The 5 Best Smartphones for Students: Feel Smarter, Spend Less

Cell phones have become as much a part of the fabric of American culture as reality TV and fast food. What was once considered an adult luxury is now a required tool to navigate the rigors of everyday life. Most students have a smartphone, but if you don't you are going to want to look in to them before class starts back. You have the advantage of not being tied to a contract, so when you head to class you could very well have the smartest phone out of everyone. Here are my top 5 smart phones for students.

LG Optimus S at Sprint.com

If you are cash strapped like most students are, have no fear. When you sign a two year contract with Sprint, the LG Optimus S is free at Sprint.com. This entry level touch screen will do anything your friend's expensive iPhones will do, and it even comes in purple for all the ladies out there. The Optimus sports a 3.2MP camera, and runs on Android 2.2. While it isn't 4G capable, it will keep your bill from adding a 10$ surcharge for a service that isn't widely available, and Sprint Premiere Customers will be eligible for an upgrade in 12 months when the new LTE 4G network is widespread. Make sure to order this phone from Sprint.com to get the web special and avoid a 35$ setup charge.

Motorola Atrix 4G at AT&T

The Atrix 4G's list of features makes even the smartest smartphones feel stupid. Including a 5.0MP camera, Android 2.3 OS, and high performance 3D graphics, the Atrix came ready to play at $100 with a 2 year contract with AT&T. The feature that bumped an otherwise alright entry onto my top five is the phone's compatibility with Motorola's option Lapdock. When inserted into the Lapdock, the Atrix supplies its Dual Core processor and 1GB of RAM to a netbook shell that instantly turns your phone into a full sized laptop. Any student who is finishing a report on Egypt in the back of a car on the way to class will be grateful that the Tegra 2 chip the Atrix is sporting is top of the line.

Nokia 6790 at Straight Talk

You will pay a hefty $199.99 for the Nokia 6790 at your local Wal-Mart, or online at the Straight Talk store. It has a 2.0MP camera and supports 3G, but doesn't visibly stack up to its rivals on this list. The 6790's secret weapon is Straight Talk's 45$ per month unlimited talk, text and net plan. At less than half the price of comparable plans students will recoup their initial investment in four months. A year later, you will have saved approximately $800 considering surcharges and fees are included in the 45$. I don't know a student who doesn't want an unlimited plan and $800 cash. The 6790 also has a 4GB micro SD card included and a slide out QWERTY keyboard.

Motorola Droid 3 at Verizon

As the go to top of the line Android offering, the Droid 3 runs Android 2.3 on a 1 GHZ Snapdragon processor, boasts an 8.0MP rear facing camera capable of video in 1080P, and now a slide out QWERTY keyboard for all you text fiends. You can get yours now for $199.99 with a 2 year contract at Verizon, and score another Droid 3 free. Today's students can use this special as a bargaining chip to entice a parent into signing up on Verizon's family plan, and getting two sweet phones. The only drawback is the lack of 4G capability, but given the sparse reach of the LTE network you probably wouldn't benefit anyway.

Apple iPhone 4

The iPhone 4 is just more of what we loved about the iPhone 3. The iPhone runs iOS on a 1GHz A4 processor custom designed for high-performance and low-power consumption. Multitasking allows you to run multiple apps at the same time, which by the way comes from the most useful and extensive app store for any smartphone OS. FaceTime video calling makes video phone calls a reality, allowing anyone who has the FaceTime app to be your next potential video conversation. The iPhone 4's display and battery life are un paralleled, and you have the choice of multiple versions from either Verizon or AT&T. The 32GB version from Verizon will run you $300 with a 2 year contract. The 16GB version will cost 200$ from AT&T, which isn't bad for the most completely awesome smartphone from any company.