Over the past years mobile phone manufacturers as well as mobile telephony service providers have discussed a lot about the third generation or in short 3G services and mobile terminals. 3G is actually a cell phone network protocol.

3G technology is designed for the multimedia cell phone, also called smartphone, and delivers increased bandwidth and transfer rates to accommodate Web based applications and phone based video and audio files.

At a glance the 3G network lets you browse through Web pages, watch on-demand video programming, listen to streaming music video, download and play 3D games, and videoconference with your chatterers, but of course only on 3G cell phones and paying the service provider for the 3G service. The speed for Internet access was increased from 144Kbps to 2.4Mbps which is comes close to a cable-modem speed. Also the 3.5G standard called HSDPA increases speed to 7.2 Mbps, with expectations to reach 14.4 Mbps speeds in the future. Also the networks must be able to deliver wireless data at 144 kbps at mobile user speeds.



The three most common cellular access technologies comprised in 3G are:

CDMA2000 - based on 2G Code Division Multiple Access

WCDMA (UMTS) - Wideband Code Division Multiple Access

TD-SCDMA - Time-division Synchronous Code-division Multiple Access



Taking these access technologies into consideration it is not unusual that all manufacturers use them when releasing 3G cell phones on the market.

Below we have the top 5 3G cell phones, including brief review and 3G specifications, as rated by users:

The iPhone 3GS

The iPhone 3GS is faster and has longer battery life than its older version. The inside architecture has been improved and make it a reliable phone. The average price is 299 USD.
UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz)
GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
Wi-Fi (802.11b/g)
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR wireless technology

HTC Nexus One by Google

The phone is produced by HTC and is optimized for web browsing. The phone features a gorgeous AMOLED display. You can purchase Nexus One for 529 USD.

HSDPA/WCDMA:
900/AWS/2100 MHz
Up to 2 Mbps up-link and 7.2 Mbps down-link speeds
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE:
850/900/1800/1900 MHz

Motorola Droid

Motorola brings a fast, reliable phone on the market which features a nice touch screen and a sliding keyboard. Price range for the Motorola Droid: 199 USD to 599 USD.
CDMA, EDGE, EVDO,
GPRS, GSM, HSDPA (3G),
HSUPA
Service: 850, 900, 1800, 1900, 2100

RIM BlackBerry Bold 9700

This phone is a great messaging smartphone, and although the web browser needs optimization, remains a powerful device. The price is around 129 USD.
3G (HSDPA) compatible
UMTS: 2100/1900/850/800 MHz (Bands 1,2,5/6), 2100/1700/900 MHz (Bands 1,4,8)
GSM: 1900/1800/900/850 MHz
Quad-band support: GSM 850; GSM

Samsung Instinct HD

This mobile phone has an elegant design and features a bright display that makes multimedia content more enjoyable. The average price is 249 USD.
Phone Network CDMA,
EVDO Service 850, 1900