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The 12 best Android smartphones (photos)

Here's the photo gallery of the 12 top android smartphone picks by Jason Hiner of TechRepublic.
By Andy Smith, Contributor
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1 of 12 Andy Smith/ZDNET

Here's the leaderboard of the 12 top android smartphone picks by Jason Hiner of TechRepublic.

Caveat: This ranking is primarily US-based. In each country/region, the telecom carriers tend to name these devices by different names. In many cases you’ll be able to find a close match between the devices on this list and devices in your area, but not in all cases.

HTC EVO 4G: “The Hummer of smartphones” because it’s so huge and it’s such a power hog, but there’s no denying that it is the elite of the Android fleet."

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2 of 12 Andy Smith/ZDNET

Google Nexus One: "It remains the gold standard and as long as Google keeps selling it in one form or another, it will likely remain on this list."

To view this as a list and read more, see the article:
Leaderboard: The 12 best Android smartphones

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3 of 12 Andy Smith/ZDNET

Samsung Vibrant: "T-Mobile’s Samsung Vibrant is thin, powerful, has a great screen, and does the least amount of fiddling with the stock Android OS."

To view this as a list and read more, see the article:
Leaderboard: The 12 best Android smartphones

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4 of 12 Andy Smith/ZDNET

HTC Incredible: "It’s not quite as elegant or high-end as the Nexus One, but the Incredible is the next best thing."

To view this as a list and read more, see the article:
Leaderboard: The 12 best Android smartphones

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5 of 12 Andy Smith/ZDNET

The response from Motorola and Verizon (the previous darlings of the Android world) to Sprint’s HTC EVO 4G was the Droid X.

To view this as a list and read more, see the article:
Leaderboard: The 12 best Android smartphones

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6 of 12 Andy Smith/ZDNET

Samsung Epic 4G: "With it’s large keys and dedicated row for number keys, it is arguably the best hardware qwerty on any Android device."

To view this as a list and read more, see the article:
Leaderboard: The 12 best Android smartphones

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7 of 12 Andy Smith/ZDNET

Motorola Droid 2: "For those who prefer a physical keyboard and Verizon’s top-notch coverage, the Droid 2 remains a great choice."

To view this as a list and read more, see the article:
Leaderboard: The 12 best Android smartphones

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8 of 12 Andy Smith/ZDNET

Samsung Captivate: "AT&T's model combines the thinness of the Captivate with lots of punch and high-end features to make this a very attractive phone."

To view this as a list and read more, see the article:
Leaderboard: The 12 best Android smartphones

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9 of 12 Andy Smith/ZDNET

HTC Aria: "The HTC Aria might be one of the best kept secrets of the Android world... It looks a lot like the EVO, but in a far smaller package."

To view this as a list and read more, see the article:
Leaderboard: The 12 best Android smartphones

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10 of 12 Andy Smith/ZDNET

LG Ally: "It has a great little hardware keyboard — the best hardware keyboard on an Android device next to the Epic 4G."

To view this as a list and read more, see the article:
Leaderboard: The 12 best Android smartphones

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11 of 12 Andy Smith/ZDNET

HTC Desire: "The Desire has nearly-identical hardware specs to the Nexus One and a very similar, high-quality outer shell that gives it an excellent build quality."

To view this as a list and read more, see the article:
Leaderboard: The 12 best Android smartphones

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12 of 12 Andy Smith/ZDNET

Motorola Droid Pro: "This device will definitely appeal to those users who cling to the idea that they want and need a hardware keyboard, especially BlackBerry converts."

To view this as a list and read more, see the article:
Leaderboard: The 12 best Android smartphones

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