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OK, I have had be fortunate enough to have spent the last week carrying all three devices around almost everywhere I’ve gone. I have been alternating what is carried in my pocket with the other 2 in my man purse. Yes, it’s that Pharos GPS man purse I’ve loved toting around for years.

So… If I had to choose between the 3 phones to be my daily driver for 6+ months minimum, which would it be? The answer might surprise you. Read on…

3 months ago, the HD2 would have been the device with the edge. It would have been the device to beat, but now it’s the one that has to prove it’s worth to me. The iPhone 3Gs is the device to beat. Both the HD2 and the Motorola Droid have to impress to knock the iPhone 3GS out. Last week, I shared my thoughts about Android vs Windows Mobile, but this time it’s about individual devices.

The contenders:

• Apple iPhone 3GS – This is the super peppy, 3G phone that has recently made it’s way into the daily driver spot. The iPhone 3GS turned me from a moderate mobile data user into a super heavy mobile data user. The amount of great applications out there is obscene. The limitations that Apple has placed on the device (tethering, multitasking, theming, etc) have been easily removed with the Blackra1n jailbreaking. The only real problems with the iPhone 3GS to me is onscreen keyboard. It’s easily the best onscreen keyboard out there, but it’s just not the same as a nice slider.
• The Motorola Droid, from Verizon – This is the new kid on the block. This one comes to the arena with Android 2.0 and an obscene amount of marketing hype. When I say obscene, I mean OBSCENE. There is no way the device can ever live up to the hype created around it. Unlike the Palm Pre, I think it will sell still. Family members using StarTac like cells are asking me about the Droid. Marketing is working as intended.
• The HTC HD2 – Where to start… Well, the 1GHZ Processor, the 4.3” capacitive screen… what else is there. This one is powered by Windows Mobile 6.5, but made into a contender by HTC with their Sense UI. This is currently the holy grail of Windows Mobile devices. A slate phone that is superfast, super sexy, and super thin.

The Arena

My backyard. Seriously though. I’ve used these in day to day situations. A typical day is about 30 minutes of twitter time on the phone. 30 minutes of browser time. 1 Hour in Outlook (or an equivalent) or more. 1-2 hours of talk time and 1-2 hours of play time. Play time is messing with themes, playing games, listening to music, etc. I am going to take the Cnet Prizefights rounds for my own here.

Round 1: Sexiness

This one is tough really. The iPhone 3GS has the same old style from 2007, but it’s still quite sexy today. The HD2 is massive, but the sexy 4.3” screen makes that necessary. The HD2 is ultra thin, but the camera on the back makes it a little less sleek. The Droid is a slider that is thinner than many non-slider phones. The keyboard on the Droid is nice, but that Dpad screws it up and prevent perfection.
iPhone 3GS – 4.5 | HTC HD2 – 4.7 | Motorola Droid 4.5

Round 2: Navigation

We’re looking at the phone and not the OS. That said, the HD2 is not crippled by WIndows Mobile. HTC’s Sense UI (previously TouchFlo 3D) makes the HD2 much better. The Droid is pumped up with Android 2.0, but it lacks appeal to me. Sense UI on the HTC Hero makes Android less boring, but the Droid doesn’t have this. Windows Mobile and Android are very similar in many ways to me and both lose a lot in navigation to the iPhone 3GS. They are all 3 quite easy to navigate around in for people like me and most of you, but the iPhone is the only one so simple and effective that my son (7 years old) can get around and do anything he wants to do.
iPhone 3GS – 4.9 | HTC HD2 – 4.6 | Motorola Droid 4.0

Round 3: Features

All the features are pretty much present with each of the devices. The Droid gets some bonus points for something external to Motorola. That’s the Google Navigation. It’s simply awesome and this alone would win me over to the Droid if I were already a Verizon customer. Verizon’s 3G in my area is better than AT&T’s too. The feature that sets the HD2 aside from the others is it’s massive 4.3” screen and 1ghz processor, but that’s not really enough to win the round. The iPhone 3GS has the huge software and hardware accessory infrastructure that is unparallel in the industry. This alone makes the iPhone 3GS a pretty solid pick. The fact that you can jailbreak the iPhone easily makes the limitations put on the iPhone disappear too.
iPhone 3GS – 4.5 | HTC HD2 – 4.5 | Motorola Droid 4.7

Round 4: Web browsing and multimedia

iPhone, iPhone, iPhone, and more iPhone. The browsing on the Droid and HD2 are great, but nothing compared to the iPhone. Multimedia on the other hand is much closer. The video playback on the Droid is phenomenal. The audio skin in Sense UI that emulates Apple’s coverflow is solid on the HD2. Sound is pretty much the same across all three.
iPhone 3GS – 4.8 | HTC HD2 – 4.2 | Motorola Droid 4.5

Round 5: Call quality

I never really cared for this category in Cnet’s prizefights, but whatever… let’s do it anyhow.
iPhone 3GS – 4.0 | HTC HD2 – 4.5 | Motorola Droid 5.0

The Winner
By a slim margin, the iPhone 3GS.
iPhone 3GS – 4.54 | HTC HD2 – 4.5 | Motorola Droid 4.44

Wrapping it up

All three devices have been a joy to use. I know this will come as a surprise to most of our readers, but I would take the HTC Touch Pro 2 (any variant that is 3G capable) over the HD2. The HD2’s screen is freaking awesome, the speed is excellent, and Sense UI is a dream, but there are several aspects that put it out of my consideration for daily driver status. The onscreen keyboard is weak compared to the iPhone 3GS. I prefer sliders, but the iPhone’s software keyboard has proven to work great for most of my needs. With my slide out preference known, why not the Droid? The Droids keyboard is nice aside from the big old dpad plaguing it. The HD2 in it’s EU form isn’t capable of 3G speeds here in the US, but I can’t knock the HD2 for that, I knew that going into it. The iPhone 3GS and Droid are both ultra fast on their networks. I don’t have any issues that disrupt service in the bigger cities on AT&T either.

If HTC were to give me an HD2 or Moto gave me the Droid…. I would still carry the iPhone 3GS right now. I am hoping that newer Android phones or even Windows Mobile 7 phones can unseat the iPhone because of my dislike for Apple, but I have to give credit where credit is due… The iPhone 3GS is the best consumer orientated smartphone on the market today -  still.