to get upgraded to the latest and greatest version of Android.

Best Android Phone For Verizon

Winner:  Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Runner Up: Droid Razr

This was an incredibly difficult choice for us as each phone has certain little advantages over the other.  We eventually decided that running stock Android, an unlocked bootloader, and the slightly bigger screen were enough to win us over and select the Samsung Galaxy Nexus over the Motorola Droid Razr.  Keep in mind I’d still recommend both of them in a heartbeat over anything else on the market right now.

Here’s the comparison video I did if you want a detailed comparison of our two top Verizon Android phones.

In the past Google has released its flagship Nexus line of phones with T-Mobile, leaving a lot of us out in the cold.  Google finally worked out a deal with Verizon (or Samsung did, not sure) to bring us Google Nexus goodness on a cell phone carrier that covers just about everyone in the U.S.

With it’s giant, high resolution screen (it rivals the iPhone 4S in pixel density despite being nearly twice as big in area), NFC chip, 4G connectivity, and super fast dual core processor, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus is our top Android phone.  And one nice benefit is that you know you’ll be first in line for future Android operating system updates.

The Droid Razr was the runner-up in a tightly contested battle.  It still sports a lightning fast dual core processor, 4G LTE connectivity, and super thin, sexy, industrial design.  It also has Smart Actions, an app similar to Tasker, but much more user friendly.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus 4G Android Phone (Verizon Wireless) Average Rating: 107 total customer reviews...

Motorola DROID RAZR 4G Android Phone, Black 32GB (Verizon Wireless) Average Rating: 156 total customer reviews...

Best Android Phone For Sprint

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch

Runner Up: HTC EVO 3D

You want to know what I still love about Sprint.  They’ve got this underdog mentality and as a result, don’t do as many evil things as their two bigger brothers (Verizon & AT&T).

If you want to get the most out of your Android phone, their truly unlimited data plans are hard to beat.   And the Sprint TV lineup allows you to watch TV on your phone which is a feature that nobody else offers but I don’t hear many people talk about – it’s very cool.

The downside is their coverage map is a lot smaller, and their 4G coverage still leaves a lot to be desired despite having a head start over Verizon and AT&T.

They do have some excellent phones, however.  We tabbed the Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch as our top pick, which despite being a mouthful to say, is a fantastic phone sporting a big bright 4.52″ screen and a zippy 1.2 GHz dual core processor.

And for those of you who like installing custom ROMs like CyanogenMod, Epic 4G Touch has an unlocked bootloader.

Samsung Galaxy S II Epic Touch 4G Android Phone (Sprint) Average Rating: 97 total customer reviews...

HTC EVO 3D 4G Android Phone (Sprint) Average Rating: 77 total customer reviews...

Best Android Phone For AT&T

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket

Runner Up:  HTC Vivid

One of the nice benefits of AT&T is that while their current 4G LTE coverage area is puny, their LTE phones still support HSPA+ which means you’ll get faster surfing than standard 3G in none LTE areas.

Simply stated, if you’re an AT&T customer in a 3G area and you sit next to a Verizon customer in a 3G coverage area, you’ll get faster speeds (most of the time) thanks to AT&T’s HSPA+ technology.

The Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket took our top spot for best Android phone for AT&T.  It runs on AT&T’s screaming fast 4G LTE network and sports a beefy dual core 1.5 GHz processor and a full GB of RAM.  It has specs worth drooling over.  And just to show they didn’t forget the little things, it also has a 6-axis gyroscope and even has a Wireless N antenna.  The only thing I could ask for is an NFC chip and an FM tuner.

While the HTC Vivid didn’t earn our top spot, it’s still an excellent choice and is one of the only phones that currently has an LED backlit screen and also runs on the 4G LTE network.  With only 256MB of RAM and no gyroscope, we weren’t able to bill it as our top AT&T Android phone, but it’s still a nice choice and it comes in white for those of you who love white smartphones.

Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket 4G Android Phone (AT&T) Average Rating: 62 total customer reviews...

HTC Vivid 4G Android Phone, White (AT&T) Average Rating: 3 total customer reviews...

