Best smartphones for Christmas 2012
Has your trusty handset finally given up on you? Is it scratched up beyond all recognition? Treat your pockets to something new and shiny from our selection of hand-picked smartphones
Samsung Galaxy S3
£410 expansys.com
The Samsung Galaxy S3 is Stuff’s cream of the Android crop, facing off very stiff competition from the likes of the HTC One X+ and Google Nexus 4. With a vivid AMOLED screen, fantastic 8MP camera, quad-core power and plenty of Samsung’s own bells and whistles added to the stock Android experience, you can’t go far wrong with Sammy’s golden boy.
Apple iPhone 5
£530 (16GB) store.apple.com
Apple’s latest iPhone is sleek. It’s sexy. It’s unmistakably Apple. An unrivalled build quality and beautiful aluminium finish are matched by hundreds of thousands of quality apps which look gorgeous on its pin-sharp finger-friendly 4in Retina Display. Just carry an A-Z until the Maps are sorted out and you’re all set.
Google Nexus 4
£280 (16GB) play.google.com
Google’s latest vanilla Android experience arrives on the beautifully crafted (not to mention sparkly) LG-made Nexus 4. Slathered in gorilla glass from front to back and packing Qualcomm’s beastly 1.5GHz quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM, it’s the only choice for hardcore Android purists who want the latest and greatest. Lack of expandable storage, a removable battery and 4G are negated by the ridiculously low price tag.
Read our Google Nexus 4 review
HTC One X+
£475 clove.co.uk
The HTC One X+ improves upon the original One X with a larger battery, slightly faster Tegra 3 processor and 64GB of internal storage, addressing many people’s biggest gripes with the original. HTC’s fantastic build quality is still present and accounted for with a grippy matte black soft polycarbonate body and its still packing the same gorgeously bright 4.75in LCD display which bests the S3’s AMOLED offering if you’re into more realistic colours.
Nokia Lumia 920
£520 (32GB) clove.co.uk
Want a yellow or red phone? Then the Lumia 920 is clearly the way to go, with its selection of zany colours to suit every palate. With wireless charging, a rock solid polycarbonate body and the freshly released Windows 8, it’s ideal for those gadgeteers looking for something a little different this Christmas – as long as they aren’t too fussed about apps. It’s got a very decent 8MP snapper for shutterbugs too, with formidable low-light performance.
Read our Nokia Lumia 920 review
Dan Grabham
Editor-in-Chief 
