Yes, smartphones are the gadget du jour. Everybody’s gotta have one and with dozens of new entries into the market, it’s nearly impossible for the average busy exec to figure out which one’s best.

But, if you trust Consumer Reports, the best of these intelligent cell phones is (drumroll please) Apple’s iPhone.

While it doesn’t yet have the lion’s share of the market, which belongs to the market’s first entry, the BlackBerry from Research in Motion (RIM), the iPhone’s winning hearts and minds at a furious clip.

And now they’ve got the independent testers at Consumer Reports on their side. But with one caveat:

“Apple’s iPhones are the top smartphones in our ratings–actually, among the best of all phones we tested, period–but their exclusive carrier, AT&T, was middling at best in satisfaction,” Consumer Reports declared. “If you’re readying to buy Apple’s phone, prepare for possible disappointment with its service and expect to love the phone anyway.”

In fact, the publication ranked carrier AT&T at the very bottom of their customer satisfaction list of service providers.The company scored the lowest in customer satisfaction in 19 out of 26 cities, while its major competitor Verizon Wireless ranked highest in all of the 26 markets.

It seems, however, that AT&T may finally be serious about fixing their network coverage and dropped calls problems. The carrier’s created a free iPhone app that lets you report problem areas directly from your phone when you experience them. “Mark the Spot” debuted in Apple’s AppStore recently and with any luck, the carrier will take customer feedback seriously and fix their network pronto.

Or at least before Verizon wises up, swallows its pride and give Apple the concessions they want to create a Verizon compatible iPhone.