Best Android Phone For T-Mobile

Winner: HTC Amaze 4G

Runner Up: Samsung Galaxy S II

T-Mobile may have felt a little left out recently as all the Android phones getting all the attention were for companies like Verizon and AT&T.

Fear not, my T-Mobile loving friends.  T-Mobile still loves you and their HTC Amaze 4G can easily go toe to toe with the best any other carrier has to offer.   It has one of the fastest processors on the market with a 1.5 GHz dual core processor and a full gig of RAM.  It also has a nice qHD screen with a 960×540 resolution, giving it a very respectable 256 ppi (pixels per inch density).

HTC Amaze 4G Android Phone, White (T-Mobile) Average Rating: 3 total customer reviews...

Best Android Phone For U.S. Cellular

Winner:  Motorola Electrify

Runner Up:  HTC Hero S

U.S. Cellular is a popular regional carrier and while they may not have the same lineup of high end phones, they still have  Android powered phones that are quite respectable.

We tabbed the Motorola Electrify as our top choice.  It has a 4.3″ screen and a dual core 1 GHz processor.   Sure, it’s not as high end as phones like Galaxy Nexus or Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket, but U.S. Cellular tries to make up for not having quite top of the line equipment by having fantastic customer service and reasonably priced cell phone plans… plus your upgrade window is shorter with U.S. Cellular so you can get a new phone more often.

• Modesto, California
• Stockton, California
• Grand Rapids, Michigan
• Jacksonville, Florida
• Wilmington, Delaware

This brings the total to 48 markets with 4G coverage – more expected to be coming online soon.

The only current phone able to take advantage of these 4G speeds is still the HTC EVO 4g, but a second phone, the Samsung Epic 4G, will be released in August giving Sprint a total of two phones with 4G capabilities.

Here’s the full list of cities with 4G coverage from Sprint:

• Atlanta, Georgia
• Milledgeville, Georgia
• Honolulu, Hawaii
• Maui, Hawaii
• Boise, Idaho
• Chicago, Illinois
• Baltimore, Maryland
• Charlotte, North Carolina
• Greensborough, North Carolina
• Raleigh, North Carolina
• Las Vegas, Nevada
• Portland, Oregon
• Salem, Oregon
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Lancaster, Pennsylvania
• Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
• Reading, Pennsylvania
• York, Pennsylvania
• Abilene, Texas
• Amarillo, Texas
• Austin, Texas
• Corpus Christi, Texas
• Dallas, Texas
• Fort Worth, Texas
• Houston, Texas
• Kileen, Texas
• Lubbock, Texas
• Midland, Texas
• Odessa, Texas
• San Antonio, Texas
• Temple, Texas
• Waco, Texas
• Wichita Falls, Texas
• Bellingham, Washington
• Kitsap, Washington
• Seattle, Washington
• Snohomish, Washington
• Tacoma, Washington
• Modesto, California
• Stockton, California
• Grand Rapids, Michigan
• Wilmington, Delaware
• Jacksonville, Florida

The following cities are expected to get 4G coverage by the end of 2010:

• Cincinnati, Ohio
• Cleveland, Ohio
• Los Angeles, California
• Miami, Florida
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Salt Lake City, Utah
• St. Louis, Missouri

Processor

Both phones sport blazing fast 1GHZ processors, though not the same one.  The Droid X has a new TI OMAP 1GHZ processor while the HTC Evo 4G has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 1GHZ processor.  The new TI processor is the faster of the two, though both pack plenty of processing power.

Display

Both of these phones discriminate against those with small hands as both feature 4.3″ displays.  The Droid X has an every so slight advantage in resolution  with 854 x 480 display while the Evo 4g has an 800 x 480 resolution though in practice you won’t notice a difference (the Droid X does have more natural looking colors on its display though).

Memory

It’s a draw here as well with both phones having 512MB of RAM.

Storage

The Droid X comes with an impressive 24GB of storage (8GB built in, 16GB Micro SD card included) while the HTC Evo 4G has a mere 8GB.  If you have a lot of music or videos you’d like to watch on that big display, then the Droid X is the clear winner here.

