Mobile Phones of 2005

[CommanderJameson]

There's a roundup of the best and worst handsets of 2005 over at Mobile Gazette.

No real surprises, but I have to confess that I quite like that Toshiba handset, and the Samsung with the rotating screen presses my gadget button.

2006 will, I hope, produce a Mac-compatible (by which I really mean "works properly with iSync over Bluetooth" ) smartphone that isn't a Motorola. Then I may switch.

>> Edited by CommanderJameson on Saturday 24th December 15:40

[Zod]

I just wish they'd stop lying about battery life. I have Nokia 9300 which is a great smartphone, but the battery life is pathetic at around a day and a bit.

[scared but happy]

Strange about the Motorola RAZR V3. Saying "It's a great looking handset, and one of the best selling mobile phones worldwide". Then moaning about the slow software I/F. TBH I find most makes slow, the Nokia phone software always seems very slow to me thats why I went for the XDAIIi.

The XDA's are good but a pain to hold and look silly whilst calling someone camera also gives a 'flat' picture.

I have yet to find a phone that is 100% what I want.

My ideal phone:
Runs DOS - Perhaps the Nokia Linux versions will be good.
Colour screen 640x480
4mpixel camera
Micro hard drive (60gb)
WiFi
Bluetooth
Laptop clam style
Good addon keyboard/mouse via USB
Mp3+video player
TV / radio built in (not the TV streaming either).


That will do me.



>> Edited by scared but happy on Saturday 24th December 17:49

[tvrbob]

Excellent. All 4 of mine are on the 'good' list.

[paulhol]

Zod said:

I just wish they'd stop lying about battery life. I have Nokia 9300 which is a great smartphone, but the battery life is pathetic at around a day and a bit.

Oh you should try my Orange SPV M2000. Far and away the best, most feature packed phone ive ever owned, but a 7 day battery life? They dont tell you when you buy it that that is based on the TWO batteries that come with it. In other words each battery is only 3.5 days, and i presume it means literally switch the screen off and dont even breath on it to achieve that figure.

[tomtom]

Ahh, my trusty 6230(i)

[CommanderJameson]

scared but happy said:

Strange about the Motorola RAZR V3. Saying "It's a great looking handset, and one of the best selling mobile phones worldwide". Then moaning about the slow software I/F. TBH I find most makes slow, the Nokia phone software always seems very slow to me thats why I went for the XDAIIi.

I had a go with a colleagues V3 and came to the conclusion that the handset is a lovely piece of kit, but it's marred by software that appears to have been written by disinterested students.

I currently oscillate between a SE K700i, which is a fabulously full-featured phone but is let down by The Bloody Joystick, and a Nokia 6310i, which is my Real Man's Phone, but is let down by the Nokia Spesh Bluetooth stack on it; because the firmware is below 5.5, it'll only really talk to a Nokia Bluetooth adapter.

The K700i works just fine with iSync.

If I ever happen upon a phone that works with iSync, is a smartphone, and has the indestructibility of the Siemens C35 I had a few years ago, I'm going to be all over it like a rash.

[nicecupoftea]

Still find my SPV C500 very hard to fault.

The odd lock up and not the fastest OS in the world, but very versatile, feature rich, and a fantastic media player (got a 1gig card in there, have a couple of films on it and several albums )

Best thing? Was a free upgrade!

(OK, if the C500 wasn't a 2005 phone, the C550 then!)

[DennisTheMenace]

Im happy with my 6230 , tried all the gadgety phones , after a while you think "what do i need that function for" and youve wasted money on something that could have been made better in many areas if it diddnt have the other junk shoved on it , even now most people i speak to saqy the worst thing nokia did was stop production of the 6310i , fantastic phone , battery life of 2 weeks + on standby , no stupid colour display no camera , just a high quality handset that does the job its supposed to do !

[lightstepper]

6230i every time - had a Samsung D500 before that but it was crap - kept breaking and i had 4 replacements - all with various faults before the phone shop relented and let me change.

[Lurking Lawyer]

I do like my 6230 but, now almost 18 months old, the battery life has dropped from around 7 days to more like 2 days. I'm not hugely tempted by anything out there to replace it, so I might just get myself a new battery for it.

[Parrot of Doom]

My mate almost had to pick the salesman up from the floor after he told him - "Look, all I want is a phone that goes ring ring, and can send a text message FFS!"

[DennisTheMenace]

Parrot of Doom said:

My mate almost had to pick the salesman up from the floor after he told him - "Look, all I want is a phone that goes ring ring, and can send a text message FFS!"

as i said above nearly every customer i go to to fit a phone kit for wishes the 6310 was still made , they hate the current gadget loaded phones and want simplicity

[Flat in Fifth]

Ah well bit reassured, seeing as my trusty neolithic Nokia 6310 has just finally died, well in its death throes anyway, a 6230i looms. Bet the battery life still doesn't match the 6130 though.

edited to get the model right 6310 DOH!

>> Edited by Flat in Fifth on Sunday 25th December 20:56

[dazren]

Lurking Lawyer said:

I do like my 6230 but, now almost 18 months old, the battery life has dropped from around 7 days to more like 2 days.

Crikey. My 6230 has never lasted more than 2 days (swapped three of them due to crap battery performance). Having come from a 6310i with a 1 week standby, I'd say the phone was utter shite. Producing it is akin to a car manufacturer making a new car which does the same mpg as the outgoing model, but having 1/3 the size fuel tank.

Just like to go on record and say Nokia should start making the 6310i again.

DAZ

>> Edited by dazren on Sunday 25th December 18:54

[tinman0]

Zod said:

I just wish they'd stop lying about battery life. I have Nokia 9300 which is a great smartphone, but the battery life is pathetic at around a day and a bit.

got a 9300 here and if I use the smartphone part (especially when away) I'm getting about 2 days. if i keep it closed then i get 3 or more days if I'm not taking many calls. large number of calls and I'm seeing about 2 days again.

battery life could be better - but then again - its the best phone I've ever had so I'm not one to complain. finally a phone that is pretty much perfect for my needs.

[-DeaDLocK-]

I just got hold of the VK2000 (the last one on the "good" list).

My friends who've seen it all insist it's a calculator before I call them with it to prove it's a working phone. And apart from being small, the software, interface and processing speed are all adequate and stable. Phenomenal achievement from a no-name low-budget Korean company.

Motorola will be touting their new L6 as an ultra-slim phone and will have more promos than you can shake a stick at to improve the cachet. The VK is slimmer.

[8Pack]

Weol, wen ma fone wings roight! I answers it. an someone talks to me roight?......C'see! 'fink else! Fech *t roight?.........

[w00dy]

Lurking Lawyer said:

I do like my 6230 but, now almost 18 months old, the battery life has dropped from around 7 days to more like 2 days. I'm not hugely tempted by anything out there to replace it, so I might just get myself a new battery for it.

Same here - I've had mine since the day they were launched, can't find anything suitable to replace it (they're all to big or too slow) and might just have to get a new battery instead soon.

[agent006]

DennisTheMenace said:

as i said above nearly every customer i go to to fit a phone kit for wishes the 6310 was still made , they hate the current gadget loaded phones and want simplicity

Look out for the new E series Nokias. By their own admission they're pretty much the replacements for the 6310i. I'm waiting for the E70 before i replace my 6310.