Looking for a smartphone? Here are your options

A smartphone is more than a mere necessity these days. This is true for almost everyone, irrespective of your status -- professional, employed, student, homemaker. Isn't it? So, as the race to own a smartphone gets charged up, so does the market.

Here we list some of the best smartphones available in India to suit everyone's budget.

iPhone 4S
Price: Rs 50,900 (32GB)

Recently launched in India, iPhone 4S is by far the most expensive phone available in the country. It is packed with a variety of new features, including Apple's dual-core A5 chip for fast performance and vivid graphics, an all-new camera with advanced optics, full 1080p HD resolution video recording and and Siri, an assistant that helps get things done just by asking. Siri understands context allowing the user to speak naturally when one asks questions.

Apart from that, it iPhone 4S is equipped with Notification Center to easily view and manage notifications in one place without interruption and iMessage, a new messaging service that can send text messages, photos and videos between all iOS 5 users.

iPhone 4S now supports twice the download speed with HSDPA of up to 14.4 Mbps and iPhone 4S is a world phone, so both CDMA and GSM customers can now roam internationally on GSM networks.

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iPhone 4/3G
Price: Rs 34,500 (16 GB)/ Rs 20,000 (8GB)

If you are an Apple fan, but can't afford the new 4S then you can always go for the iPhone 4 and 3G version. In fact iPhone 4 is not too different from 4S.

Apple iPhone 4 is available in market for Rs 34,500 (16 GB), and Rs 40,900 (32GB), while the iPhone 3GS (8GB) comes for Rs 20,000.

If you still want to same save some bucks, look for the refurbished version of iPhone online. Here, you can get a iPhone 4 (16 GB) just for Rs 22,000.

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Prada Phone by LG

Smartphones are now going the designer way. Fashion brand Prada has teamed up with LG to create the third device in the Prada Phone by LG range. The company expects to have the Prada Phone by LG 3.0 ready for an early 2012 launch.

The original Prada phone by LG arrived on the market in 2007 and proved to be a hit with brand-loving consumers.

The handset was the world's first touchscreen mobile phone and LG sold more than one million units around the globe. It also became a fashion icon in its own right, securing a permanent place in New York City's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Shanghai.

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HTC EVO 3D
Price: Rs 35,990 (approx)

HTC's latest incarnation, the Evo 3D sports the latest version of the Android operating system (v2.3.4). The visual interface, a la HTC Sense 3.0, is swift and fluid and thus makes navigation effortless. HTC has also included a ton of personalisation options from skins, and scenes to different types of lock screens.

In terms of specs, the Evo 3D is a quad-band phone with full 3G connectivity. Apart from Wi-Fi and there's Bluetooth 3.0 as well. Apart from this, HTC bundles along some extras as well like a media server, which lets you stream content from your phone to any other player that supports DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance).

In short, this gadget promises mobile multimedia experience with ultimate glasses-free 3D experience.

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BlackBerry Bold 9000
Price: Rs 35, 900

The sophisticated BlackBerry Bold 9000 offers total connectivity, a wonderful display and the best keyboard in the market.

The phone is equipped with a very sharp and bright 2.6" TFT display of 480x320 pixel resolution. The legibility is not at all compromised even in direct sunlight. Landscape orientation of the screen is very convenient while working.

Full four-row QWERTY keyboard is amazing. And, the unique shape of the keys make them very comfortable and enhance typing speed.

The BlackBerry Bold 9000 runs on the proprietary BlackBerry OS v4.6. The main menu has simple and clear icons.

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Motorola Razr
Price: Rs 33,990 (approx)

Motorola Razr is a super slim Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread smartphone with a massive 4.3 inch screen, dual-core 1.2 GHz processor and 8 megapixel camera. It comes with is a Super AMOLED display screen that offers vivid and better colour production.

The hardware horsepower enthusiasts are presented with a dual-core 1.2 GHz Texas Instrument OMAP 4460 mobile processor with PowerVR SGx540 graphics.

Motorola Razr xT910 supports up to 14.4 Mbps download speeds on 3G networks and features WiFi for faster wireless data connectivity.

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Samsung Galaxy S II
Price: Rs 28,500 (approx)

Samsung recently introduced its Samsung GALAXY S II (Model: GT-I9100), a thin (8.49mm) and lightweight (116g), dual-core smartphone.

Armed with a 4.3-inch screen with 480 x 800 Super AMOLED display, this slim smartphone is powered by a Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS.

The device also offers a beautiful yet highly responsive touchscreen and includes the TouchWiz 4.0 user interface.

The next generation smartphone includes access to Samsung's three new content and entertainment hubs, seamlessly integrated to provide instant access to games, e-reading and social networking services.

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Nokia Lumia smartphones
Price: Nokia Lumia 800 (approx Rs 29,000)/ Nokia Lumia 700 (approx Rs 19,000)

Finnish mobile handset manufacturer Nokia recently announced the launch of Nokia Lumia smartphones – Lumia 800 and Lumia 710 - based on Windows Phone in India. The devices will be made available in the country by mid-December.

The Nokia Lumia 800 is a high-end device that comes with 'Floating glass Display', 8 megapixel camera with dual LED flash, and has 16GB internal user memory and 512 MB programme memory.

The Lumia 710, on the other hand, has a 5MP camera with LED flash, 8GB storage capacity with 512 MB RAM, exchangeable back covers and is priced at $380 (about Rs 19,000) internationally.

Both the touchscreen devices run on Windows Phone 7.5 - Mango operating System.

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Sony Xperia
Price: Xperia Pro (Rs 23,000 approx)/ Xperia Neo (Rs 18,000 approx)

In October, Sony Ericsson announced its 'FingerTalk' campaign, by introducing two versions of its popular Xperia smart phone - Xperia neo V and Xperia pro.

The new Xperia Pro has a slide-out keyboard and a massive 3.7-inch Reality Display screen capable of pumping out a resolution of 854x400 at 265 pixels per inch with the Sony Mobile Bravia Engine.

Under the hood there's a 1 Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon humming. There's a VGA front facing camera as well as a 8-megapixel rear camera. You get 1 GB of memory and there's a micro SD slot that supports up to 32 GB of storage, an HDMI port and FM radio for music on the go.

While the Xperia Neo comes with a 5-megapixel shooter at the rear and a secondary VGA camera, 320MB of memory with Micro SD card that also supports up to 32 GB.

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HTC Wildfire S
Price: Rs 14,700

The Wildfire proved to be something of a hit with consumers, possibly because its size that made it a truly 'mobile' smartphone. Just as it has done with the Desire S, HTC is revisiting the Wildfire concept with a new device that attempts to improve on what has gone before.

HTC Mobiles Wildfire S is a Touch Bar phone weighing 105g. It.s dimensions are 101.3MM x 59.4MM x 12.4MM.

It has a display of 3.2 inches HVGA, TFT Capacitive Touchscreen, 256K Colors. This model comes with camera of 5.0 mega pixels with auto focus and LED Flash with digital zoom.

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Nokia C3
Price: Rs 8,700

The Nokia C3 looks at first glanced like a Nokia E72, but essentially it is a stripped down phone geared towards youngsters with a range of social networking applications at its heart.

The C3 comes with WiFi and Bluetooth. In addition to that it has a decent 2MP camera which is fine for taking web-destined pictures.

It also has a 3.5mm headphone slot for music listening on the top, a standard Nokia charger port, micro USB port and micro SDHC. The C3 has no support for 3G, but GPRS works fine with Opera Mini.