Which phone is right for you?  You can read all of our tests in our ongoing Product Survey: Mobiles & Smartphones, or get straight to business, by looking at our selection of the best phones at the moment.

If there's one sector of the high-tech economy that's done well during the economic slump, it's mobile phones, and, in particular, high-end handsets.  However clever 'smartphones' really are, there's no denying that these devices that can do anything and everything keep on introducing new features. 

Indeed, phones have changed so much in the past few years that it's sometimes easy to forget you can use them for making calls!  A stylish design and an attractive interface go along way, but they're not enough: appearances can be deceptive. That's why there are a few points to check before you end up either buying a phone that has too many complicated features or is frustratingly limited.

Before you buy that new phone ...

Make sure it's right for you!  Here are a few tips to make sure you get the perfect mobile for you:

Ask yourself what you need from a phone: will you use if mainly for calls?  Or getting online?  What about checking your e)mail in real time?  Would you prefer to have an easy-to-use phone with decent battery life (at least two hours of intensive use)?  Does it need to take good quality photos and videos?

Check out how well it's finished: are all of the components solid?  Could it get scratched easily?  Is it it easy to reach the memory card slot, or the SIM?

Look at the screen: turn it on and see how bright it is (but don't turn it up too far, as the backlight requires a lot of energy).  Move it around and check how wide the viewing angles are, and if you can't see anything from the side, then pick a different handset.  Check that the resolution is high enough to make watching videos and reading web pages easy.  We're big fans of the AMOLED and Super AMOLED screens found on the latest Samsung phones and some of HTC's mid-range and high-end handsets, as well as the iPhone 4's 'Retina Display'.

Touchscreen interfaces are currently very fashionable.  At the minute, everybody wants one, and so logically enough the manufacturers are responding to this demand.  But the problem is, not all touchscreen phones are as easy to use ... and some rely on aging software which is slow and quickly becomes annoying.  Having a touchscreen virtual keyboard means you always need an eye on the screen, unlike with a physical keypad.  And even if you do look at the screen, then is it accurate?  There's nothing more annoying than repeated typos because of a tempremental virtual keyboard.

Network performance and call quality: what could be worse than a high-end communications device that can't pick up network signal easily?  If you can, test the phone and make a call to see what it sounds like.  Some handsets introduce a little bit of crackle or feedback, while others completely massacre your voice ...

Is it very responsive?  How long does it take to switch on, to load a webpage?  If the phone supports multitaksing, is it as fast when several apps are running at once.

Battery life: it's perfectly normal that today's smartphones burn energy fast given how often users interact with them.  Right now, it's difficult to find a smartphone that lasts more than two days without needing a recharge—but some can't even last a day.

Apps: the current big trend is for customising your phone.  Your mobile will come with several apps, but after that you can add others according to your needs.  You can download them from online application stores that accompany each mobile OS: the AppStore for the iPhone, Android Market for Google's OS and Bada on Samsung's latest mobiles.  The widest choice of free and paid apps is currently available in the AppStore and Android Market.

Accessories: is a microSD card included?  If so how, check how big: you need at least 2 GB, if not 8 GB for a cameraphone.  Does the hands free kit have good-quality headphones?

Our Selection

Internet and leisure
This smartphone can be whatever you want it to be

Apple iPhone 4 Find the best price

The iPhone 4 only went on sale last week, and though we've started testing it already, it's still too early to give our final verdict.  Our first impressions are that the new screen has an incredible resolution, the interface is very responsive and little tweaks like being able to sort your apps into folders are very handy.  The iPhone 4 can handle running several apps at once without slowing down. Its camera has come on a long way too (see our first results) and we think that plenty of apps that make the most of all this extra resolution will crop up soon.  You can really go to town customising your iPhone 4, with over 225 000 apps available for download.

For the always-connected professional
Internet and e-mail, wherever and whenever you are

BlackBerry Bold 9700 Find the best price

Not up for a touchscreen?  The BlackBerry Bold still has a full physical keyboard, which is ideal for writing longer e-mails and messages.  If you add the famous touch-sensitive trackpad used for navigating, you've got a very powerful phone with a great finish and gorgeous bright screen. Its weak spots: it's large, and has fewer multimedia and entertainment features than phones aimed at the general public..

A first smartphone
An easy way to try some new features

HTC Legend Find the best price

The HTC Legend is the Desire's little brother.  The two phones look quite similar and share many features, but this one has a little less power.  That doesn't hold it back, though, and it works like a treat.  If most of your digital life has something to do with Google's services and you want an easy-to-use handset, the Legend could be just what you need. Based on Android 2.1, which is a solid, stable platform, the Legend's interface is a visual treat that's easy to use.  Browsing the web is not too different from the great experience you get on the iPhone 3G S.  Its weaknesses include battery life of only just over a day, and the poor quality of the headphones that are supplied.

Android + Google
For ultra-connected tech fans who know what they want

HTC Desire Find the best price

This high-end Android 2.1 smartphone puts in an almost faultless performance, starting with a great AMOLED display, an accurate virtual keyboard and a responsive interface.  The Desire can link contacts from your address book and social networks which is very useful.  We can't complain about its performance for voice calls either, apart from a slightly metallic sound which isn't too annoying. Browsing the web is excellent, and makes surfing on the go a real treat.  It's a shame you can't play DivX video natively without re-encoding it on a computer first.  While we're on the subject of multimedia, the camera isn't too great either, with a rather touchy white balance.

Touchscreen multimedia—the easy way
Because getting to your music and video on the road doesn't have to be hard

Samsung Wave Find the best price

The Wave is the first smartphone from Samsung to features its new Bada OS, and has a great design with a very sleek exterior.  Overall, the interface is intuitive and using the phone is pretty easy. This phone scores some points in the multimedia arena, playing DivX and Xvid natively and recording 720p HD video, although its camera is a little more disappointing.  Although there is an app store, there aren't many titles available and they're still quite expensive.  We also liked the decent battery life for a phone in this category.