ZDNet Australia puts 10 of the best phones on the market today under the reviews microscope. Whatever your mobile needs are, we've got a phone for you, as well as a look at the first 3G phone on the Australian market.
The market for mobile phones is accelerating so swiftly it's astounding, and most of the movement appears to be away from the core functionality of mobile phones, that being actual talking. You can't quite buy a phone that omits this function, of course, but simply being able to talk won't cut it when it comes to appealing to consumers any more. All of the ten phones we've reviewed here have their hooks, and many of them are converging around a core set of technologies.
Say Cheese, please
It's getting actively hard to buy a mobile phone that doesn't come with an inbuilt camera, and the quality of images that you can expect from these pocket sized snappers is improving on a day by day basis. One of the phones we've reviewed, the Seimens S55, takes this concept even further -- the camera is a snap-on attachment with its own flash. We're still some time away from seeing mobile phones that truly attack the lucrative digital camera space, but that's surely only a matter of time.
From ring ring to sing sing
It's not just visual quality that's improving on phones; audio is also moving ahead in leaps and bounds, although whether this is an entirely good thing remains to be seen. Polyphonic ringtones are the name of the game, whether you're emulating the classical music or a cheesy pop hit. It's all a push towards the personalisation of phones, so that you can tell the entire world you're obsessed with Britney Spears. As we said, we're not sure that's a good thing.
Higher-quality ringtones may also be something of a legal minefield in the future. Music publishers are already antsy about people using monotone versions of popular songs for ringtones, so once it becomes possible to sample actual songs, we can't imagine they're going to be any happier.
Speed thrills
The other big movement in mobile phones is towards faster connectivity. Voice calls only need relatively low bandwidth side, but the use of mobile phones for applications such as web streaming and real-time video calls for more heavy-duty bandwidth provision. After many years of hand-wringing and deal making, we've finally seen the launch of two 3G services; Telstra's 3G-ish Mobile Loop and Hutchison's fully-blown 3G service. We've previewed the first 3G phone on the Australian market, the NEC e606 as part of this roundup. While the actual number of people willing to invest their consumer and enterprise dollars into deploying 3G mobiles remains to be seen, we're sure this won't be the only 3G phone on the market for very long at all.
LG 7020
LG's not yet a big-name player in the local mobile phone market, but that may be set to change. Check out the LG 7020.
Nokia 2100
The Nokia 2100 doesn't boast flashy 3G features, MMS messaging or glow in the dark vibrating attachments. It just works, and for many users that's enough.
Nokia 3650
Despite the "ring of fire" keypad, the Nokia 3650 has some fantastic--and relatively unique--features.
Panasonic GD88
Personalisation is the name of the game with the GD88.
Philips Fisio 620
The Fisio 620 is a budget phone with a surprising list of included features.
Samsung SCH-A561
Currently the only phone that works with Telstra's Mobile Loop service, the Samsung SCH-A561 shows what can be done with high-speed access.
Samsung T500
How can you go past a phone with its own embedded cubic zirconia and "pink" schedule?
Seimens S55
Seimens takes the mobile phone as camera concept that one step further, with the inclusion of a snap-on camera and flash.
Sony Ericsson P800
The P800 is perhaps the most anticipated phone in recent years, combining Sony's design style, Ericsson's phone know-how and a dollop of PDA functionality.
Sony Ericsson T100
Small phones are normally expensive phones, except in the case of the T100, which matches miniturisation with a low price tag.
First Take: NEC e606
The NEC e606 is the first 3G phone on the Australian market, but it's unlikely to be the last. Check out our preview of this fascinating phone.
ZDNet Australia's Alex Kidman, James Pearce and Jeremy Roche contributed to this article
