But you may also have noticed that typing words on a phone's numeric keypad can be frustrating. Enter QWERTY phones (known as such because their Q-W-E-R-T-Y letter layout mimics a computer keyboard's). They're a much more intuitive option.

The Good Housekeeping Research Institute's engineers and a consumer panel compared 11 new QWERTY phones under $300 (suggested retail price with a two-year service contract and standard rebates) and the iPhone ($399, but included in the test due to its popularity). They evaluated the phones for simplicity of text-messaging, text delivery speed, battery life, as well as ease of placing calls and voice quality. Here are the winners, by cell phone service provider:

The Good Housekeeping Research Institute's overall favorite phone, The Voyager by LG ($300), has a unique exterior touch screen and a large internal button keyboard that put it ahead of the rest. The Voyager also offers many useful features, including automatic word completion, camera, camcorder, Bluetooth, text-to-speech translation, e-mail, instant messaging, Web browsing, music player, picture messaging and GPS navigation.

The BlackBerry Curve from T-Mobile ($250) had the fastest send and receive times in Good Housekeeping's tests. It also had excellent battery life, and the readability of the screen in light and dark settings was also quite good. But while testers found typing to be pretty easy, some complained that the keyboard buttons were small. Additional features include camera, Bluetooth, e-mail, instant messaging, Web browsing, music player and picture messaging.

Only two QWERTY-keyboard phones from Sprint made the Good Housekeeping Research Institute test's price cut. While the LG Rumor ($100) prevailed, it was the lowest-scoring winner of the four major providers because of a small screen and time lags in sending and receiving texts.

The design, however, is highly intuitive; the Rumor and the iPhone were the only phones tested where consumer panelists didn't need the manual to figure out how to send a text message. Features include automatic word completion, built-in common phrases and smiley faces for texting, camera, camcorder, Bluetooth, e-mail, instant messaging, Web browsing, music player and picture messaging.

The Moto Q 9h Global ($200) came in second overall, and beat Apple's iPhone for ease of texting. Moto Q's large, easy-to-read screen got raves, and the phone also earned top marks on voice quality during calls. However, some testers complained that the Moto Q's bulky width made holding it to the ear less comfortable.

The phone's features include: automatic word completion and built-in common phrases for texting, camera, camcorder, Bluetooth, e-mail, instant messaging, Web browsing, music player, picture messaging and GPS navigation.