The Palm Pre is finally available in the UK!

The Palm Pre is now, finally, available in the UK. But how does it stack up against its smartphone rivals, which are already on sale? Let's find out.

Samsung i8910 HD

First up, there's the Samsung i8910 HD, and it has one big advantage over the TG01. Whilst it has an 8 megapixel camera, the Samsung i8910 HD is also the first phone to record true 720p HD video. Never before has a phone been able to capture video at that massive high resolution, and coincidentally (or is it coincidence? Maybe not...), the Samsung i8910 HD captures high-def video at the exact quality that Youtube display high-def videos at. It's very possible that the Samsung i8910 HD was designed with its main feature being the ability to get yourself on Youtube, in high-definition. Combine that with the sumptuous 3.7 inch screen, and a huge 8Gb of internal memory, and it's very clear that the Samsung i8910 HD is the one to go for if you want the best camera phone.

HTC Hero

The first important fact about the HTC Hero, and the bit that has made it so talked about, is its operating system: Google Android. As it's only the second phone to officially go on sale using Android, the HTC Hero has garnered an awful lot of trade and consumer interest. Even more importantly, the HTC Hero is the first Android phone to feature a keyboard-less, touchscreen-only design, a thing that seems to be all the rage in 2009. It's certainly more of a looker than its predecessors, the G1 and the Magic (thanks to the beautiful new Sense interface), and that fusion of enhanced looks and the still-awesome power of Android makes the HTC Hero a very compelling phone indeed. If innovation is your thing, this is the phone for you.

Palm Pre

So, there's the HTC Hero, which impresses with its Android OS. And then, there's the Samsung i8910 HD, which wows you with its Symbian OS and its HD video recording. But for ease of use and sleekness, nothing can touch the Palm Pre. With its WebOS operating system, the Palm Pre is easily the most intuitive phone on the market. Not only that, but the integration between apps on the Palm Pre is like nothing ever seen before, making it feel like the phone is, at times, doing your thinking for you. There's never been a phone like the Palm Pre, and for that reason, it must surely be the phone of the year, so far. One word of advice, though: it IS going to sell out quickly, so if you want one, you'd better not hang about.