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A good music phone needs to provide access to the tunes you love, all of the formats you use, easy controls, adequate storage, and so forth. However, none of it matters if the audio isn't any good. There's always the option of upgrading the headphones that come pre-packaged with the phone, but good speakers, equalizers, and robust audio technology can't be replaced.

HTC has released a couple of phones that offer an enhanced listening experience over the past several months. First the HTC Rhyme. It's a phone that may be more attractive to women, thanks to the rosy color and the flashing charm that alerts the user to incoming calls and messages, but it still offers some notable features.  It's runs with the Android Gingerbread OS, provides they typical SMS/MMS messaging, conference calling, voice commands, speed dial, and speakerphone capabilities as well as multi-window browsing, Flash support, 4GB of onboard storage, and a microSD slot for expansion up to 32GB.  Users can also use the Friend Stream to keep up with friends on Facebook, Twitter, and other sites.

This phone also offers a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, auto focus, face detection, no shutter lag, and 720p HD video recording. For music lovers however, the more important attributes are the built-in speakers, the included tangle free headset with two sizes of eartips for a better fit, and the desktop dock which allows the phone to function as an alarm clock, photo viewer, or music player.

More recently the HTC Sensation XE was also introduced. It is a fast phone with a 1.5GHz dual core processor, Android OS, and 4.3" qHD touch screen.  It also offers an 8 megapixel camera with dual LED flash and 1080p HD video recording, as well as a front facing video chat camera. It is among the best music phones simply because of it's Beats Audio technology and the included Beat by Dr. Dre in-ear headphones with remote control. For now, it's available in the US primarily online as an unlocked device (no contract).