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-------------------------------------------------------------- This story was printed from ZDNet Australia. --------------------------------------------------------------
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The dazzling dozen: 12 mobiles tested October 31, 2003 URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/reviews/coolgear/mobiles/soa/The-dazzling-dozen-12-mobiles-tested/0,139023387,120280355,00.htm
We take a look at 12 of the latest and greatest mobiles, from high-tech 3G wonders to cheap and cheerful budget phones in our Australian review.There are segments in the the mobile market that address every single user, be they high-tech executives or chirpy teenagers; there's a model out there for you. We haven't quite got to the stage where there's a Nokia James or a Motorola Wendy, but it can't be far off. The various mobiles we've reviewed here cover uses from serious psuedo-PDA devices all the way to multimedia gaming phones that seem to view the whole calling thing as a mere sideline. One thing that every phone shares in common, however, is a screen, and it's a factor that many users don't give enough consideration when purchasing a mobile phone. Here at ZDNet Australia we look at an awful lot of mobile phones, and in only a brief period of time our tolerance for what makes a good screen has changed exceptionally rapidly. For example, when the NEC e606 first launched, one of the things we raved about was the screen. Compared to some of the screen available now, the e606 barely rates as average. So what do we want from a good mobile screen? Obviously a lot of that depends on your usage pattern, but there are some basic rules that apply to every colour mobile screen. For a start, it's got to be visible, and we're not just talking about when you've got your nose pressed right up to it. While you might not want fellow commuters reading what you're perusing, it's no good having a screen that you can't see in bright sunlight. Then there's the colour question. While a basic screen should be acceptable if you only make calls and send the odd SMS, if you're a heavy MMS or 3G fanatic, it's no good having a screen that blurs or distorts at the first bit of motion. The same is true if you're into mobile gaming. A mobile screen has to be reasonably robust. Nokia's woes in this area are rather well known, but they're hardly the only mobile provider to have had problems with specific models. Most mobiles, at some point in their life, will suffer some kind of drop damage, and while we don't fancy carrying around the mobile equivalent of a tank, it's annoying to suffer through a screen that stops working just because you dropped a feather on it. Finally there's the power question. There are plenty of things that suck up battery power on a mobile, and screens can be a main culprit in working out why your brand new phone powerhouse only actually runs for three minutes before conking out. This is something that's in a particular flux at the moment, as while batteries and screen technologies have improved, the introuduction of 2.5/3G phone services has seen the power needs of mobile users accelerate rapidly.
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