Phones to avoid (2012)

Not every phone can be great. Sometimes, in the rush to get a phone to market, the final product comes out a little half-baked.

A few weeks ago, CNET's Jessica Dolcourt published a blog post called "Don't buy these phones." Being the math whiz that I am, I noticed that her list had five phones and I promptly rehashed it to fit my purposes.

Now, these aren't terrible phones. Most are rated between 2 and 3 stars. They work as advertised, they won't fall apart in your hand, and many of them are very affordable. But with so many outstanding phones out there, it really would be a shame to get stuck with one of these.

For a list of highly recommended phones check out CNET's Top 5 Android smartphones and Top 5 smartphones under $50. Or, just browse our always-up-to-date list of best cell phones.