As we are beginning to wind down the year, we start to look back at all the great and not so great phones manufacturers and carriers launched this year. In 2012, hundreds of Android phones launched all around the world. We’ve gone through and found the Top 10 worst phones of the year, some of these you may not have heard of, some you might have, and you may even own (or owned) one of two of these. Last year the HTC Thunderbolt took the top spot on our list of worst android phones 2011.So let’s get started with number ten and see who will be the worst this year!
10. HTC One V
When Peter Chou took the stage at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this past February, he introduced the world to the One Series from HTC. It was supposed to end the multiple names for the same device. But that didn’t last long. Chou introduced the high-end One X, the mid-range One S, and the budget model One V. The HTC One V was actually kind of ugly in my opinion, but that’s not why it’s on this list. The spec’s and lack of updates are the reason.
Spec’s:
- 3.7 Super LCD2 Display
- 512MB of RAM
- 4GB internal storage; Expandable to 32GB
- 1GHz single-Core Snapdragon processor
9. Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G
The Samsung Galaxy Victory was released on Sprint in September, and yes it’s a LTE device. It made this list because it’s simply another sub-par device from Samsung. The Galaxy Victory 4G was released by Sprint and Samsung to be a mid-range LTE device, on Sprint’s very small LTE network (currently only available in a handful of cities). But the horrible spec’s speak for themselves as you can see below. It will probably never see anything past Android 4.0.4 unfortunately for those that picked this one up.
Spec’s:
- 4.0″ TFT 800×480 resolution
- Dual-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon processor
- 1GB of RAM
- 4GB of internal storage; Expandable to 32GB
8. LG Lucid
The LG Lucid is one of many LG devices on this list. It was released on Verizon back in April, and it took six more months to get Ice Cream Sandwich. After ICS was already out for 6 months before the Lucid was available to customers. The LG Lucid had it’s fair share of problems as well as many phones on this list including WiFi problems. Which being on Verizon, that was a huge problem for most people, due to tiered data.
Spec’s:
- 4.0″ IPS LCD display
- dual-core 1.2GHz procesor
- 1GB of RAM
- 8GB of internal storage; Expandable to 32GB
7. Samsung Galaxy Stellar
Here we have yet another Verizon device, the Samsung Galaxy Stellar (a.k.a. Samsung Jasper) was released in August, with some unusual physical buttons. It came with a back, home, recents, and menu capacitive buttons. Samsung had time to add a recent and menu button but no on-screen buttons? That’s pretty puzzling isn’t it. Need more reasons why the Galaxy Stellar is one of the worst phones this year? Check out these specs below.
Spec’s:
- 4.0″ TFT Display
- dual-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon
- 1GB of RAM
- 4GB internal storage; Expandable to 32GB
6. T-Mobile myTouch Q 2
First of all, what’s up with the name? It’s just so confusing, and T-Mobile needs a new name then “myTouch”, there’s how many of those phones? But here we have an Huawei entry, released in August the myTouch Q 2 was the successor to the not so popular myTouch Q from last year. But launching a phone in August of 2012 with Gingerbread is just unacceptable, that is the main reason why this device is on our list this year. When the myTouch Q 2 launched it was already two versions of Android behind and now it’s about to be 3 versions behind.
Spec’s:
- 4.0″ capactive touchscreen
- Full QWERTY keyboard
- 1.4GHz Snapdragon processor
- 1GB of RAM
- 4GB of internal storage; Expandable to 32GB
5. LG Viper 4G LTE
Sprint’s first 4G LTE device. At CES last January, Sprint announced they would have the first markets of their LTE network up and running by June/July. They also announced a handful of LTE devices, and the first to be available was the LG Viper. So here you have a mediocre LG device with LTE connectivity, but no LTE for most of it’s life cycle. Big mistake LG and Sprint on this one. About 4 LTE devices later and Sprint still doesn’t LTE in more than a handful of cities. This should have been a tri-network device (3G, WiMax, and LTE). Then there’s the software. Launched on Gingerbread, and just got Ice Cream Sandwich about a week ago.
Spec’s:
- 4.0″ TFT display
- dual-core 1.2GHz processor
- 1GB of RAM
- 4GB internal storage; Expandable to 32GB
4. Motorola DROID 4
Here we are with the fourth generation of the DROID 4. I was a proud owner of the original Motorola DROID and it was a great device. But the DROID 4 was just such a disappointment. We first saw it at CES in January and it seemed like such a great device, until the DROID RAZR MAXX was unveiled. Then the DROID 4 took a back seat, taking about 8 months to get upgraded to Ice Cream Sandwich, that’s a no no Verizon and Motorola. The DROID was and still is one of the only full QWERTY keyboard devices on Verizon.
Spec’s:
- 4.0 TFT Display
- Full QWERTY keyboard
- Dual-core 1.2GHz TI OMAP 4430
- 1GB of RAM
- 16GB internal storage; Expandable to 32GB
3. HTC DROID Incredible 4G LTE
Quick question, what’s the difference between the DROID Incredible 4G LTE, and the DROID Incredible 2? Answer is simple, 4G LTE. That’s it. And that is the reason why this device is on our worst Android phones list. Seemed like HTC and Verizon needed to relaunch the Incredible 2 with 4G LTE radios inside. How smart was that? Surprisingly it launched with Android 4.0, but we have no idea when or if it’ll get anything higher than Ice Cream Sandwich.
Spec’s:
- 4.0″ SLCD display
- dual-core 1.2GHz processor
- 1GB of RAM
- 8GB internal storage; Expandable to 32GB
2. Kyocera Rise
For the second year in a row, Kyocero has made it to the number two spot on our list. And coincidentally both devices have been Sprint devices. The Kyocera Rise was just a mess from start to end. But the biggest surprise was it launched with Android 4.0 – Ice Cream Sandwich on board in August. But of course it didn’t do well. Even with Sprint marketing the hell out of this device. The Kyocera Rise finally left Sprint and became available on one of their pre-paid carriers, Virgin Mobile. Why did it do so poorly? Spec’s don’t lie…
Spec’s:
- 3.5″ IPS LCD Display
- Single-core 1GHz processor
- 512MB of RAM
- 2GB internal storage; Expandable to 32GB
Let’s have a drum roll for our number one worst Android phone of the year!
1. LG Intuition
Who remembers the LG Optimus Vu? Yeah that phone/tablet hybrid that was a 4:3 aspect ratio, and just very weird to even hold. It finally made it to the US on Verizon Wireless in September. This phone was built to compete against the Galaxy Note, and now the Galaxy Note 2. But it didn’t do too well with that.
Spec’s:
- 5.0″ HD-IPS LCD Display
- dual-core 1.5GHz
- 1GB of RAM
- 32GB of internal storage; No SD Card slot
Final Thoughts
There you have it. Our Top 10 Worst Android phones of the year. Sure there are many more that should be on the list, but it would just be to long. And the irony. Three of these worst devices are made by LG, the same manufacturer who has built this year’s Nexus device. Does anyone see the irony in that?
If we missed any that should be on here be sure to let us know in the comments and your thoughts as well.