Carrier

As has become the norm for premium smartphones, each phone is carrier exclusive.  The Droid X is a Verizon Wireless exclusive phone and the HTC Evo 4G is a Sprint Exclusive.  In my experience both carriers are quite good and I can’t say I’ve had problems with either.    The one advantage that you’ll get with Sprint is 4G coverage though it’s only available in a handful of major cities at this point.  However, if you live in one of those areas, Sprint is probably a no brainer at this point.  If Verizon ever gets the iPhone, I’ll probably start recommending people get Sprint since there will be considerably more strain on Verizon’s data network.

Camera

HTC Evo 4G Vs Motorola Droid X - Android Powered Smartphones

Both phones sport 8MP dual LED flash cameras.  However, the EVO 4G has a 1.3 MP front facing camera for video conferencing (using QIK).  We’ll give the edge to the EVO 4G on this one.

And the winner is…

If you can find one (and there have been plenty of shortages much to the dismay of Sprint), the HTC Evo 4G gets a slight edge over the Droid X but unless you really want video conferencing and live in an area with 4G coverage, you’ll probably be quite pleased with a Droid X as well.

When I first started making a list of 4G phones available for each cell phone carrier (U.S. carriers only), this was an easy task, there was one phone.  That’s all changed now – you have a plethora of good choices, though the trend of the 4G LTE phones only being available for Google Android continues.

4G is also called LTE, HSPA+, or WiMax depending on who you talk to but they all refer to the same thing… sort of.

Of the three, LTE is the fastest “4G” while HSPA+ is the slowest, but most widely available.  WiMax sits somewhere in the middle.

Verizon is the primary provider of LTE coverage though AT&T has finally brought it to a few markets as well (finally).  Sprint’s 4G coverage is via WiMax, which actually comes from Clearwire.    AT&T and T-Mobile primarily use HSPA+ and while their flavor of 4G is the slowest, it’s also available everywhere they have 3G coverage as it doesn’t require building new cell towers like LTE and WiMax do.

With that being said, let’s jump to the list of 4G phones and devices.  Last year around this time, this was a really short list.  Now it’s a lot longer as there are tons of 4G devices.  If I miss one, just post in the comments and I’ll get it up.

Verizon 4G  Phones (Verizon’s 4G network is called LTE – “Long Term Evolution”) (coverage map)

Verizon officially turned on their LTE network on December 5th, 2011 in 38 markets.  Now they cover more than 190 cities and cover more than 200 million people and everybody that is currently covered by 3G should have 4G access by 2013.

LTE Phones:

• Samsung Galaxy Nexus – $299.99
• Motorola Droid Razr – $299.99
• Motorola Droid Bionic – $199.99
• Pantech Breakout – $49.99
• LG Revolution – $99.99
• HTC Thunderbolt – $99.99
• Samsung Stratosphere – $99.99
• HTC Rezound – $299.99
• Samsung Droid Charge – $199.99

LTE Tablets

• Motorola Droid Xyboard 8.2 – $379.99
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 – $579.99
• Motorola Droid Xyboard 10.1 – $479.99
• Motorola Xoom – $499.99

Sprint 4G Phones (coverage area)

Sprint was the first to bring 4G coverage to the masses with its WiMax technology.  Unfortunately, growth grew to a standstill at the end of 2011 and only covered 71 markets despite the fact that they covered 68 markets in 2010.  That’s a net growth of 3 markets in all of 2011 – not good.

They do have a nice selection of phones, though.

WiMax Phones:

• HTC EVO 3D – $199.99
• HTC EVO Shift 4G – FREE
• Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch – $199.99
• HTC EVO Design 4G – $99.99
• HTC EVO 4G – $99.99
• Google Nexus S 4G – $99.99
• Motorola Photon 4G – $199.99
• Samsung Epic 4G – $99.99
• Samsung Conquer 4G – $99.99

WiMax Tablets:

AT&T 4G Phones (AT&T Also uses LTE Technology for 4G but will start with HSPA+ like T-Mobile) (coverage map)

AT&T has really made things complicated with all their 4G talk.  AT&T calls both LTE and HSPA+ 4G.  Their LTE network is tiny, covering only 26 cities while their HSPA+ network is big, covering virtually everyone that gets 3G coverage.

As far as I’m concerned HSPA+ isn’t real 4G.

