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The holiday season is upon us, and with it comes our annual buyer's guide. We've done all the work for you, narrowing down the best choices for every person on your gift list on every national carrier. Because you have many people on your gift list, we've tried to limit our selections to phones that sell for $200, most cost much less — especially with a contract. The only exceptions are a few phones in our Feature Focus section that are either sold unlocked or are so feature-rich that they will cost much more.

We believe the first step in choosing the right phone for someone is to choose the right carrier. The freedom to choose a carrier near you with the best coverage, calling plans or just the one he's been on forever ensures the gift recipient the best experience once he or she has the right phone to use on that network.

To choose what phone to buy your loved ones as a gift, we've given you two routes to try. We've selected phones for every age group, but these recommendations are for the majority of people in an age group and may not meet your recipient's specific needs. In that case, we've also selected phones for specific features - music, photography, etc., that might be more suitable for your loved one regardless of age. Find the type of person you're buying for, and in most cases you'll find a phone for him on whichever network you deem the best choice.

After you've picked out the perfect phone, there's still one more thing to do. When you or the lucky person you're giving a phone to has moved everything off of the old phone, don't just toss it in your junk drawer or a closet corner, recycle it. If you want to know anything about phone recycling, from reasons to do it to where to take your phone, check out our Cell Phone Recycling Guide.

Eric has been covering the mobile telecommunications industry for 17 years at various print and online publications. He studied at Rutgers Newark and University of Kentucky, and has a degree in writing. He likes playing guitar, attending concerts, listening to music, and driving sports cars.

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