10 Best Alternatives to the iPhone

This is a guest post by James Adams. If you want to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here.

Apple took the mobile world by storm with its release of the iPhone two years ago, causing a cult of fans who wanted to get their own sparkling phone. At this point, many other developers have jumped into the craze and, in some cases, even developing phones more worth looking at than the iPhone.

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1. HTC Google Nexus One [$179]
Google and HTC joined forces to bring the Nexus One, which comes complete with a 480×800 touchscreen, a 5 MP camera and the noteworthy Android 2.1 operating system. Available with T-Mobile, Verizon and Sprint, this phone has the iPhone beat six ways from Sunday.

2. Palm Pre [$149]
Surprisingly, a Palm device can successfully compete against the iPhone. Features include a 320×480 touchscreen with a slide-down QWERTY board – an effective alternative to the otherwise uncomfortable onscreen board Apple offers. The Palm Web OS-based phone comes available from Sprint.

3. Motorola Droid [$199]
This is another Android 2.1 phone that was built under Google’s supervision, and it comes with possibly one of the largest screens on a mobile phone, measuring at 3.7 inches and a resolution of 480×854. It comes with the ability to recognize 32 GB of SD storage and has an accelerometer built into it, allowing the screen orientation to change. This phone is available through Verizon.

4. Nokia N97 Mini Driver Edition [$479]
A 3.5 inch touchscreen and SD Card support of up to 16 GB have been built into this gem by Nokia, and it has the Symbian operating system. It is available from the Nokia Store.

5. Samsung Omnia II [$199]
This new release comes with the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system installed onto it, proudly displayed across the full 480×800 touchscreen. Its long list of features include an astounding 6 MP camera, 16 GB internal memory and up to 32 GB external memory by way of an SD card. It is available through Verizon.

6. BlackBerry Bold [$199]
The BlackBerry still holds the reign among capabilities regarding email and instant messaging, complete with a comfortable QWERTY keyboard, the familiar BlackBerry operating system and a BlackBerry-specific app store with many different apps from which to choose. Popular all around the world, the BlackBerry Bold is available through AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile.

7. HTC Hero [$299]
Another HTC contender comes the Hero, which has many connectivity options, along with a 5 MP camera. While an iPhone cannot display YouTube videos due to the lack of Flash, the Hero is capable of all of this and much more, directly benefiting from Flash inclusion. The Android-based Hero can be purchased through Alltel, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint.

8. Nokia 5800 XpressMusic [$259]
Nokia finally gets the message about slim phones with this new release. Enjoy the new and improved Nokia OS, a 3.2 inch screen and up to 16 GB of external memory. It is available through the Nokia store.

9. New LG Chocolate [$269]
Always renovating the successful phones, LG has come up with their newest version of their popular Chocolate phone. It contains its own LG operating system, has Bluetooth connectivity and is a slide phone. It can be purchased through the LG store or through Verizon.

10. LG Vu [$249]
This phone is a great alternative to the iPhone, especially since it looks just like one. Also containing the LG operating system, the Vu comes with Mobile TV, a 2 MP camera and a large 3-inch responsive touchscreen. This phone can be purchased through the LG store or through AT&T.

James is a product analyst and writer at an online ink cartridges specialist offering a range of franking machine ink and other supplies to business.