2012 Holiday Gift Guide: The 10 Best Smartphones $300 and Under

Nokia Lumia 920

Carrier: AT&T
Price: $100 (w/two-year contract)
Though heavier and bulkier than the attractive Lumia 900 series, Nokia’s newest smartphone is by far the strongest and most high-tech of the WP8 batch. The manufacturer’s PureView camera does a phenomenal job taking low-lit shots and capturing clips, which all look amazing on the 4.5-inch IPS LCD display. Software additions in the form of Nokia Maps and Music are awesome additions to the platform, with the former offering offline and in-door mapping, while the latter provides access to over 17 million tracks right out the box. Nokia’s also tapped into the future of mobile vitality by integrating wireless charging into the device.

Samsung Galaxy S III

Carrier: AT&T and Sprint
Price: $200 (w/two-year contract)
The biggest selling Android phone of all time has carved a niche with its NFC-enabled features like tapping two devices together for multimedia sharing, while presenting strong CPU and 4G benchmarks. Call quality has improved on the third-gen model and supports dope touch-gesture features such as swipe call shortcuts and mute/ignore options. The enhanced 8MP camera also snaps detailed and crisp shots on both the pictorial and video end. With a Jelly Bean update in the cards, the shelf life on the GS III seems limitless at this point.