The Xperia Z looks like a big rectangular glass slab with clean lines that give the phone a no nonsense persona and there are no chrome frames or other embellishments barring the power button which stands out a little.

The phone’s design is somewhat minimalistic and Sony likes to refer to this design philosophy as ‘OmniBalance’. The rounded edges on the phone are very subtle and are hard to notice at first glance.

The phone sports a 5-inch screen, which essentially dominates the front of the phone while the rest is tempered glass with a reflective coating. The display is seamless with the rest of the front and Sony says that they’ve brought the touch panel closer to the display. The bezel is really thin and there are no hardware controls. The phone doesn’t have separate capacitive buttons for navigation and instead has onscreen buttons similar to Nexus devices.

PHONE FEATURES

• Weight 146 g
• Dimensions 139 x 71 x 7.9 mm
• Colours Black, White, Purple
• Android OS v4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) planned upgrade to v4.2
• Qualcomm
• Quad-core 1.5 GHz Krait
• TFT Capactive touchscreen, 16m colours
• Screen size 5.0 inches 1080 x 1920 pixels
• Shatterproof and scratch-resistant glass
• Memory 32/GB storage, 2 GB ram
• 13.1 MP 4128 x 3096 pixels
• Autofocus, LED flash
• Secondary camera 2.2 MP
• SMS thread view, MMS, Email, Push email
• Document viewer
• Photo viewer/editor, MP3 player

Like the iPhone 5 and Xperia Z the HTC One is also light for such a well constructed device, yet it feels solid. HTC claims the new HTC One weighs 143g. The key point is that it is big and solid, but surprisingly light, the iPhone 5 being much lighter at 112g, as with most mobile we protect them with a case, but the HTC feels like it could withstand the rough and tumble of life in my pocket unscathed!

PHONE FEATURES

• Weight 143 g
• Dimensions 137.4 x 68.2 x 9.3 mm
• Colours Black, Red, Silver
• Android OS v4 1.2 (Jelly Bean)
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 600
• Quad-core 1.7 GHz Krait 300
• Super LCD3 Capactive touchscreen, 16m colours
• Screen size 4.7 inches 1080 x 1920 pixels
• Memory 32/64 GB storage 2 GB ram
• 4 MP 2688 x 1520 pixels
• Autofocus, LED flash
• Secondary camera 2.1 MP
• SMS (thread view), MMS, Email, Push email
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• Image/video editor, MP3 player

The new BlackBerry 10 OS is the big selling point for this phone and it’s a huge step forward from previous touchscreen BlackBerrys. You can get rid of the memories of the horrendous BlackBerry Storm, the Z10 feels like a slick and modern smartphone.

Navigating the BlackBerry 10 is all about swiping from left to right. The OS is arranged in a series of panels, for messaging, open apps and your main app tray.

When you make the ‘home’ gesture, which involves swiping up from the bottom of the display, you go to a screen of currently-open programs, each represented by a thumbnail. When you switch between apps, the previously-used program stays open in a frozen state, which makes it very quick to open it again. This means that once you’ve been using your phone for a while, you rarely need to go back to the app tray to find and open an app again, as if you’ve used it before it will still be running.

PHONE FEATURES

• Weight 137.5g
• Dimensions 130 x 65.5 x 9mm
• Colours Black, White
• Operating system BlackBerry 10 OS
• Dual-core 1.5 Ghz Krait
• Capactive touchscreen 16m colours
• Screen size 4.2 inches 768 x 1280 pixels
• Memory 16GB storage 2 GB ram
• External microSD up to 64 MB
• 8 MP 3254 x 2448
• Autofocus, LED flash
• Secondary camera 2MP
• SMS, MMS, Email, Push email, IM, BBM 6
• BlackBerry maps, document viewer
• Photo viewer, MP3 player

The new addition to the Galaxy S series Galaxy I9500 S IV smartphone is rumored to be launched this month. The S IV will have many features that people are already excited about. Samsung has already reviled its new Exynos 5 Octa chipset which is the fastest mobile phone processor till now.

The device has GPS, JAVA, Dropbox, S-Voice, TV-out, Smart Stay eye tracking, SNS integration, Predictive text input with SWYPE, HTML5 browser with Adobe flash player support, Wi-Fi Direct and Wi-Fi hotspot features as well.

