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Buyer's guide to mobile phones
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Introducing Samsung's all new smartphone, the F 700. Not completelydissimilar to the iPhone, it has both a
touchscreen and a Vario-style, slide-out
QWERTY keyboard, so you get the best of both worlds. Due for a UK release before
Christmas, it should make an ideal present for your over-paid business chums who have got everything else already. It's going to be exclusive to Vodafone initially, and free on contract.
Top tips
- Onboard mobile memory can be, shall we say, limited. If you want to store loads of tunes or videos on your phone, purchase a model with a memory card slot.
- When it comes to picture quality, camera phones can’t match proper cameras. However, the Sony Ericsson K810i and the Nokia N93 snappers are both very good,
especially in daylight. - To access email on the move, get a phone with push email, eg RIM's BlackBerry series. Email is forwarded (pushed) to your phone as soon as it arrives on the server.
- Increasingly, mobiles let you sync all your contacts with Outlook and its ilk. Unfortunately, this doesn't always work with Mac's Address Book, so make sure you
check compatibility.
3G/HSDPA phones
SONY ERICSSON K810i
£200
Performance: No other phone can touch the K810i when it comes to shooting pictures. With a 3.2-megapixel camera, 64MB of internal
memory and an M2 card slot for expansion, super-intuitive menus, a bright two-inch LCD, ten hours of talk time and 3G, it's quite simply a prince among phones. Say cheese.
Love: Terrific for pictures. Simple to use. Loads of extras.
Hate: Looks a little dull. Fewer megapixels than some rivals.
NOKIA N95
£390
Performance: The word versatile was invented for this
phone. The N95 doesn't just have a five-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens, it's also packing heat in the form of satnav fucntionality, HSDPA, and Wi-Fi. If that just looks like a random selection of letters and numbers to you then let us put it in layman's terms for you: This phone is teeming with extras.
Love: Stuffed with extras. Good camera. Outstanding screen.
Hate: A bit bulky and plasticky. Feeble battery life. Some bugs.
MOTOROLA RIZR Z8
£350
Performance: The Z8 has a cracking, 2.2-inch screen and a zippy frame rate for video playback. The screen's small, granted, but movies have never looked so good on a phone. The Z8's also got state-of-the-art connectivity, with HSDPA, A2DP Bluetooth and Sky Anytime. Oh, and the included phones are not only wireless, they actually sound pretty good, too.
Love: Terrific media features. Non-sucky earphones.
Hate: Screen’s too small for such a good movie player.
SAMSUNG G800
£300
Performance: With an optical zoom, autofocus and zenon flash the 5MP G800 is a phone that thinks it's a camera.
Love: Good camera features, excellent flash. Decent-sized keys and a terrifically bright screen.
Hate: Chunky. Shutter lag on camera.
2G phones
Motorola RAZR2 V8
£290
Performance: Moto's added a touchscreen and two-meg camera to its latest RAZR update.
Love: Vibrating touchscreen. Iconic shape.
Hate: Although thin, it feels heavy. Not 3G.
Sony Ericsson T650i
£330
Performance: With a highly capable, 3.2-meg snapper and twinkling keypad, this is enticing.
Love: Stereo Bluetooth. Lovely design.
Hate: Sony persisting with stupid little buttons.
Smartphones
Nokia E90
£660
Performance: Throbbing with power, the E90 boasts HSDPA, GPS, Wi-Fi, a 3.2-megapixel
camera, and push-email messaging.
Love: Raw power and stunning widescreen.
Hate: Really rather large, even for a smartphone.
Sony Ericsson P1i
£375
Performance: The P series gets a makeover with a new, sleek chassis for the suits. With loads of
features and a powerful processor, it's a good 'un.
Love: Built-in Wi-Fi. Business card scanner.
Hate: Annoying and fiddly keyboard.
T-Mobile Vario III
£220
Performance: A formidable Windows Mobile 6-powered Pocket PC that's packed with extras.
Love: GPS receiver. Wi-Fi. Three-meg snapper.
Hate: 'Pocket-hostile' best describes its size.
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