TFTS Best Smartphones of 2010 – Editors’ Edition

Tweet

With CES 2011 now over we’ll look at the past year to better understand where the future is heading. And since CES 2011 was focused on mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones, we’ll show you what happened last year in the smartphone universe. After the break you’re going to find the best smartphones of 2010 according to us, the editors of TFTS.

We’re looking at 11 devices here that were, at some point or another, announced and launched last year and we’re going to briefly remember each of them for you, from the least popular to the best smartphone of 2010.

The BlackBerry Torch 9800

On last place, the BlackBerry Torch 9800, the first RIM handset to run BlackBerry 6 and the first one to come with both a full touchscreen display and a full QWERTY keyboard on board, failed to impress the public. RIM’s Torch didn’t impress us that much either!

Check all our coverage concerning the BlackBerry Torch 9800 here.

The Nokia N8

The Nokia N8 (our review here) was supposed to be the Symbian^3-running flagship phone of Nokia. It kept being delayed and delayed all through the year and while Nokia did sell a few million N8 smartphones, the phone never had a chance against all the Android handsets out there, not to mention the iPhones.

Check all our coverage concerning the Nokia N8 here.

The Samsung Focus

The Samsung Focus is a Windows Phone 7 handset that started selling in fall 2010 and was at some point rumored to be one of the best sold WP7 devices. Microsoft is still having a hard time catching up to the iPhone and Android smartphones out there but at least we’re not talking about Windows Mobile 6.5 anymore.

Check all our coverage concerning the Samsung Focus here.

The HTC HD2

The HTC HD 2 is the best WM 6.5 phone ever, and according to the TFTS team the phone was a pretty hard nut to crack in 2010. The phone impressed everyone at the beginning of last year and its chassis was later used in phones like the EVO 4G, the Desire HD or the HTC HD7.

Check all our coverage concerning the HTC HD2 here.

The HTC Droid Incredible

The HTC Droid Incredible is one of the most anticipated Android handsets of last spring and the public received the phone very well. Unfortunately HTC wasn’t able to keep up production in order to meet demand and people were waiting and waiting for Verizon to get more Incredible inventory.

Check all our coverage concerning the HTC Droid Incredible here.

The HTC EVO 4G

The first 4G Android phone of the past year was made by HTC for Sprint and announced at CTIA 2010. Supporting Sprint’s newly deployed 4G WiMAX network, the EVO 4G also brought video chatting to Android fans. The phone was believed to be the main iPhone 4 competitor but it soon received some serious Android competitors itself.

Check all our coverage concerning the HTC EVO 4G here.

The Samsung Galaxy S

The phone was announced at CTIA 2010, right after the EVO 4G, and although eclipsed by the EVO 4G initially it became a worldwide bestselling Android handset. Samsung sold 10 million Galaxy S units in 2010, according to schedule, but it did come with some unexpected issues: GPS, and a more than delayed Froyo update.

Check all our coverage concerning the Samsung Galaxy S here.

The Motorola Droid X

The Motorola Droid X matched the HTC EVO 4G in size and along with the HTC Droid Incredible was one of the most popular handset coming to Verizon and Motorola’s flagship handset for 2010.

Check all our coverage concerning the Motorola Droid X here.

The Google Nexus One

Made by HTC, the first phone in the world to actually run the mobile OS Google designed for the world, the Google Nexus One had its fair share of issues at the beginning of 2010 but, nonetheless, it was a phone appreciated by both regular Android customers and developers all through the year.

Check all our coverage concerning the Google Nexus One here.

The Google Nexus S

The Google Nexus S, the second smartphone made to showcase Google’s Android mobile OS in all its glory, was only announced in December 2010, but it still impressed us with its specs and features. The Nexus S also happens to be the first Gingerbread handset in the world but it will have a tough time fighting all the upcoming Android 4G LTE handsets coming out this year.

Check all our coverage concerning the Google Nexus S here.

The Apple iPhone 4

The fourth iPhone was officially announced and launched in June and it did make serious cash for Apple. Despite Antennagate, and all the other issues we and everyone else reported on, the iPhone 4 still was a very popular device with the crowds and definitely one of the best-sold handsets of 2010. And, the iPhone 4 was, according to the TFTS editors, the best phone of 2010.

Check all our coverage concerning the iPhone 4 here.

So, there you have it, our round up of the best smartphones of 2010 as voted by the TFTS staff and I dare say that it’ll be the subject of some debate amongst our readership. So, let us have it. Disagree with this list? Have we dared miss out a particular smartphone that you expected to see here? Have we over-hyped any of the smartphones in the above list?

We welcome your opinions, guys, so take a scroll to the comments box and let’s hear from you (please, however, do try to back up your arguments to assist with the general debate that’s sure to follow).