HotHardware Holiday Gift Guide 2009
Call Your Friends Over: Smartphones
What's Christmas without calling far-away siblings and wishing them the happiest of holidays? It's a craptastic Christmas, we'll tell ya! Here are a list of our favorite smartphones from 2009...just be sure to mention that you're not picking up the monthly bill to whoever gets one!Palm Pixi - $29.99 (on a 2-year Sprint contract)
You won't find this deal at Sprint, but it doesn't take too much searching around to find near-free prices on the second webOS device. The Pixi is much like the Pre in terms of OS, but the screen is a bit smaller and the keyboard is a full QWERTY board at the bottom of the screen versus a slider form factor on the Pre. Good luck finding a better smartphone for $30.
Palm Pre - $79.99 (on a 2-year Sprint contract)
The Pre has fallen in price to a point where it'd be tough to overlook if you have under $100 to spend on a new smartphone. The webOS platform is constantly improving, and it's easily one of the most beautiful mobile operating systems to ever surface. Sprint's prices on monthly rate plans are amongst the lowest in the nation as well.
Motorola DROID - $149.99 (on 2-year Verizon contract)
The DROID isn't actually the company's first Android handset (that'd be the CLIQ), but it' the first Android 2.0 handset in the world. We tested in earlier this month and found it worthy of the praise, and while the Pre is certainly a contender, we think this is the first phone that'll really give the iPhone a run for its money. Plus, Verizon's 3G network is far larger than AT&T's, if that matters to ya.
iPhone 3GS 32GB - $299 (on a 2-year AT&T contract)
It's the iPhone you know and love, but with 3G. And faster. The iPhone 3GS has a noticeably improved camera, a built-in compass and more storage than ever before, but it's the OS and the App Store that really makes this one stand out. Too bad it's locked to AT&T, but if you're in an area with great coverage, why not?
