Which AT&T 4G phone stands out? Motorola Atrix, HTC Inspire or Samsung Infuse?

Not to be left behind in the fight for 4G space, AT&T has introduced three phones on its network from Motorola, HTC and Samsung at the recently concluded CES 2011 in Las Vegas, and made sure it has the arsenal to make up for the iPhone loss, courtesy, Apple launching an iPhone for Verizon.

Motorola introduced its powerful kid on the block, the Atrix powerful phone that sports 1GB RAM, a dual-core Tegra 2 processor and a 4-inch display with a resolution of 960x540. The smartphone specs have been further optimized with a Laptop Dock allowing users to access the smartphone content on laptop screen with a keypad. Once the phone is placed in the laptop dock, the WebTop app automatically launches giving access to the phone content via the laptop.

With this feature Motorola is allowing integration of its device with other complimentary devices like laptop. It is extending the ecosystem around Atrix to include other accessories like the HDI Multimedia dock that connects the phone to a HD TV. It also has multiple ports to connect keyboard, USB or mouse.

The Motorola Laptop Dock sports an 11.6-inch screen, full keyboard, speakers and a 36Wh three-cell battery that provides up to eight hours of battery life. PC Magazine reported that when the Atrix is docked into the laptop, its Linux OS comes into play and runs only three apps -- Firefox for browsing, a file manager and Android apps in a window. The laptop dock is a device in itself and could probably be leveraged by Motorola to run other apps. Thus, one can use the smartphone both as desktop and smartphone, thus eliminating the need for a third device.

Also, in the fray is Samsung Infuse which is the largest of the lot with a screen size of 4.5-inch compared to Atrix's 4-inch display and HTC Inspire's 4.3-inch display. However, it makes for the loss in size by flaunting the thinnest smartphone bodies around, measuring 9mm. It also has a much powerful 1.2 GHz Hummingbird processor. The only caveat in comparison to Atrix and HTC Inspire is its RAM which stands at 512 MB compared to Atrix's 1 GB and Inspire's 768 MB RAM. The phone from the Samsung stable also sports an AMOLED Plus display.

HTC Inspire seems to be lacking in internal storage space with 4GB compared to Atrix's and Infuse's 16 GB configuration. However, Atrix offers the lowest mega-pixel or a 5MP camera compared to Inspire's and Infuse's 8MP camera. Samsung Infuse scores in the camera section as it offers an additional 1.3 front facing camera while its competitors offer just one. It also offers 1080p video capture capability while both Atrix and Inspire offer 720p.

While Atrix has the specs and compatibility with its Laptop Dock to droll about, Samsung Inspire has muscle to give Atrix some competition once it is stacked before the Inspire without its docking device.

Here is a comparison of the 4G phones launched by Motorola, Samsung and HTC on the AT&T network: