Mobile World Conference 2011: Best phones of the year

The Mobile World Congress 2011 showcased the best and worst smartphones. Here are my top choices!

The Mobile World Congress (MWC) is all set to conclude and while not many new devices were brought to the market those released were fabulous.

Here are my favourites from the biggest mobile conference of the year.

Top brand: LG

The Viewty LG failed to deliver a product that has been able to cement a place in the high-end smartphone market. They have had considerable success with Windows Phone 7 devices but are still lagging behind the competition.

Losses in the fourth quarter of 2010 made LG rethink their strategy and they came to MWC with the strongest line-up and left their competition speechless. Even the most basic of LG's Optimus line has specs which only a few other devices can compete with.

All their phones have dual core processors and super bright IPS line. LG has also bought innovation in the form of the LG Optimus 3D which is the first smartphone with a 3D display and 3D camera. All the phones also bring 1080p video recording. LG has also brought an equally strong competitor to the tablet market. The LG G-Slate is an 8.9" tablet with a 3D capable display, 3D camera, dual core processor and 1080p recording.

With these devices LG has no doubt conquered the MWC. The biggest advantage LG has is two of their handsets are already available and are currently the only dual-core phones on the market.

Best stall: Google

Coming in to MWC, Google knew that some good Android devices were coming out but also that all the hype was about Nokia and Windows Phone 7. To counter this, Google made a stall that would make people forget the competition. The Google stall had a large conveyor belt showcasing the 200 plus licensed Android products that have been produced ever since the launch of the operating system (OS).

Best budget device: Huawei Ideos S7

There have been some great tablets announced at this year’s MWC but they all have one problem: they are all above the $600 price tag. The Huawei Ideos S7, however is for $300 only.

Huawei’s tablet ships with a seven inch screen, dual core processor and in many ways is indistinguishable from the top tablets. It actually goes one step ahead of the Tab 2, Xoom and G-slate with a 1.2 Ghz Dual Core Processor. The device will bring tablets to a much larger market and help strengthen the Android Tablet ecosystem.

Best tablet: HTC Flyer

The HTC had one of the poorest showings with a phone line-up that did not bring any major improvements. But in the tablet department, HTC blew its competition away. HTC adopted the seven inch form factor made famous by the Galaxy Tab. The Flyer is crafted out of one piece of aluminum. It’s equally impressive on the inside with 32 GB built-in and a 1.5 Ghz processor. The only downside is it will ship with Gingerbread rather than Honeycomb but HTC is confident their Sense UI will make up for the lack of Honeycomb. The Flyer, unlike the other tablets, also supports the use of a stylus which will be highly useful for note-taking and drawing.

Hottest handset: LG Optimus 3D

LG has never lacked innovation as far as new features in phones are concerned. While most of the high-end phones at MWC were virtually indistinguishable in terms of hardware, LG bought a unique innovation: 3D technology. The LG Optimus 3D has a glasses-free 3D display and 3D camera which make it stand out from the competition. The phone comes bundled with a YouTube app that provides access to 3D content.

The LG Optimus 3D has given LG an edge over its competition and is just the device LG needed to get back into the market. What makes this phone the best is that apart from making only improvements to the hardware they have added 3D technology. Other brands devices announced lacked similar innovation.

The biggest announcement of the MWC was no doubt the Nokia and Microsoft partnership. Made a few days before the conference, the real details came out once the conference was underway and overshadowed many other major announcements at the conference.