The rumour mill has been churning, pictures and specifications leaked and finally THE handset is distributed for its first review. You rip open the box with excitement, in partial disbelief that you have your hands on the next big thing… You turn it on and well the rest is a blur.

Most reviewers have experienced it, watched the handset hype, maybe even add to it, only to be let down at the final hurdle. It takes more than just a pretty design to make its way up the smartphone rankings. Here are a few of those phones that didn’t quite live up to expectations.

HTC G1 – Designed by HTC, working a Google OS and eagerly anticipated by smartphone fanatics everywhere.  HTC promised to deliver “the next generation in mobile technology with the Android^TM powered G1″, it didn’t. The harsh reality was that the HTC G1 = all-round disappointment. Below are just a few areas where the G1 fell flat:

- No Exchange: The lack of exchange server support put the G1 behind the rest of the smartphone pack.

- 3.5mm Audio Jack: A vital addition missing from the handset. With only the USB port for access, it means users have to buy specific headphones.

- No Desktop Synching: As with the absence of exchange support, the lack of Desktop Syncing makes it difficult for users to connect to email software.

- Insufficient Storage: 1GB internal memory would keep you occupied for maybe a day. 8GB externally doesn’t do much more, especially when competitors offer up to 16GB internally.

- Battery Life: The battery life was a massive let down. Whilst the G1 can manage about 5hours of talk-time, standby’s a mere 130 hours. (The iPhone delivers 300hours!)

Nokia N96 – Predecessor to the well received N95 – which was described as the “tech-freaks dream handset” the Nokia N96 looked on course for success. Whether Nokia got lazy, or genuinely thought people would buy into a simple upgrade is anyone’s guess, but the dramatic upgrade everyone was looking for…well it just wasn’t there. Minor tweaks had been made, a bit more memory, and general improvements that you would expect if a handset was re-released, not features of a ‘new’ phone. So what was wrong?

- Aesthetics: The Nokia N96 lacked style, sophistication, luxury all those images that come with the smartphone tag. Visually it left a lot to be desired not to mention the plastic – feel keys and cramped navigation.

- What Upgrade: So the N96 upgraded internal memory, 8GB to 16GB. Had the latest Symbian OS and had a few added extras, the kickstand and specific music keys. But there was nothing else to get excited about, the ‘new phone’ claim kind of lacked substance.

Essentially the Nokia N96 was a missed opportunity for the manufacturer, instead of building on the success of the original N95, Nokia simple added a few extras here and there and shoved it into production. Not a dramatic enough change by any stretch of the imagination.

Motorola RAZR Series – The Motorola RAZR is a tricky one, it’s not so much that the handsets didn’t deliver; in fact they beat expectations, selling over 50 million units in two years. The sleek design and thin profile propelled the RAZR handset into the spotlight back in 2004 and it fast became the clamshell favourite. The gripe I have with this series is that, once again it was a wasted opportunity. So much could have been done off the back of these handsets but, instead of driving new ideas forward, Motorola decided to play it safe and stick with the same design, adding a few upgrades again, and again, and again. Let’s take a look:

- V3 – the first of many fashion phones.

- V3i – an all-round upgrade to the original.

- V3r/ V3t – Virtually identical to the former handsets bar the music ability.

- V3c – the CDMA version.

- V3m – upgraded CDMA version of the V3C, bringing a few other benefits.

- VE20 – Yet another CDMA upgrade.

- V3x – looks like the V3, but with better processor and general upgrades all over. (It won the “Best 3GSM handset” at the 2006 3GSM World Congress)

- V3xx – Another 3G handset, off the back of the V3x.

- RAZR Maxx – The new 3G HSDPA and EDGE handset predated by the RAZR V3x.

Producing 9 handsets revolving around the same concept is arguably taking things a little bit far, and let’s not forget the second RAZR series. However, Motorola did have the figures to back them up with RAZR sales making up the majority of their main handset revenue. Even so, it’s nice to see a bit of creative flair emerge once in a while.