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There are a lot of different smartphones for the same reason there are a lot of different cell phones. They're growing in popularity, and a lot of manufacturers are trying to get into the market, offering a variety of different phones at different price points, with differences in the features, operating system, and hardware.
Some, like the iPhone, have only a touch screen. Others rely exclusively on a keyboard, and some like the Pre have both. Apple is the only manufacturer I know of that makes just one phone - and even then, it offers different models based on the memory capacity. It can be difficult to tell the difference between various models from reading articles on the web. These phones can have similar features - my iPhone and your Razr can both browse the web and check email, but the way these features are implemented on the phone is something you kind of have to see to really evaluate.
I'd recommend you go into a cell phone provider and ask to check out several different models so you can get a feel for what they do, and what you like about the various phones. You can't just judge based on price, since cell phone providers subsidize the cost, and you can't really know how different one phone's web browser is from another's until you try it out for yourself.
I also just have a Razr and am thinking of upgrading to a new phone. for me personally, the cost and variety of smartphones isn't the big issue, it's the price of the extra data plan these phones often need to be fully useful. since I don't want the extra costs of a data plan (there's plenty of free wi-fi on my school campus so I don't want to pay extra for that service), I'm debating getting a phone w/ all the bells and whistles. my main concern is a physical keyboard vs virtual one. I plan on getting an iPod Touch to tap into the aforementioned free wi-fi so may get a phone w/ a physical keyboard since the Touch has a virtual one (like a Blackberry or Sidekick). you do have to go in and play around w/ the phones a lot and check w/ your service provider, or another you may use, to see what their policy is on returns in case you dislike the phone
Okay, so I still have a razor and would like to upgrade! I didn't
know there were so many of types of smart phones! What is the
difference in a blackberry, palm pre, LG Xenon, samsung reclaim,
etc, etc I assume the blackberry and iphone is top of the line,
then there is the mytouch by t-mobile, good Lord!
A Blackberry is best for people who want to use "push" email - that's how they got popular. They have some PDA/Organizer functions too.
The Palm Pre is Palm's (almost) newest phone - running it's newest operating system. Palm is known for having created one of the first (and imho the best) PDA / Organizers. I like the Palm OS because they are so easy to, well, organize with. For instance, I have my entire Outlook database etc etc etc on the Palm phone. Palm added the phone later, and integrated it into the traditional organizer functions. I've got a 4 year old Palm phone, but can't upgrade because my carrier doesn't offer a Palm phone now. If they offer a Palm Pre (Palm's attempt to compete with the iPhone by combining a phone with it's newest OS) I'll be sorely tempted. But I'll want to make certain it offers the traditional organizer / PDA functions along with all the bells and whistles which have taken over these gadgets.
I have an iPod Touch too, which is an iPhone without the Phone, so I've gotten fairly familiar with the OS. I like it ok. I'd probably be happy with the iPhone, but again, my carrier doesn't offer it.
There are a lot of other phones, but I don't know thier operating systems well enough to comment. Some people like Google's "Android" OS, which runs a lot phones, but I don't know that OS.
One thing I can say for sure: I'd be very very frustrated with Windows phone operating systems...Windows Mobile. I'd avoid it.
What Smartphones does your carrier offer? I suspect you'd like the iPhone or Palm Pre and find either to be vastly better than what you're used to. Or, if you like and use Push email (this means the email arrives directly on your phone without having to download it every time you want to see what you've recieved) a LOT, try a blackberry.
I would advise against a windows mobile phone. Most people who try windows mobile hate it.
Blackberries are more for business, if you don't have a business email account you want on your personal phone, then I'd advise against it.
Iphones are good, but some still dislike them. I'd suggest you try one out. The myTouch uses the google android operating system. I like it, most folks who try it do, but it is very different than any other phone operating system.
The palm pre is a good phone, but a little bulky for my taste.
Of course, if you're a motorola fan, since you've got the razr, the moto cliq is coming out in about a month. It has the android operating system, and a slide out keyboard, and its a good size.
My ipod touch seems to push email to the device, so I believe the iPhone could be said to "push" email.
wrt Windows vs Palm, or some other OS: I use a windows os on my computer, but I've used the Palm os on organizers and phones for many many years. The Palm os version I'm familar with (not the Pre one, called "web os", but the old one on my ancient Palm Treo 65) seems simple, well integrated, and well designed. Just like all the other Palm os I've used before Palm even made a phone.
When I heard Palm was offering a version of Windows, I cringed. "Clever" I thought: Microsoft is going to capitalize on the fact that people will simply assume if they run Windows on thier computer, they need a Windows phone. But nothing could be further from the truth.
I'm certain Windows Mobile is better now, but for many years, it was known for being kludgy: full of nesting menus, slow, overdesigned etc.
You may want to sit down with a friend who has an iPhone, and with somebody who has a phone running Windows Mobile. The new iPhone software makes that device pretty hard to beat, I think. Even the new Palm PRE may just not quite be able to make much headway against the thing. I'd be perfectly happy to have one if that's what my carrier offers in January - which is the rumour. I do believe they'll offer the Palm Pre, or the iPhone in January. Right now they have Blackberry devices, but not much else...
I've never tried a phone using Google's operating system, "android", but people seem to like it. If your carrier has one, I'd take a good look at it.
A Blackberry is best for people who want to use "push" email - that's how they got popular. They have some PDA/Organizer functions too.
The e-mail feature is one of the main reasons I started using blackberry. I checked the iphone and mytouch; I didn't see anything useful that my blackberry can't do.
I like the large screen on the iphone but I'm not crazy about touch-screen. I've got several friends with iphones who never had a problem, but I know some who did. Same is true for the BB storm.
Anyhow, I can do pretty much anything on my BB that I can do at the office. I work with MS word and excel a lot, and I can do both on the BB. I can login to my server and pull customer information and edit contracts, etc.....
The only drawback is the native browser, but I've added opera mini and bolt and they work great. The phone also has built-in wifi so I can connect at hot spots for a faster internet connection.
For me the BB is the better choice. I would recommend it over any of the others mentioned. I also typed this post from my BB.
The new version of Windows Mobile got a (to be charitable) lukewarm review in today's (10/6/09) NYTimes.
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I assume the blackberry and iphone is top of the line, 
