The iPhone 3GS came in first in Consumer Reports' latest smartphone ratings, but a strong showing by other phones, including the Palm Pre and BlackBerry Storm, prevented the Apple gadget from being a runaway winner.

Apple's latest smartphone edged out its rivals with strong performance in everything but voice quality, an area in which few phones scored well, Consumer Reports said in releasing the ratings last week. The iPhone 3GS excelled in display quality, which was reinforced by "top-notch" multimedia navigation, Web browsing and battery life.

But the Pre and Research In Motion's Storm and other BlackBerry models bested the iPhone in messaging, and the Pre, with its handling of multiple applications, is a superior multitasker, the magazine said.

The latest ratings reflect a change in testing by Consumer Reports, which decided to put less emphasis on talk time and voice quality, while increasing the importance of non-voice functionality. As a result, older smartphones, like the iPhone 3G, moved up in the ratings while others, such as the Samsung Blackjack II and BlackBerry Pearl Flip, dropped in rankings.

Consumer Reports scored smartphones from zero to the highest score, 100. The top five smartphones, along with their ratings, were the iPhone 3GS, 73; the iPhone 3G, and the Samsung Omnia, both with 70; the BlackBerry Storm 9530, the T-Mobile G1, the BlackBerry Bold and the Samsung Epix, all with a 69; the Palm Pre and the BlackBerry Curve 8900, 67; and the LG Incite, 66.

No U.S. carrier offers all of the listed smartphones. AT&T, for example, is the exclusive wireless carrier for the iPhone in the United States.

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