About a year ago, Nokia’s GPS phone, the 6110 Navigator, ruled the road with its sharp sat nav skills. Today, with seemingly every Tom, Dick and Harry high end handset rocking up with built-in GPS and clogging up the highways, it’s lost some of its navigation lustre. So, has its successor, the 6210, got enough in its tank to reclaim pole position?

On the face of it the 6210 is nothing but a mid-level Symbian S60 smartie with a nose for sat nav. That said, it’s a big improvement on the 6110, flaunting a slicker, more attractive look and a feature boost that includes a autofocus-led 3.2-megapixel snapper, superior VGA video capturing skills, swift HSDPA download speeds, and a slightly more spacious 2.4-inch screen.

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With a sharp eye for style and a snazzy designed touch UI, HTC’s Touch smartphone crew has single handedly taken the hard corporate edge off Windows Mobile po-faced rep and found favour with the mainstream. The sparkly Touch Diamond is leading the populist charge but its new ticklish buddy, the Touch Pro, hasn’t completely abandoned its business roots.

Clock the Touch Pro for the first time and you would struggle to find major design differences with the Diamond. It’s not until its rolls onto its side that you see it’s gained a fair few pounds on the waistline. A sliding QWERTY keyboard is the reason for the new bloated figure; a boon for messaging maniacs but harsh on your Armani suit’s inside pocket.

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The thought of Motorola’s first ever ROKR music blower, the E1, still sends shivers down the spine. This iPod white candybar roped in Apple to provide the iTunes music chops but a 100 song limit and tired rehashed design earned it a one-way ticket to the nearest landfill. Three years on and still undeterred Moto is back with its second ROKR incarnation, the E8, and signs are it’s learnt from its mistakes.

The new ROKR on the block is clearly a universe away from the E1 aberration, sporting a unique slick none more black glossy veneer. It also tightly constructed, lightweight and pleasingly trim, although it does sport broad Nokia 95-esque shoulders.

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Sony Ericsson’s Walkman handsets have always been the lead singers on the mobile music scene but recently its rep has come under threat from a crew of super group-sized rockers.

The likes of the Nokia N96, Apple iPhone 3G and Samsung i8510 with their 8GB and 16GB stadium-sized storage and skilled music player licks, has seen the Scandinavian Asia outfit retaliate with force with the 8GB fatted W980.

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The Apple iPhone still sits regally on the touch phone throne, seemingly untouchable in the, er, touch UI stakes. Pretenders like the LG KU990 Viewty, Samsung F480 Tocco and HTC Touch Diamond have tried to topple the Jesus Machine but haven’t come even close to matching the iPhone finger-licking fluid multi-touch UI. But if rivals thought it tough before, then wait until they see the new iPhone 3G. Gulp.

Really, the iPhone 3G, now in shiny 8GB and 16GB flavours, is the handset the first generation iPhone should have been – downloading to a rapido HSDPA tune and guiding us from A to B with its built in GPS receiver. Still, it’s better late then never.

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BlackBerry creators RIM has shown with the Pearl and Curve crew that its messaging maestros have fully embraced the multimedia smartphone revolution, despite the fact it’s still playing teensy bit catch up in the power stakes. However, its newest fruit machine, the Bold, is bursting with its most electrifying feature set yet, not to mention a swanky new design.

The full blown QWERTY keypad shows the Bold still has messaging at its core but this BlackBerry is notable for being the first to run with HSDPA download speeds. Chuck into the mix built-in Wi-Fi, onboard GPS for sat nav, a cut throat sharp half VGA screen and an integrated 3.5mm headphone jack and compared to past Berries, the Bold is a smartphone god.

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Over the years, mobile phones have grown, swallowing up just about every feature of any other gadget you carry around with you, yet managed to get smaller in the process.

But with so many different features now available, finding the right phone to fit your needs is harder than ever before. HSDPA, Haptics, GPS, MMS, 3G - this mash-up of smart acronyms and tech terms have gone beyond confusing. Which of these do you need, and which phones do them best? We show you the best on offer in every category to trump your tech-flaunting friends. Continue reading…