Although choosing a mobile is a very personal affair, In a bid to answer this question Camera Phone Review has compared the top phones from the top manufacturers to see if there is a clear winner.

We have compared size, screen, camera, multi-media, general performance and other features and looked at the Apple iPhone 4, Nokia N8, Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 and the HTC Desire.

First the iPhone 4 Apple’s latest offering and most sought after handset

iPhone 4 size

115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3 mm
137 grams

iPhone 4 screen

Apple’s Retina display 3.5-inch (diagonal) widescreen Multi-Touch display with 960-by-640-pixel resolution at 326 ppi

iPhone 4 camera

5-megapixel still camera, Video recording, HD (720p) up to 30 frames per second with audio, LED flash, Tap to focus video or still images, Photo and video geotagging

iPhone 4 multi-media
iPod music player, iMovie, iBooks and iTunes

iPhone 4 other features

• UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz)
• GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
• 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi (802.11n 2.4GHz only)
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR wireless technology
• Assisted GPS
• Digital compass
• Talk time:Up to 7 hours on 3G / Up to 14 hours on 2G
• Standby time: Up to 300 hours

There is the 8 megapixel camera but the XT720 has a Xenon flash, the first Android phone to have this improved flash instead of an LED based flash. There is a 10x digital zoom. Record video in HD and use the built in HDMI port and bundled cable to view it on your HDTV.

Other camera features include automatic touch to focus with easy panorama, face detection, multi-shot which takes 6 shots in a row, red eye reduction and camera shake prevention.

The Droid X has a larger screen than the Milestone XT720 which has a 3.7-inch, 480-by-854-pixel FWVGA screen, (touch screen) just like the original Droid.

There is WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS with Google Maps.

Running Android 2.1 – expected to be updated to 2.2 later this year, the Droid X is a big phone,127.5 x 65.5 x 9.9 mm – over 10 mm larger and almost 7 mm wider than the iPhone 4 and weighing in at 155 g (compared to the 137 g of the iPhone 4) the Droid X is a heavyweight phone. But then you get a large screen – 4.3 inches / 109 mm although as we are making comparisons with the iPhone, the resolution is not so good – 854×480 for the Droid X and 960×640 for the iPhone 4.

The Driod X packs a 8 mega pixel camera with dual LED flash, digital zoom and touch to focus features, as well as a 720p HD video with noise cancellation and a variety of special effect features.

The keyboard that was present on the Droid has gone, but you get a HDMI port for showing off your HD video, a reasonable 8GB of built-in memory and an SD card slot that will take up to 32GB.

WiFi is built-in as is Bluetooth, GPS and a 3.5 mm av socket for headphones.

There is no release date for the UK (if a phone with these specs will see these shores, as the Milestone XT720 has very similar specs) , but expect the Droid X to be in the US from 15 July.

Despite underestimating the demand for the device, which has been phenomenal, leading to many retailers selling out almost immediately with long delays until new stock will be available in the UK, there is still strong demand from consumers for the handset.

The good news for those loyal fans that have to wait for the iPhone 4 is that the new operating system was made immediately available for owners of previous versions of the phone to upgrade, so although they can not make use of the new hardware features of the iPhone 4they can enjoy some of the software improvements.

But what of those hardware improvements? The iPhone4 is certainly handsomely packaged in a sleek glass housing with a metal band that oozes quality and will hold its own against any other device on the market. The technical specs look good as well and the screen display, although not the largest on the market, provides superb quality and clarity.

There have been unfortunate reports of reception issues, which Apple have attributed to the relocation of the antenna to the bottom of the handset, which means it is obscured when you hold the phone to make a call. Whilst this is a severe limitation to any phone Apple have suggested they can remedy this with a firmware upgrade to the operating software and reception certainly does change depending on your service provider and location as well. It is unlikely that this will put too many people off getting the iPhone 4.

One of the heralded improvements was the addition of a second camera, facing forward, and an improved resolution main camera and flash. The 5 megapixel main camera is fairly standard for smartphones these days, but Apple have made it easy to use, by removing a lot of the options available when you take a picture. There is autofocus and touch focusing where you can select the point the camera will focus on and the iPhone 4 will change settings to suit.

Unfortunately results from pictures taken with the main camera have been poor, with images being very mottled and grainy, particularly in low light. Whilst for a simple snap this may not be a problem, if you were hoping the iPhone 4 would replace your digital camera, you will be disappointed particularly if you like to print or enlarge your photos. Video recording is improved, but still has similar issues of speckling as plagues the still camera.

