There's plenty of concern—and debate—about cell phone radiation. Here's the story: all cell phones emit a miniscule amount of radiation with their cellular radios turned on. In any one, ten, or a hundred phone calls, the amounts are well within normally tolerated human limits. But radiation exposure has a cumulative effect over time. It's theoretically possible that heavy use of cell phones will put a small number of people at increased risk for certain brain and neck cancers. But nothing has ever been proven one way or another.

A few studies this year have raised exactly those concerns. For example, a recent analysis of 23 separate epidemiological studies found no connection between using cell phones and tumor development (either cancerous or benign), according to the Los Angeles Times. But a second look at eight of those studies found that there was a 10 percent to 30 percent increased risk of tumors next to people who don't use cell phones at all, and that the increased risk was proportionate to the amount of use.

In September, the Environmental Working Group released an online guide to cell phone radiation. "We think that based on current standards, there's increased risk of developing brain tumors in long term users—people who have used cellphones for more than 10 years—from radiation in cellphones," Olga Naidenko, a senior scientist at EWG, said in a Wired report last month.

All groups involved have said more research is needed. But there's also a logical fallacy in play. Many independent (i.e. not industry-funded) studies have been unable to link cell phone use to cancer. But a thousand studies could conclude the same thing; it wouldn't matter, because there will never be a study that says flat-out, "cell phone use is 100 percent safe." The effects of cell phone radiation may be unproven, but it's impossible to prove a negative.

That said, there's an easy way around the problem: hands-free use. If you want to completely protect yourself from radiation, take all the gadgets away from your face and use sound waves—specifically, the speakerphone. If you're scared but less paranoid, you can also use a wired or Bluetooth headset, both of which have lower levels of emissions than phones themselves. The phones we're featuring below are great for hands-free use because they all have powerful speakerphones and Bluetooth capability.

Featured in this roundup:

BlackBerry Curve 8520 (T-Mobile) : Angle BlackBerry Curve 8520 (T-Mobile)

This discount BlackBerry (sometimes on sale for as little as $48.88) has a gloriously loud, clear speakerphone. If you can afford a little more dough, spring for the $149.99 BlackBerry Curve 8900, which adds a sharper screen, faster processor, and better reception for an even better experience.

BlackBerry Storm2 9550 BlackBerry Storm2 9550 (Verizon)

The second time's the charm for RIM's powerful touch screen device. The company fixed the stubborn first-generation click screen and added Wi-Fi, but for our purposes here, the most important upgrade is the revamped speakerphone. It's now bottom-mounted, so you can hear callers or use the touch screen with the phone face up on a conference room table.

Motorola Stature i9 (Boost Mobile) : Angle Motorola Stature i9 (Boost Mobile/Sprint)

$199.99 on Sprint; $299.99 on Boost
Boost Mobile subscribers could do a lot worse than the Stature i9. It combines a well-designed music player, a good 3.1-megapixel camera, solid call quality, and a powerful speakerphone. It's not the smallest device around, though, and it's not great for browsing the Web.

Motorola Tundra (AT&T) : Angle Motorola Tundra (AT&T)

If you want a rugged phone on AT&T, the Tundra is still your best bet. I ran my review example over with a car, and it still worked afterward. Its speakerphone quality is top-notch in both directions. It also packs in GPS, decent Web-enabled features, and one of the best numeric keypads on the market.

Open Sanyo PRO 200 (Sprint)
Sprint's push-to-talk phones are king when it comes to speakerphones, simply because they're designed for push-to-talk—which in turn requires a powerful speaker. The PRO 200 is particularly nice, since it also works on Sprint's regular cellular network in addition to the Nextel iDEN network.