With Christmas just a couple of weeks away time is quickly running out to get all your shopping done. Personally I leave it until Christmas Eve, but so it seems does almost everyone else, as the shops are always bursting with frantic customers desperately fighting over the last Power Ranger (or whatever) toy for their kid. This is where ordering online can be a good idea but this still raises the problem of items not arriving on time so if that is your avenue then it’s a good idea to get ordering early to be sure that everything is ready in time to be placed under the tree.

Anyway, for anyone thinking of getting someone a new phone this Christmas I have decided to try and help by giving a rundown on some of the best touchscreen phones on the market at the moment. Some of these are newly released but some have been around for a while, but either way they are all virtually guaranteed to put a smile on someone’s face this Christmas.

HTC HD2

Following on from the success of the highly popular HTC Hero, Taiwanese phone maker HTC has gone one better with their latest phone the HD2. While at one point in the not too distant past the little island of Formosa had a reputation for producing shoddy merchandise, the likes of the HTC HD2 should certainly put those accusations to rest. This Windows Mobile handset boasts a staggering 4.3″ high quality touchscreen and superfast 1GHz Snapdragon processor that sets it apart from its heroic predecessor as one of the fastest and cinematic touchscreen phones on the market today.

Nokia N97 Mini

Earlier this year saw the release of the N97 from Nokia, and then some months later the Finnish company decided, for some reason, to produce a slightly smaller version: the N97 Mini. Whatever their exact reasoning was we are most certainly grateful. If you have considered buying the N97 then the N97 Mini is well worth your consideration, with all the same appeal and functionality but with a much more ergonomic feel to it. The QWERTY keypad of the N97 Mini is ideal for whacking out long messages or emails and makes this an ideal touchscreen for the more professionally oriented phone owner.

Sony Ericsson Satio

For all the photography enthusiasts out there the phone of choice has to be the Satio from Sony Ericsson. This phone boasts an impressive 12 megapixel camera with a wealth of features including geo-tagging, smile detection, touch focus and the highest quality xenon flash. Although this is its main selling point there is more to the Satio than its camera however, with a wealth of other entertainment features and a very pristine 3.5″ TFT display.

LG BL40 Chocolate

There are two new Chocolate phones from LG making their way onto the shelves this season, but the one that stands out this Christmas is the BL40 for its unique entertainment features. This handset is for the movie lovers and all those phone owners who love watching videos on their phones, as the BL40 is the only handset to boast a 21:9 widescreen screen resolution. This means that all those widescreen films you have amassed over the last few years will now be displayed in all their glory on your very own phone. No more black bars and eye squinting for owners of the BL40. While having one of the highest quality displays to be found on a phone today the Chocolate does not fall short in other areas either, with high speed HSDPA connectivity and a very nice 5 megapixel camera into the bargain.

Apple iPhone 3GS 32GB

Although the original iPhone was released a few years ago now, the Apple handset is still one of the most popular touchscreen phones doing the rounds. New iterations have seen an improvement on the original however, with the latest version having much more memory and a far speedier interface. All this while still retaining all the features that have made the Apple phone so popular, including the exceptional media player, first class web browsing experience and of course that famous app store that has a downloadable application for just about every endeavour you could wish to perform on your phone, and lots of useless (but quite amusing) ones also.

LG GD510 POP

Falling into the more affordable range of touchscreens the LG Pop follows in the footsteps of the highly successful LG Cookie and Samsung Tocco Lite. These phones were designed to bring the touchscreen craze to a wider audience by placing the technological revolution into more affordable handsets, but neither company were quite prepared for just how popular they would become. These two phones have been some of the best selling handsets for their respective manufacturers and two of the most popular phones released in the last few years. The LG Pop follows on where the Cookie left off, providing all of the fun of a touch screen phone without any of the extra baggage that makes them cost the earth.

So here are some ideas for you to consider if you were thinking of purchasing a certain someone a new phone for xmas. There are many other great phones being released at this time and in the coming year, but there are too many to mention them all by name. For now however, these should provide some ideas for presents if you are struggling to think what to get for little cousin Timmy, or even if you just felt like treating yourself this festive season.

A lot of you who visit our website regularly, in addition to the people at Nokia Conversations, were quite skeptical of the 2 rounds of unofficial leaks with regard to the Mini and were wondering whether these pictures were actually true. A live preview of the phone, which was released in August, as well as an official announcement at the Nokia World 2009 in September, put all these rumours to rest. The Mini is a slightly pared down version of the flagship phone of Nokia, the Nokia N97. The Nokia N97 Mini Reviews have been extremely positive, so let’s see for ourselves whether the hype generated over the phone is actually worth it!

In keeping with the Mini tag, the phone has only 8 GB of internal memory, as opposed to the 32 GB internal memory which came with the N97. The D-pad has also gone AWOL in the Mini, resulting in a reduction in the size of the screen and the phone itself, including the keyboard. The keyboard has become too small to an extent where people with slightly big fingers might find it difficult to type on the keyboard. The camera module is also the same sans the lens cover, exposing it to dust and scratches.

However, on the brighter side, the phone has a metallic battery cover rather than the plastic one which came with the N97. The build is also more solid. Kinetic scrolling is also present, which is a real treat.

However, the biggest grouse people have with the phone is its pricing, which is just 100 euro less than that of the N97. In our opinion, this is justified as you can’t possibly sell the smaller brother of a flagship with a price difference of more than 100 euro, can you?

The phone is set to be released in October with a price of 300 euro (£275) before subsidies and taxes, so watch out for it and also all the great Nokia N97 Mini deals that will come on offer during that time.

The original N97 is an odd thing, full of contradictions and strife. On the one hand, it’s a clumsy, unwieldy, clunky, basically obese phone that was given a lukewarm reception by many in the industry on its release. On the other hand, it’s a top-drawer smartphone that blows most of its competitors out of the water and shifted two million units in a little under three months, almost single-handedly (or double-handedly, along with the even more impressive 5800) keeping Nokia’s quarterly finances just mildly shocking, when by all rights they should have been utterly shocking.

We think this is due to one of two things. Firstly, it might be that the so-called industry are just a bunch of cynical old gits who like to pan everything as soon as it’s released, regardless of how good it actually is. Or, it might be because while the N97 was flawed in many ways, the public still recognised it’s greatness and wanted a piece of its (high in saturated fat) pie. And recognising that both of these are probably true, we can’t help but feel the Nokia N97 Mini is going to sell like little low fat, low-GI, high fibre, free range, wheat grass infused hot cakes. Because it is literally exactly the same phone, just in a physical package that actually feels not only good, but right. And feeling right is one of the hardest things a phone can achieve, but boy does this little thing do it.

And yes, yes, we know the mini Nokia N97 is not exactly exactly the same, but all the changes (that you’ll find in this Nokia N97 mini review) are so minor that we can’t even be arsed talking about them. All you’ve got to realise is that if you’ve been tempted by all you’ve read or heard about the N97, only to then find yourself wondering why someone has placed a small car in your hand when you’ve gone along to test one out, then the mini is just what you need. It’s as simple as that. And, simple as it is, this is why we think people are going to be flocking mini-wards faster than you can say get your Nokia N97 Mini deals here.