The folks over at Consumer Report reported that iPhone 3GS took the top spot in smartphone ratings with strong performance in every category except for voice quality – an area many phone struggles with. Of course there are other smartphones-ranking pretty close to the iPhone 3GS, including the Palm Pre.

Hands down, the iPhone 3GS best others when it comes to its superior display, multimedia, navigation, and web browsing and battery life. Unfortunately, Consumer Report favors the Pre, Storm, and other BlackBerry smartphones for messaging. They also compared the iPhone OS to webOS; and found that the “deck-of-cards” handling of multiple apps is a superior multitasker over the iPhone.

The article didn’t go into the iPhone’s endless list of third-party apps, the fact that iPhone’s display is made of glass (literally scratch-resistance) etc. Try taking a key to the iPhone’s display and then do the same to the Palm Pre. Guess what? I personally prefer soft-virtual keyboard to physical keys – there’s just less pressure on my fingers for heavy messaging sessions.