The 10 Best Touch-Screen Phones

With big, beautiful screens and top-notch touch-based interfaces, these phones will make you forget physical keyboards ever existed.

It was touch-and-go for a time, but the touch-screen interface has finally become mainstream. In the past, it was relatively tough to round up 10 good touch screen products. These days, high-quality touch-screen-based interfaces have made their way into PCs, tablets, phones, PMPs, digital cameras, and a host of other devices.

The introduction of the original iPhone back in 2007 sparked a touch-screen revolution in the smartphone space. With its gorgeous 3.5-inch Multi-Touch screen with support for pinch and zoom, well-designed, finger-friendly interface, and top-notch mobile Web experience, the iPhone served as a prime example of the potential of the keyboard-free phone.

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After that, every major manufacturer took its own stab at the touch-screen smartphone. Some succeeded, and some, well, not so much. RIM's first touch-screen handset, the BlackBerry Storm, for example, was panned in our original review for a buggy, imprecise touch interface that was difficult to use. It took a major firmware upgrade six months later for us to recommend the Storm. And since then, we've seen plenty of hard-to-use touch-screen phones that left us begging for physical keyboards and controls.

Three years later, though, there's no shortage of innovative, easy-to-use touch-screen smartphones. In fact, each of the major U.S. carriers offers a number of handsets that ace the touch-screen interface. This list contains the best touch-screen-only phones. If you're looking for phone with a touch screen and a supplemental hardware keyboard, you won't find it here. But if you're willing to say farewell to the physical keyboard for good, look no further than our 10 favorite touch-screen phones.

Touch-Screen Phones Included in this Roundup (by Carrier)

AT&T

iPhone 4

Apple's iPhone 4 adds a gorgeous screen, a terrific camera, and a faster processor to add to the already-awesome iPhone app experience, but voice calling still isn't this phone's priority.

iPhone 3GS Even though the 3GS now has a faster, shinier big brother, this affordable iPhone is still a terrific handheld computing and Web device. And it provides the same access to thousands of apps for half the price of the iPhone 4.

Samsung Captive With a fast processor, bright screen, great social-networking hooks, and even options for syncing with PCs, the Captivate is the best smartphone for AT&T users who find Apple's attraction to be fruitless.

SPRINT

HTC EVO 4G

If you live online, the EVO offers a big, beautiful, and powerful window to the world. The first WiMAX phone in the U.S. is a terrific platform for streaming media and Web browsing, and it gets your laptop online with Sprint's 4G network.

Samsung Instinct HD The Samsung Instinct HD is the first truly high-def video phone in the U.S.; it has a novel feature set and can record and display HD video (at least on an external screen), but that privilege doesn't come without issue.

T-MOBILE

Samsung Vibrant The Samsung Vibrant is T-Mobile's super-phone, and it delivers a lot of power on some really inexpensive monthly plans.

Samsung Highlight SGH-t749 With a responsive touch-screen and easy-to-use TouchWiz UI, the entry-level Samsung Highlight is a good choice for T-Mobile subscribers looking for a touch- screen handset that's easy to use.

VERIZON WIRELESS

Driod Incredible by HTC Lots of power, a great-looking screen, and gorgeous interface additions, mean the Droid Incredible easily lives up to its name.

Samsung Fascinate Sized in between the Motorola Droid X and HTC Droid Incredible, the Samsung Fascinate will feel just right for many Verizon smartphone shoppers.

Motorola Droid X Motorola Droid X takes the crown for the most powerful Android smartphone away from the HTC Droid Incredible. The huge 4.3-inch, 854-by-480 screen makes maneuvering the phone's excellent interface with your finger a breeze.

Mozilla Seabird 2D

Sony announces "Internet TV" HDTVs, Blu-ray player with Google TV

On Tuesday night, Sony took the wraps off its "Internet TV" line of products which integrate Google TV software. The good news, at least for those considering an HDTV with integrated Google TV, is that the pricing is much lower than previously rumored. However, the set-top box with integrated Blu-ray player is still a little on the pricey side.

Sony is launching four new Internet TV HDTV models later this month, including 24", 32", 40", and 46" sizes and all with 1080p native resolution. All the models feature integrated WiFi, four HDMI ports (no mention of component or composite input), four USB ports, an unspecified Intel processor, and an RF QWERTY keyboard remote that first appeared on an episode of ABC's NightLine last week. All the models also feature LED edge backlighting except for the 24", which gets old-school CCFL backlighting.

Pricing for the models is just slightly higher than the going rates for similar 1080p HDTVs, starting at $599.99 for the 24" model. The 32", 40", and 46" models will retail for $799.99, $999.99, and $1399.99 respectively.

Sony is also launching an Internet TV Blu-ray player for those who already have an HDTV and don't already have another Blu-ray player or PS3. The device includes all the features of Sony's integrated Internet TVs in a standalone device for $399.99. While the addition of a Blu-ray player is nice for those that don't already have one, we still wonder how well these early set-top boxes will be able to compete with less expensive devices from Apple, Roku, Boxee, and others.

All the products are available to pre-order now direct from Sony Style or Best Buy. Sony said the products will be in Sony Style store shelves on October 16 and at Best Buy stores "shortly after."