The 5 best phones for designers (that aren't the iPhone)

We're not going to lie: the iPhone has become the choice of many designers all over the world, thanks to its stylish looks, great build-quality and huge selection of apps (creative or not).

But, as we've found out, Apple's lean towards more and more skeuomorphism in iOS is putting many designers off. So what are the other options for designers needing a phone that meets their professional and personal needs? Here we look at the options, including the HTC One X, the BlackBerry Bold 9900, the Samsung Galaxy S3, the Galaxy Nexus, the Nokia Lumia 900 – even though the latter will not run the forthcoming Windows Phone 8.

How to choose

Of course, there are many factors when deciding what phone to buy – it comes down to design, UI, UX and of course things like battery life, screen resolution and how easy your daily tasks are to perform and how easily you can sync your media.

But do they sync with iTunes?!

There's some confusion regarding whether you can sync iTunes with Android, Windows 7 and BlackBerry devices – you can. An app called doubleTwist enables you to sync your non-DRM iTunes music to your Android device, whereas both Microsoft and RIM offer native Mac apps to do the same thing. With BlackBerry Desktop and Microsoft Windows Phone 7 Connector for Mac you can also sync photos, podcasts and videos.

So, taking into account user interface, media, camera and more, let's look at some of the best mobile options for designers that don't bear the Apple brand...

Read the Samsung Galaxy Nexus review

Read the Samsung Galaxy S3 review

Read the BlackBerry Bold 9900 review

Read the HTC One X review

Read the Nokia Lumia 900 review

We'd love to hear about the phone YOU use and what you think of it. Share your experiences and opinions in the comments!