Will this put you off the iPhone 4? If you area die hard Apple fan then the limitations can be excused by the fact that it is still an improvement to the previous iPhone camera and from the levels of demand already seen, it would seem many share this view.

Tariff: Orange £20 24 month
MINS / TEXTS: 200 mins + unlimited texts
Offer: 14 mths free
EFFECTIVE COST: £8.33

For those looking for a great mobile at a really discounted price, how about the Samsung Genio for £1.99 a month –

Tariff: Orange £25 24 month
MINS / TEXTS: 400 mins + unlimited texts
Offer: 24mth @ £1.99
EFFECTIVE COST: £1.99

If you are looking for a discount on a PAYG mobile, our third mobile deal this week is the LG POP on T-Mobile which will be available from 25-27th June for £39.99 – A saving of £30!

GPRS is available for data transfer and the mobile handles MMS and email. There is an FM radio and MP3 player.
The camera is a basic VGA affair, with no flash, but it can take video.

Clearly designed as a low-end good all round mobile the C1 fits the bill. There will also be a version capable of running 2 sim cards simultaneously (the C1-02) but availability for this has not yet been announced.

This offer from snapfish gets you 50% off when you click the link below and use the code TOPDAD.

HALF PRICE PHOTO COLLAGE MUG – PLUS New Customers Get 40 FREE Prints – Ideal for Father’s Day

Hurry though as this offer ends 12 June 2010.

Just coming into shops is the long awaited Xperia X10 Mini and to celebrate there are some great offers available. We like the look of this half price line rental offer which gives you a FREE XPERIA X10 MINI !!

Phone Cost: FREE
Tariff: Orange Canary £20 24m
Mins / Texts: 200 mins and unlimited texts
Effective cost per month: £10.00
Standard price per month £20.00
Offer: 12 Months FREE by redemption

BUY NOW

Also hot at the moment is the HTC Desire, a great mobile with some great deals like this from e2save:

Phone Cost: FREE Tariff: Orange Canary £25 24m
Mins / Texts: 400 mins and unlimited texts
Effective cost per month: £18.75
Standard price per month £25.00
OFFER: 12 Months ½ Price by redemption

BUY NOW

Running on the Android platform, the HTC Wildfire incorporates Facebook, Twitter and Flickr into one and links them to your friends all on one screen and then uses all this information when they call you, showing everything from their latest Facebook update to their birthday.

HTC have traditionally implemented the android user interface very well and the Wildfire includes the Android™ 2.1 (Éclair) with HTC Sense™, a capacitive touch screen with pinch-to-zoom capability (240 x 320 QVGA), and a feature called Leap View, which shows all seven home screen panels at once and a single touch will take you to the one you want. Clever innovations such as polite ringer means that the ring tone on the Wildfire will quieten when you pick up the phone, and silence if you turn it over.

There is built in Microsoft Exchange support for email and calendar synchronisation, perfect for business users and a dimmable torch and FM radio and music player with 3.5 mm headphone jack.

But what of the camera? We have criticised HTC in the past for poor camera integration, but the Wildfire comes with a 5 megapixel camera, with autofocus and flash as well as geotagging using the built in GPS receiver. whilst there is only 384 MB available RAM, this can be expanded with microSD cards to 32GB. So is the Wildfire the phone that says HTC have got the camera right? unfortunately not even the 5 megapixel camera could produce better than average pictures, but given the other features packed into this phone we suspect this will not put people off.

HTC have a fairly full range of mobiles to choose from at the moment and the Wildfire is best described as a pared down version of the Desire, hence the QVGA screen. But expect a cheaper price as well and this mobile is aimed at the mass market (probably younger) user looking for great value for money, to which it delivers.

Expect to see the HTC Wildfire in shops from 14 June.

The Timescape interface stays for easy access to Facebook, Twitter, texts and photos but added is a feature that allows you to add your four favourite applications to buttons in the four corners of the touch screen. Given the smaller screen and concerns that Timescape was fiddly on the X10, it could be really hard to use on the mini but for those who live through Facebook and the like, this may not be such of an issue.

The X10 mini will have a 5 megapixel camera with flash, autofocus, geo tagging and video.

All in all the looks of this phone are amazing and there will be a batch of colours as well, including black, pearl white, lime, red, pink and silver.

For another variation, the X10 mini pro is also announced and this includes a four line keyboard that slides out from under the screen, reminiscent of the Nokia N97.

Both run on Android 1.6 and you can see X10 mini in action (and see just how small it is) in the video below.