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

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.

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.

There will be a host of games and connectivity through Bluetooth and a micro USB connector. There is a 3.5 mm AV connector.
Use Ovi player to manage your music via your PC and get direct access to Facebook from the homescreen.

The X2 is a candy bar device but thin at 13.3 mm, and has a traditional keypad and will be available in two colour schemes, black and red or silver and blue and should retail at €85 before taxes and subsidies.

Inside is a 8.1 Megapixel camerawith 16x digital zoom, auto focus, flash and face recognition. Geotagging is included using the built in a-GPS reciever and you can record video. Andriod phone makers have to date seemingly neglected the camera qualities and at 8.1 megapixels the X10 is one of the highest resolution Android cameras on the market. In addition the picture quality is good and Sony Ericsson have packaged good software to operate the camera.

Sony Ericsson are promoting the X10 as a social networking phone; easily connect your facebook contacts and see friends updates straight to your X10. The interface is slick. Called Timescape, it tracks your interactions with freinds accross time.

The music player interface is called Mediascape and includes the interface into your photos and media library.

The GPS will work with the free Google Maps, which includes turn by turn navigation, as well as the growing range of apps available for Andriod.

The 480 X 800 WVGA capacitive touch screen has pinch to zoom, and the home screen can be customised with a variety of widgets, including a social networking application called Friend Stream that combines Twitter, Facebook and Flickr updates. Under the screen are a series of physical buttons to augment the touch screen, something that was missing on the very similar Nexus One.

WiFi, GPS, and a 3.5 mm stereo audio jack add to the package, but there is only 576 MB RAM although this can be uprated with micro SD cards to a maximum of 32GB. Sadly also missing is 720p, rumoured in pre release sprecifications, but the camera and photography side of the HTC range is progressing rapidily and with the Desire now take reasonable photos.

With a 12 megapixel camera and optics from Carl Zeiss, including a wide-angle lens and the ability to shoot in high-definition video (720p resolution) and connect via HDMI to your home theatre system with Dolby Digital Plus sound, the Nokia N8 looks to take multimedia phones to a new level.

If social networking is your thing, the Nokia N8 brings all of your favourite networking sites together, including Facebook and Twitter, straight to your home screen. Upload your photos and videos to Facebook as soon as you capture them on the phone, and keep in touch with your friends direct from your mobile.

Building on the succesful Widgets which made their debut in the N97 you can personalise your N8 to your hearts content. There are three individual home screens so your phone can look different when used at work, at home and one spare.

With the growth of the OVI resource portal, there are a large number of different applications that you can get to upgrade and improve your Nokia phone and although not at the level that iPhone users can expect this resource is becoming a valuable addition for Nokia owners.

In addition to the high-quality camera and video expect to find 16 GB of internal memmory which can be expanded through micro-SD memory cards (up to a total of 32 GB) making a total possible memory of 48 GB. Llike television on your mobile? The Nokia N8 also includes on demand WebTV including channels from CNN and National Geographic, although not live TV, a feature hastily dropped by Nokia after the N96 because of the lack of support around the world. This adds an additional distraction from those long commutes as does the full featured music player including album art, playlists and the boast from Nokia that the N8 will store enough songs that you could listen to over two days worth of music without hearing the same song twice.

Connectivity includes Bluetooth, HDMI, a micro-USB connector, 3.5 mm AV connector for your headphones, FM radio and an FM transmitter. E-mail messaging is supported as you would expect as is browsing and internet capabilities which include Flash video support.

The user interface relies on a 3.5 inch high resolution screen with 16.7 million colours and 640 x 360 pixels OLED capacitive touch screen. Differing from the N97, the touch screen is capacitive rather than resistive which means it should be easier to operate with just a finger thater than a stylus. There is an accelerometer (orientation sensor), compass and an ambient light sensor, all the things you’d expect from a high range N Series mobile phone.

GPS is included with integrated GPS and A-GPS receiver and OVI Maps with free car and pedestrian navigation will be included.

The Noki N8 is also expected to ship with the new Symbian ^3 operating system which is still yet to be fully released by Nokia. Given the number of partners involved in the Symbian development system we would hope that this new release brings a lot of new features and stability to this rather old OS.

Nokia have released details of a phone that could well become the must have Nokia camera phone phone in the later part of 2010.

Nokia, usually very good at manageng the PR machine seem to have been caught on the hop slightly,with the early release of preliminary specifications on a Russian download site. Full details were quick to follow from Nokia however and the N8 is now official.

The N8 is set to become a flagship phone for the N Series, and the specs suggest the camera enhancements will take it several steps up fromt he current N Series leaders.

As with other N Series phones the camera will have Carl Zeiss optics, but the N8 will come with a 12 megapixel sensor and full Xenon flash and the ability to record video in 720p HD. There is to be a HDMI connector so you can play pack videos straight to your TV. 16 GB memory plus hot swapable SD cards should leave lots of room for photos and video.

The screen will be a 3.5-inch OLED capacitive touch screen (which unlike the resistive touchscreen on the N97 works better with finger touch).

Expect lots more information in the weeks to come, particularly on the new Symbian ^3 operating system that is expected to debut on the N8.

The nice people at Nokia have a special valentine’s offer – Free Phone From Nokia

Buy one of 10 handsets, like the N97 or the N900, or even the rather expensive 8800 Golde Arte at £1088, and get a free Nokia 1661 or Nokia 1208. Other phones in the offer include the new messaging phone, the E72 and the Nokia X6.

Your loved one will thank you

Nokia have announced that their proprietary navigation and mapping product, Ovi Maps, will be made available free on selected handsets. This is to include free voice navigation both on driving and walking trips.
Previously, certain handsets were pre loaded with Ovi Maps, and came with a limited trial for the turn by turn voice navigation services.

The handsets that are currently able to download the full package for free are:

• Nokia X6
• Nokia N97 mini
• E72
• E55
• E52
• Nokia 6730 classic
• Nokia 6710 Navigator
• Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic
• Nokia 5800 Navigation Edition
• Nokia 5230

Once the maps application is downloaded there are a selection of both male and female voices to choose from, available in a number of different languages and these can be downloaded as required. Maps are available to download for free for over 70 countries.

Ovi Maps has the features you would expect from a satellite navigation solution, including a number of different views from 2D to 3D style road views, options to favour motorways, or not, and the option to choose real time traffic information. Data download charges will apply for some of these options, so if you are on a data limited plan, you should bear this in mind.