PHONE FEATURES

• Weight 130g
• Dimensions 136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9 mm
• Colours Titanium Gray, Sapphire Black
• Android OS v4.2 (Jelly Bean)
• Quad-core 1.8 Ghz Cortex-A15
• Super AMOLED Capactive touchscreen 16m colours
• Screen size 5 inches 1080 x 1920 pixels
• Corning Gorilla Glass 3
• TouchWiz UI
• Memory 16/32/64 GB storage 2 GB ram
• External microSD up to 64 MB
• 13 MP 4128 x 3096 pixels
• Autofocus, LED flash
• Secondary camera 2.1 MP
• SMS thread view, MMS, Email, Push email, IM, RSS
• Smart stay eye tracking, Dropbox
• Image/video editor, MP3 player

Expected release April 2013

One huge benefit to HTC using a design language with strong link to the Nokia brand, the 8X is that this is one lovely handset. With its 4.3-inch Super LCD 2 display, large and pleasing to the eye, with a clean, minimalist approach lends elegance to the phone’s plastic construction.

A huge part of what makes the new HTC Windows Phone 8X so interesting is the 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, the same CPU, While the phone has only 1GB of RAM unlike others which have 2GB, since the 8X runs Windows Phone 8 this should not effect its performance.

This handset includes an 8-megapixel camera with backside illuminated sensor (BSI), LED flash, plus HTC’s discrete imaging processor. If it has similar camera electronics as that found on the HTC One X, the 8X’s shooter might prove a real treat.

The Windows Phone 8 signature home screen, which uses enhanced Live Tiles to pull information from various apps and services running in the background. It’s a slick interface even if you can’t alter the UI by adding fancy widgets the way Android allows, you can choose between large, medium, and small tiles to gain some degree of customisation.

PHONE FEATURES

· Weight 130g
· Dimensions 132.4 x 66.2 x 10.1 mm
· Colours: Blue, Black, Yellow or Red
· Operating system Microsoft Windows Phone 8
· Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon
· Quad-core 1.5 GHz Krait
· Display Super LCD2 capacitive touchscreen
· Display Size 720 x 1280 pixels, 4.3 inches
· Corning Gorilla Glass
· Internal memory 16 GB storage, 1 GB RAM
· Camera 8 MP, 3264 x 2448 pixels, Autofocus, LED flash
· Secondary camera 2.1 MP, 1080p video
· SMS, MMS, Push email, Email, IM
· Document viewer, Video/Photo Editor
· MP3/Mp4 player

The moment the iPhone 5 was unveiled we knew that it was ticking all the right boxes, incorporating the improvements and refinements people have been demanding over the past year.

You may think you’ve seen this device before, but trust me until you’ve held the new iPhone, you really haven’t seen it at all. While the basic design of the phone mimics the look of the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, the actual components, materials, sizing and weight make it seem like another device entirely. With its rounded corners, glass-covered façade and metal band running around the edges of the device. Where the 5 differs is its brushed aluminum backing capped by glass on the top and bottom and the placement of the screen and back within the housing.

You’ll also immediately sense how little it weighs, the iPhone 5 feels extremely light in your hand.

The two sections of pigmented glass at the top and the bottom of the phone add a pleasant effect and the sapphire glass is meant to be thoroughly durable, to complement the Gorilla Glass on the front.

Apple has introduced a new processor, the A6 chip, which improves upon that of the already speedy iPhone 4S. Apps load very quickly and run with no lag or stutter, while swiping through menus or home screens is as smooth as silk.

PHONE FEATURES

· Weight 112g
· Dimensions 123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 mm
· Colours Black/Slate, White/Silver
· Operating system iOS 6
· Dual-core 1.2 GHz processor,
· Display LED-backlit IPS TFT capacitive touchscreen
· Display Size 640 x 1136 pixels, 4.0 inches
· Protection Corning Gorilla Glass, oleophobic coating
· Internal memory 16/32/64 GB storage, 1 GB RAM
· Camera 8 MP, 3264 x 2448 pixels
· Autofocus, LED flash
· Secondary camera 1.2 MP, 720p
· SMS, MMS, Push email, Email, iMessage
· Image editor, iBooks PDF reader
· iCloud cloud service

The screen was large enough to make media viewing an absolute joy and the S Pen, the Galaxy Note’s stylus, brought a whole new level of fun to gaming. The S Pen also allowed people to move from their clumsy finger-drawn images in Draw to more complicated pieces. Creative folks and note-taking friends also fell in love with the device, as it allowed them to slap down concept art on the go and to take handwritten notes during classes, meetings, and seminars.

The Galaxy Note II is packed with more features, such as the ability to preview e-mails, events, videos, and images without even touching your stylus tip to the screen and the ability to rotate the phone’s screen depending on the
orientation of your head.

Plus points are Replaceable backplate, removable battery, hardware plus Jelly Bean, S Pen with awesome software to go with it and triangular stem, which makes the stylus easier to grasp and control than the original Galaxy Note’s one-handed operation for those with small hands or fingers.

