The mobile phone news pages were buzzing when Nokia released one of its latest mobile phones, the Nokia N900. Billed by the company as a PC in a mobile phone case, everyone in the industry wanted to see if such a claim could possibly be true. This is definitely a contract mobile phone; no one would want to spend the money getting this as pay as you go. The N900 is a touchscreen phone, but turn it on its side and find the surprise, a full QWERTY keyboard built in, although the keys are small and possibly tricky for those with larger hands.
When you compare mobile phones, you will immediately notice that this is one of the largest handsets on offer and those who remember the 1980’s style bricks may feel that this is a step backwards. To be honest this is always a risk when concealing a keyboard, as it will inevitably lead to a certain amount of added depth. However, in terms of performance, we really were impressed, the Nokia N900 offers some pretty good competition to the PC. Clearly, you wouldn’t want to use something so small to do much in the way of serious work, but if you are away from the office you are going to find that the surfing capabilities are seriously impressive. The speed is what impressed us; the Nokia N900 was loading pages as quickly as a net book, even when connected via the phone lines rather than using WiFi to hop onto a broadband connection.
Most of the online companies that trade in old mobile telephones will naturally enough require the phone to be in a decent working condition when sent to them. We all know that phones can become quite bruised and battered just through daily use, however, in order to receive a worthwhile sum for your handset it should have limited cosmetic damage. You should also still be in possession of the original battery. To be classified as a fully working phone it must be able to be switched on. While it is not essential to return the phone charger, if you have no further use for it the company will be able to dispose of it for you in an environmentally safe manner. They will not pay you or charge you for this service.
If you have a damaged phone this is likely to significantly reduce the price that you will receive, but it is still worth sending it in. The type of damage that may result in less money being paid includes a casing that has been badly damaged, inability to switch the phone on or a locked PIN. It is likely that any phone which has been water damaged will not qualify for any payment. It is best to be upfront about the damage when researching online.
It is worth remembering that a phone should not just be disposed of with your household waste for environmental reasons. No matter how much your old phone is worth, recycling is also worthwhile for environmental factors.
If you’re in the market for cheap mobile phones, then Samsung mobile phones are always worth considering. Let’s look at the Samsung B3310; quirky, straightforward, and fits into the smallest of budgets.
Firstly, let’s look at design. This phone looks odd, but it grows on you. There is a number pad running up the left side of the handset and it is quite bulky. The front of the phone is black and the back is silver. The phone is easy to use – with social networking widgets and easy-to-set-up email. The two megapixel camera is also simple to use and includes a dedicated camera button for quick snaps. Picture quality is okay when you’re looking at it on mobile screen, but once transferred to the PC, the images become little more than thumbnails.
Serious music lovers might be disappointed with this phone, but for the less picky, it’s not that bad. The music player is basic, with repeat, shuffle, and playlist modes. There is also an FM radio which works when headphones are plugged in. However, the phone headphone connection isn’t 3.5 mm, so you would need an adaptor to use good headphones.
Instead of the frustrating Samsung touch screen found on so many of their phones, there is a slide-out QWERTY keyboard; which makes this phone excellent for texting. As far as cheap mobile phones go, the Samsung B3310 is fine for the basics – telephone calls, texting, and listening to tunes as you go. If you want more, you should look elsewhere.
The Nokia 6303 Classic is a phone that is for those people who really only want to make calls and send text messages.
The 6303 has several extra features compared to its predecessor the 6300 including the inbuilt LED photo light and the addition of a 3.5 mm headphone jack, so you can listen to your favourite tracks on the audio player or the FM radio on your favourite headphones.
The phone has a talk time of seven hours and a standby time of up to 450 hours.
The phone looks like the 6300, classy but simple with easy navigation menus but still with that reliable reputation, although the inclusion of 3G would have made it much more attractive to a wider market.
The major networks have thousands of deals on the 6303, offering a free handset and a range of different contracts.
Vodaphone is offering a great deal on this phone offering a 24-month contract with 300 minutes and unlimited texts for only £15.00 a month.
O2 are offering an 18-month contract with 50 minutes, 3000 texts and £30.00 auto cash back for only £15.00 a month.
Virgin’s deal is 100 minutes with 100 texts for £15.00 a month, while T-Mobile are offering the same but for £20.00 a month but are also giving £160 auto cash back.
If you think this phone is for you and want to compare it to other similar phones, then check out Sony Ericsson’s W395 or the Samsung Tocco Lite Pink.
Pitched to buyers as a phone built on a robot’s brain, designed to do your bidding and nothing more, the Google Nexus One by HTC is an exciting addition to Google’s mobile phone offerings. Through careful marketing, Google has created a positive image for a phone that they promise to be excellent. At £400, buyers have high expectations and even higher hopes, and for good reason. Numerous mobile phone reviews are available but does the Google Nexus One live up to the hype, or is it just incremental update?
Feature wise, the Nexus One boasts an impressive 3.7 inch display, measures just 11.5 mm thick, and runs an ultra-powerful Snapdragon Chipset. Partnered with HTC, the Nexus One’s display not only is large, but manages to keep looking bright and sharp for hours of constant use. The responsiveness of the touch screen leaves little to complain about, offering pinpoint accuracy when necessary, and avoiding unnecessary sensitivity when scrolling through menus. Running Android 2.1, there’s already a wealth of applications and software available, continuing to deliver what users have come to expect from this product line.
All in all, while the price may be high, and the battery life leaves something to be desired, the Nexus One manages to outperform on all other fronts. This is a fantastic mobile phone with the power to do just about whatever it’s asked to, much like how it was marketed. The Nexus One is simply a very capable mobile, and should be near the top of any mobile enthusiast’s wish list for the latest mobile phones.