However, if you want other options than an Android phone, you’ll get those with HSPA+.  You can get the iPhone, Windows Phone 7, and Blackberries in HSPA+ configurations though none offer 4G LTE yet.

LTE Phones

• HTC Vivid
• Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket
• LG Nitro HD

LTE Tablets

T-Mobile 4G Phones (coverage map)

T-Mobile was the second carrier in the U.S. to launch their “4G” network though , again, it isn’t really 4G, it’s HSPA+ though from a practical standpoint it’s quite a bit faster than then current 3G.

HSPA+ Phones

• HTC Radar 4G
• Samsung Exhibit II 4G
• T-Mobile Sidekick 4G
• LG DoublePlay
• T-Mobile myTouch
• T-Mobile myTouch Q
• Samsung Galaxy S 4G
• T-Mobile G2x with Google
• T-Mobile myTouch 4G
• HTC Sensation 4G
• T-Mobile myTouch 4G Slide
• Samsung Galaxy S II
• HTC Amaze 4G
• Blackberry Bold 9900 4G
• Blackberry Torch 9810
• Nokia Lumia 710

I’ll try to keep updating this as new info is released, but right now if you want a 4G phone, first check to make sure there is coverage in your area, then pick one of the phones on this post.  You can purchase 4G phones for areas that aren’t covered as they all work just fine on 3G networks, you just don’t get the huge speed boost when surfing, streaming, or downloading files.

If you know of a 4G phone (real or rumored) that I don’t have on this list, then please post in the comments.

While some would like to crown one phone as the king, it’s really tough to do when you consider that phones will be judged based not only on the quality of the phone, but also on the phone carrier who provides service.

So in this short post, I’ll cover what I think are the best phones for the four major carriers in the U.S.   Keep in mind this list will probably be totally out of date in 6 months so keep in mind the post date when you’re reading this article.

Best Phone on Verizon Wireless

While the Motorola Droid was the gold standard on Verizon Wireless, the next round of Droid phones has blown it out of the water.  The Droid X, in my opinion is the best Verizon phone and the Droid 2 is a good second choice and your best choice if you still want a dedicated hardware keyboard (honestly, you probably won’t use it much as the on screen keyboad is really cool especially since you can run Swype).  Android 2.2 will be coming to both soon (should ship standard on the Droid 2) which will make your phone faster and add a few cool new features.

AT&T

No surprise here – the winner by a long shot on AT&T is the iPhone 4.   It’s better in just about every way over it’s predecessor and if you can tolerate AT&T as your cell phone carrier, you’ll want to make the iPhone 4 your phone – don’t bother with the 3GS – it’s obsolete.   No Android phone on AT&T is worth your money at this point.

Best Phone On Sprint

In years past, picking Sprint as your carrier meant cheaper service than you’d get with AT&T or Verizon Wireless but their phone selection was inferior to that of their competition.  That’s no longer the case.   The HTC EVO 4G is one of the best smartphones on the market right now and boasts and absolutely enormous screen, and HD video camera, and screaming fast 1GHZ Snapdragon processor, you no longer have to get an inferior phone to get service with Sprint (and their $69.99 unlimited everything plan is a great deal though the EVO 4G does require an additional $10/month to be added to your plan).

Best Phone on T-Mobile

Even though the new Garminfone is kinda cool especially for GPS-centric people like me, the Google Nexus One still slaps its ass and calls it Sally.  It’s the phone Google built to feature it’s Android OS and it’s fast, and always the first phone to get the latest Android OS updates .

Conclusion

So there you have it – one website’s opinion on the best smartphones available for each carrier.  As usual, expect this list to change frequently as new phones are being released all the time.

Think I omitted a worthy contender to the throne?  Want to put in your two cents?  Post in the comments below and let me hear it.

Now lets be honest here – these are both impressive phones in their own right.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWqjywmLLwA

Display

This comparison seems like the biggest “apples” to oranges comparison.  The EVO 4G has a gigantic 4.3 inch 800 x 480 screen.  That may not sound much bigger than the industry standard 3.5 inch but trust me, once you hold it in your hand and play with it, going back to a regular sized screen seems constrained.   It’s big and pretty.