PHONE FEATURES

· Weight 183g
· Dimensions 151 x 80.5 x 9.4 mm
· Colour Titanium Gray, Marble White
· Android v4.1.1 (Jelly Bean)
· Quad-core 1.6 GHz processor
· Display Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen
· Display Size 720 x 1280 pixels, 5.5 inches
· Corning Gorilla Glass 2
· Internal memory 16/32/64 GB storage, 2 GB RAM
· MicroSD up to 64 GB
· Dropbox (50 GB storage)
· Camera 8 MP, 3264 x 2448 pixels
· Autofocus, LED flash
· Secondary camera 1.9 MP
· MP3/MP4 player
· Image / video editor
· SMS, MMS, Push email, Email, IM, RSS
· Document editor, Google search, Maps
· YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk

The screen is a whopping 4.8″ and uses Super AMOLED screen and impressions of Gorilla Glass 2. The Samsung Galaxy S III has a notification LED to the left of the ear piece.

There are many cool new features in the new S III. Most notably are eye tracking and new voice commands. The eye tracking switches the display on and off; depending on whether the phone sees you looking at it (Samsung calls this Smart Stay).

You activate it by saying “Hi Galaxy!” You can ask it about the weather, ask the phone to take a picture.

The Galaxy S III also comes with a feature called Smart alert – when the phone detects that you have picked it up, it will vibrate if you have missed events. Pop-up Play allows you to move the video player into a small floating window and continue watching while using another app or when doing something else.

The Samsung Galaxy S III features an 8MP camera with burst shot mode, which lets you take 3.3 shots per second. The phone also tracks people’s faces and can automatically pick the best one of the several photos taken in quick succession. Face zoom allows you to zoom in on people faces with a double tap. The Galaxy S III can record 1080p video and the video camera has video stabilization, too.

PHONE FEATURES

· Weight 133g
· Dimensions 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.9 mm
· Colour Blue, White, Brown, Red, Black, Grey
· Android v4 Ice Cream Sandwich
· Quad-core 1.4 GHz processor,
· Display Super AMOLES capacitive touchscreen
· Display Size 720 x 1280 pixels, 4.8 inches
· Internal memory 16/32/64 GB storage, 1 GB RAM
· External memory microSD up to 64 GB
· Camera 8 MP, 3264 x 2448 pixels
· Autofocus, LED flash
· Secondary camera 1.9 MP, 720p
· SMS, MMS, Push email, Email, IM, RSS
· Document viewer, Google search, Maps
· YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk

The HTC One X+ is the flagship, sporting a truly spectacular 4.7 inch screen, yet remaining thin and easily pocketable.

This is not just a slight reworking of the HTC line, long-standing problems such as similar looks, feel and poor battery life have been addressed and the result is an HTC handset unlike any other, even if it talks the same design language. That’s partly because there are no visible seams apart from the power and volume buttons, the micro USB charging slot and a tiny cover for the micro SIM.

There’s a sealed battery, so no removable back to spoil the look and more space to squeeze in more battery with less cladding, vital with such a big screen in such a thin body.

The One X+ is made from polycarbonate, posh plastic, which basically makes it light in spite of its size. Look closely and you’ll see the white back is matt but the edge and front are gloss. Matching these different finishes so smoothly is further proof of HTC’s forensic attention to detail.

HTC One X+ it take great pics and videos, with minimal shutter lag, but HTC has really aced it with the extra features.

Stills shutter and video recording buttons are onscreen at all times, along with a lens which, in Instagram style, lets you add sepia, vignette, distortion and other effects which you can view as you snap.

The touchscreen’s responses are Teflon-smooth and immediate. In every department, the phone’s speed knocks you out.

PHONE FEATURES

· Weight 135g
· Dimensions 134.4 x 69.9 x 8.9 mm
· Colour Black
· Operating system Android v4.1.1 (Jelly Bean)
· Quad-core 1.7 GHz processor,
· Display Super LCD2 capacitive touchscreen
· Display Size 720 x 1280 pixels, 4.7 inches
· Internal memory 32/64 GB storage, 1 GB RAM
· Camera 8 MP, 3264 x 2448 pixels, Autofocus, LED flash
· Secondary camera 1.6 MP, 720p
· SMS, MMS, Push email, Email, IM
· Document viewer, Google search, Maps
· YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk
· Beats Audio

· Weight 160g
· Dimensions 127.8 x 68.5 x 11.5 mm
· Colour Black, Cyan, White, Magenta
· Operating system Microsoft Windows Phone 7.5 Mango
· Qualcomm Snapdragon processor
· AMOLED capacitive touchscreen
· Nokia ClearBlack display
· 480 x 800 pixels, 4.3 inches
· Internal memory 16 GB Storage 512 MB RAM
· Camera 8 MP, 3264 x 2448 pixels
autofocus dual-LED flash
· SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Push email, IM
· MP3, MP4, Games
· Stereo FM radio with RDS
· Document viewer/editor
· Video/Photo editor
· Talk time up to 7 hours
· Standby time up to 300 hours
· Music Time up to 60 hours