The good: The iPhone 4 offers enhanced performance, a lovely new display, and an improved design. It also adds a ton of sorely needed features, both by itself and through the iOS 4 update.

The bad: Multitasking entails some trade-offs, and home screen folders are limited to 12 apps. AT&T reception continues to be spotty, and you’ll need a case for the best calling reception. Also, we’d prefer a 64GB model.

The bottom line: With the iPhone 4, Apple again shows that it is a powerful player in the smartphone wars. It won’t be for everyone, the call quality and reception vary if you don’t use a case, and AT&T’s network remains a sticking point, but the handset’s striking design, loaded feature set, and generally agreeable performance make it the best iPhone yet.

The good: The RIM BlackBerry Torch 9850′s svelte design and sharp screen give it consumer-level appeal. Features like 720p HD video capture, world phone capabilities, and an enhanced operating system are welcome. Call quality is good as well.

The bad: The Torch 9850 suffers from the occasional sluggishness, and there are times when the touch screen isn’t as responsive as we would like.

The bottom line: The RIM BlackBerry Torch 9850 for Verizon Wireless is a laudable midrange smartphone, but it faces stiff competition.

In a nutshell: The Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro has everything that the original X10 Mini has, plus a slide-out physical keyboard. It’s an ultra-compact smartphone running Google’s Android OS, with a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, aGPS with Google Maps, a fast processor and support for 16GB of memory. Connectivity includes WiFi and HSPA. But the small screen size, poor battery life and old version of Android are a disappointment.

A strong contender for the mobile phone with the longest name ever, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro was released in the UK at the start of July 2010. We’ve really been looking forward to the release of the X10 Mini Pro, as we have a soft spot for phones with real keyboards. So, does the Pro deliver on its promise?

The good: The Motorola Droid Bionic has a nice slim and sleek design, with a 4.3-inch qHD display and the double whammy of a dual-core processor and Verizon 4G LTE support. Multimedia features are plentiful, and business users will be pleased with its enterprise abilities like the Webtop application and solid security. We were also pleased with its long battery life.