They say a phone isn’t just a fashion statement, but not until the next model comes out. So to get your money’s worth you need to pick a spanking new model that reflects your social status. So, what did we see from the holiday season?

From all the hype and typically slick and clever marketing from Apple you’d think the only new smartphone to come onto the market was the iPhone 5. But in actual fact there are several new handsets to choose from each offering a slew of goodies, improvements and general style and pizzazz. In fact, the Q3 of 2012 saw
Apple handsets actually falling to the third best selling models in the world, with Samsung sitting firmly at the top with close to 100 million sales, followed in second place by Nokia with 82 million. Apple on the other hand only managed a rather meagreness-by-comparison sale of 23 million handsets.

Sony and LG are also working their creative little hearts out with Sony rumored to be releasing a new handset at the start of 2013, alas not in time for the holidays.

So what are the top three handsets from 2012?

Samsung’s Galaxy series has really taken on the giant Apple in good stead in terms of design and style, there isn’t much distance in between these two heavy hitters. However, many people have come to prefer the Android operating system and tie-up with Google Maps of the Galaxy. The Galaxy S3 manages to pack a lot into its attractive and slimline casing. It has a 4.8” touchscreen 1.4GHz quad, yes quad, core processor, 8mp camera and running on Android Jelly Bean which is tipped to be a faster, more user-friendly OS than Ice Cream Sandwich.

The iPhone 5 screen is now bigger at 4” than its predecessor, although it’s still not quite up to Galaxy S3 spec. However, the new operating system iOS 6 is a decent improvement on the iPhone 4 and the 8mp camera is superb. And the obvious let down, however is Apple Maps – it really just can’t match Google Maps just yet.

And in third place, we pick the Nokia Lumia 920. Nokia was once the king of mobile phones, but its failure to offer more stylish, user-friendly smartphones has seen it loose significant market share. However the Lumia 920 is an attractive model and it comes packed with bonuses from the 8mp camera with Carl Zeiss Optics and PureView technology to the super long battery life of the 2000mAh battery – which really trashes Apple's iPhone 5. This phone is a proof that there is more to the smartphone market than Apple and Samsung.

Now, bear in mind that iPhone 5 and some other new smartphone models require smaller, nano-sized SIM cards. Giffgaff advises you to get a SIM card cutter from eBay or give it a go yourself by cutting your existing SIM down to size using a pair of scissors and giffgaff’s tutorial for guidance.

The Best Smartphones And nano SIM

They say a phone isn’t just a fashion statement, but not until the next model comes out. So to get your money’s worth you need to pick a spanking new model that reflects your social status. So, what did we see from the holiday season?

From all the hype and typically slick and clever marketing from Apple you’d think the only new smartphone to come onto the market was the iPhone 5. But in actual fact there are several new handsets to choose from each offering a slew of goodies, improvements and general style and pizzazz. In fact, the Q3 of 2012 saw
Apple handsets actually falling to the third best selling models in the world, with Samsung sitting firmly at the top with close to 100 million sales, followed in second place by Nokia with 82 million. Apple on the other hand only managed a rather meagreness-by-comparison sale of 23 million handsets.

Sony and LG are also working their creative little hearts out with Sony rumored to be releasing a new handset at the start of 2013, alas not in time for the holidays.

So what are the top three handsets from 2012?

Samsung’s Galaxy series has really taken on the giant Apple in good stead in terms of design and style, there isn’t much distance in between these two heavy hitters. However, many people have come to prefer the Android operating system and tie-up with Google Maps of the Galaxy. The Galaxy S3 manages to pack a lot into its attractive and slimline casing. It has a 4.8” touchscreen 1.4GHz quad, yes quad, core processor, 8mp camera and running on Android Jelly Bean which is tipped to be a faster, more user-friendly OS than Ice Cream Sandwich.

The iPhone 5 screen is now bigger at 4” than its predecessor, although it’s still not quite up to Galaxy S3 spec. However, the new operating system iOS 6 is a decent improvement on the iPhone 4 and the 8mp camera is superb. And the obvious let down, however is Apple Maps – it really just can’t match Google Maps just yet.

And in third place, we pick the Nokia Lumia 920. Nokia was once the king of mobile phones, but its failure to offer more stylish, user-friendly smartphones has seen it loose significant market share. However the Lumia 920 is an attractive model and it comes packed with bonuses from the 8mp camera with Carl Zeiss Optics and PureView technology to the super long battery life of the 2000mAh battery – which really trashes Apple's iPhone 5. This phone is a proof that there is more to the smartphone market than Apple and Samsung.

Now, bear in mind that iPhone 5 and some other new smartphone models require smaller, nano-sized SIM cards. Giffgaff advises you to get a SIM card cutter from eBay or give it a go yourself by cutting your existing SIM down to size using a pair of scissors and giffgaff’s tutorial for guidance.