From super-fast new smartphones to pen-friendly tablets, Mobile World Congress 2012 has set the stage for a standout year in mobile technology. At this year’s show, we’ve seen superphones packing blazing fast cameras, styluses that double as headsets, an Android phone with a projector built in and much more. Perhaps the biggest theme of this year’s  Mobile World Congess was pure processing power as Nvidia’s quad-core Tegra 3 made its way into phones for the first time, while both Intel and Texas Instruments announced faster mobile CPUs.

Many gadgets and apps introduced at Mobile World Congress pushed the envelope by offering improved speed and functionality, but these seven stood out from the pack.

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Best Smartphone: HTC One X

HTC's newest halo smartphone combines the power of Nvidia's quad-core Tegra 3 processor with LTE connectivity inside a handsome chassis. But what sets the One X apart is HTC's new ImageSense camera coprocessor and software. The dedicated chip allows the phone to shoot images in a mere 0.7 seconds, snap stills while filming video or capture 99 photos in burst mode, then you can pick the best shot. The One X sports HTC's sleek new Sense 4 user interface on top of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, making the best Google OS look even better on a Super LCD 2 display. With so much power coming out of one phone, its no wonder the HTC One X is our best smartphone of the show.

HTC One X and One S Hands-on: 0.7-Second Camera, Sense 4, Beasts Audio

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