You are very likely to have an old mobile phone somewhere in your home. The phone may have been set aside when you switched providers, or when you upgraded to a newer device. Since you no longer want the phone, it seems very odd that anyone would pay cash for mobiles that are obsolete and seemingly of no use. There are actually several things that can be done with those old phones.
There are agencies that recycle mobile phones by cleaning them up, making a few adjustments, and then selling them in lots to companies located in other countries. The technology you no longer care for may be ideal for someone in another part of the world. With a small investment and the chance for a significant return, companies that are in the business of selling phones for cash are doing quite well today by reselling what others no longer want.
Other organisations are not after the phones per se, but the components that can be harvested from them. Those inner workings are still perfectly usable, making the purchase of older phones a cost-effective alternative to buying new components. When you sell your old mobile, there is a chance it will be disassembled and everything from the casing to the wiring used in some new device.
Don’t assume that because your old mobile has been collecting dust for a few years that it is of no value to anyone. Check around with different buyers, and you are highly likely to find someone who will offer a little something for the device. You’ll make a little money, and the buyer will have one more unit to use in whatever way he or she wishes.
One of the latest mobile phones to be released by Nokia is the 5230. This is another of the new mobile phones to opt for touchscreen technology so you wont find any form of keyboard or number pad here. It comes with a built-in stylus for those that prefer them, but lots of people find that a fingertip manages most functions. Not a great deal is known about this handset at the moment, but the latest mobile phone news suggests that this a multifunctional phone that is targeted at the mid price contract mobile phones band, about £18 a month, but with a 18 month contract.
As one of the latest mobile phone deals the Nokia 5230 does not disappoint, and feature all the toys one would expect to find. There is a camera, which can take still pictures as well as video footage; it doesn’t have flash so use will be limited to suitable lighting conditions. The built in WiFi is always pleasing to see, meaning that you can hit WiFi hotspots when you are out and about to access the internet for free, plus with added GPS you will never be lost, as the phone will know exactly where it is. The mobile phone reviews we have seen tend to agree with us that this is another excellent handset from Nokia, which also sensibly includes the all important SD slot, allowing you to expand the memory or have a different memory card, depending on whether you want to listen to music or store files.
The Motorola iDen i9 looks very like the Razr with its clamshell like case. The 3.1 megapixel camera has auto-focus and a built in flash, which makes it sufficient for most non specialist users. (If you want professional looking photos you will need a much bigger resolution.)
The keyboard is smooth and flat just like the one on the Razr was, and not very good if you write a lot of emails, or texts. What is different is that the iDen i9 has two screens with one inside above the keyboard and one on the outside. GPS functions are available on this handset and it can communicate with Bluetooth accessories within a short distance.
The Motorola iDen i9 is a fairly decent mobile phone which offers a great deal if you don’t have to have the very latest in mobile phones. The feel of this is perhaps a bit girlie but the call quality is excellent and it does have a number of fairly decent features. The big problem is the poor quality of the camera if you do want to use it for anything much more that sending video texts via phone. The quality is just grainy and blurry most of the time.
All in all, if you are looking for a fairly up to date mobile phone with a number of features, this one fits the bill and there are a number of excellent deals available. If you just want a phone and you don’t want to spend too much money this one should suit you and your pocket, if you look around a bit and compare the available deals.
Over the past few years, HTC has become a well known producer of new mobile phones. The handset measures 104mm tall by 55mm wide by 12.80 mm deep, and weighs a paltry 108 grams. While some may say this is nothing special for a mobile device, the HTC smart offers great performance for the unit size. In addition, the Smart offers a single view of all communications, be it an e-mail, instant message, text, or Facebook update. No longer will users need to open multiple applications, and consume precious system resources in the process.
Specialising in touch screen technology, we had high hopes for the performance of HTC Smart’s new 2.8 inch display. While smaller than other displays offered on other HTC models, this new mobile still delivers the high quality images we’ve come to expect from HTC, while retaining an excellent level of touch screen performance along the way. With this smaller display comes an improved battery life, ideal for power users interested in raw functionality, rather than media applications and entertainment use.
All in all, the HTC Smart delivers what a user might expect from its name, a sensible phone with a focus on communication, ease of use, and long battery life. While not the most powerful, or with the largest display, the HTC Smart fills its niche well, and should be the first choice for a user looking to communicate first, and play second.
For those interested in basic, cheap mobile phones with simple capabilities like calling, texting, and a handful of games, the Sony Ericsson W205 is one of the best mobile phone deals around.
Pros
A throwback to a time when mobile phones were meant for making calls and sending texts, the W205 has a refreshingly old-fashioned menu appearance. There’s an element of charm in the phone’s pixellated icons and block text.
The Walkman feature performs admirably despite the limits of the bundled headphones. There’s an integrated FM tuner and TrackID, though, which are nice to have in such a basic model.
One of the most attractive features of the W205 is its price. For around £30 for a pay-as-you-go plan, this little phone blows many contract mobile phones out of the water.
Cons
The home panel is crammed with nearly a dozen functions in a tiny 2×5 cm space. Small fingers should have no trouble with the tight slide-out keypad, making this a great choice for a youngster’s first mobile phone. Large hands may struggle to press the right keys, however. The tiny screen is also better suited to young eyes; anyone used to the larger screens of smartphones may find it almost impossible to read the W205 clearly.
The primitive WAP mobile internet access simply can’t handle photo and video uploads as fast as 3G, hampering social network connectivity. This could be a real turn-off for teenage users.
Conclusion
The W205 is a great choice for those in search of cheap mobile phones for a youngster, as it performs basic functions well at an incredibly affordable price.