The iPhone 4 uses their new “retina display” which packs 960 x 640 resolution into a 3.5 inch screen.   It’s a great looking display and everything is ultra crisp.  It is, however ,smaller.

Speed

Both phones boast fast processors.  The EVO 4G has a 1GHZ Snapdragon processor inside whereas the iPhone 4 has Apple’s own 1GHZ A4 Processor.   Having enough power to run all your apps without the OS grinding to a halt shouldn’t be a problem on either phone.

Data

HTC EVO 4G (top left) - iPhone 4 (bottom right)

While many people in the tech community christened the new iPhone, the iPhone 4G, the new model (the iPhone 4) is still a 3G phone which makes sense since AT&T’s 4G network isn’t expected to go live until 2012.

The EVO 4G, on the other hand, is a 4G phone (though some would say not true 4G yet) and while it’s only available in a limited number of cities right now, it’s blazing fast where it is available.  When 4G isn’t available, it uses 3G so in many areas speeds will be comparable.

One thing to note is that AT&T has just changed their data plan from “unlimited” to 2GB whereas the data plan on Sprint is not only cheaper, but still “unlimited.”

Video Conferencing

Both phones have a front facing camera for video conferencing and a back facing camera for taking pictures.     The EVO has a 1.3 megapixel camera for video chat and uses the Qik system.  The iPhone has a VGA (640×480) camera and uses their new FaceTime standard for chat (since Apple has made it an open standard, expect it to be available on Android in the coming months).

I’d say the FaceTime system is a bit more elegant than Qik, but FaceTime is unfortunately Wi-Fi only right now whereas Qik has no such limitations, only requiring you be in a 3G service area.

Camera

While Apple finally added an LED flash to their camera and upgraded it to a 5 megapixel camera, they’re still trailing the EVO 4G which has an 8 megapixel camera with dual LED flash.  Both can record 720p HD video.

Battery

Apple claims to have really stepped up and improved the battery life of the notoriously power hungry iPhone by installing a bigger battery in an ever slimmer phone and now claims 7 hour talk time on 3G or 40 hours of audio playback – if those are even close to accurate, that’s a pretty big step up.

The EVO 4G also has some drabacks in the battery department.  That big Snapdragon processor and huge 4.3 inch display suck up juice pretty quickly as well.

Then again, with the EVO 4G you can simply buy an upgraded battery whereas as you probably know with iPhones, the sealed internal battery is not user replaceable – you’re stuck with what you got.

Operating System

For many, this phone comparison will come down to an Android vs iOS comparison (iOS 4.0 is the new official name for the iPhone OS 4 since the operating system runs on more than just iPhones, namely iPods and iPads).

While both have their advantages, I’d say in many ways, it’s a win/win – either way you’re getting a sweet operating system.

The Apple App store boasts far more apps with at well over 200,000 compared to the 75,000 or so available in the Android Market.  However, you can find apps that do just about everything for BOTH operating systems.

Froyo 2.2 (which will be on the EVO 4G soon – currently it runs 2.1 Eclair) and iOS 4.0 are both very capable of providing an excellent user experience.

Games

One of the new additions the iPhone 4 has that the EVO 4G does not have is a gyroscope.  Gaming on the iPhone is still the best of all cell phones and Apple raised the bar with their new Gyroscope.  Games are certainly available for both, but the iPhone does it better and has more.

Carrier

Even if you’re undecided up to this point, this final comparison may be where you make up your mind.   The iPhone is exclusive to AT&T (in the United States, anyway), and the EVO 4G is exclusive to Sprint.

I won’t claim to know which one is better in all areas, but I can tell you I have been a past customer of both carriers and while I had Sprint for about 5 yrs, I was only an AT&T customer for 6 months before I just couldn’t take it anymore and terminated my contract early due to them having dead spots in my city and where I lived happened to be one of them.

Getting a reliable carrier is critical as these phones aren’t much fun is you can only use them in your house or apt when you have a wi-fi connection.  It’s still a cell phone after all and you’ll probably still make and occasional phone call or two with it.

The decision is up to you.   And just to be fair to AT&T, my brother has an iPhone and where he lives (Minneapolis), he hasn’t told me of any significant problems using his phone as he pleases.