BEST FOR EASE OF USE; STORAGE
APPLE IPHONE 3G 8GB-16GB£343-£392 on pay as you go
Apple’s iPod savvy gives the firm a head start when it comes to easy-to-use music phones – witness the iPhone’s built-in memory of up to 16GB, and its big screen, bright enough to watch movies. You are restricted to using iTunes software, and if you buy music from its store, the bit rates are mostly limited to a basic 128kbps. Nonmusical pluses include GPS and excellent internet browsing. The supplied headphones aren’t great, but plug good ones into the 3.5mm jack and the iPhone has an expansive sound.
Verdict:Stylish phone with room for thousands of tracks.
BEST FOR HUGE FREE MUSIC CHOICE
NOKIA 5310 COMES WITH MUSIC £140 on pay as you go
A slim, light and easy-to-use handset with dedicated buttons for music. The PAYG price includes a year’s subscription to Comes with Music, which allows unlimited free downloads of the 3m tracks on the Nokia Music site to your PC, ready to transfer. The snags are that you can’t use a Mac computer and the songs play only on the PC and handset that are registered. Although not all tracks were available at 192kbps - some were only 128kbps - sound quality was consistently strong.
Verdict:Funky phone married to millions of “free” tracks - ideal for teenagers.
BEST FOR GREAT MUSIC SOFTWARE
SONY ERICSSON W902£330 without contract
A handsome and accomplished Walkman handset. The supplied noise-isolating headphones, which have a nonstandard plug (a standard adaptor is provided) were the best on test. As well as dedicated music buttons, it has motion sensors that let you change track and volume by shaking the phone, and an 8GB memory card is included. Tracks sounded warm and full through the Walkman software. Well-designed, backlit keys, a comfortable navigation pad and the song-identifying Track ID round off an excellent package.
Verdict:Persuasive music device let down by its headphone plug.
BEST FOR ADVANCED SPEAKERS
SAMSUNG F400 £160 on pay as you go
The F400 boasts stereo speakers that are louder and of better quality than you’d expect. The supplied noise-isolating headphones delivered a rich, bassy sound, which was even further improved by using a costlier pair through the 3.5mm jack, though sound quality ultimately didn’t match that of the Sony and Apple. Tunes are stored on the supplied 1GB microSD card and are easily transferred using either Samsung’s software or drag and drop. The navigation button is useful for scrolling through songs.
Verdict:Compact but unexceptional slider phone with surprisingly loud speakers.
BEST FOR DOLBY MUSIC SOFTWARE
LG RENOIR KC910 £330 without contract
This is one of the first handsets with Dolby Mobile audio, which claims to improve the richness and bass of music. The LG performed well - sound quality was clean, with little distortion at high volumes. As in the Sony, the headphones connect by a nonstandard socket (also for recharging), but thanks to an included adaptor, you can use any headphones. Beyond music, the 8Mp flash camera and large touchscreen display impress, but text input is frustrating if you use fingers rather than a stylus. An 8GB microSD card is included.
Verdict:Decent music player spoilt by poor phone features.
RING TUNES
JARGON BUSTER
Bit rate The technical quality of an audio file, expressed in kilobits per second. The higher the rate, the better the quality, and the bigger the file size, but audio quality also depends on the type of file compression. While you can set the rate on CDs that you convert, download services rarely give you any such option
Drag and drop The most basic way of moving music from computer to phone, by highlighting track names and dragging the files to the desktop icon of the handset.
MicroSD The most common memory-card format for phones. Roughly speaking, a 1GB card will hold about 200 songs at a decent bit rate
THE ADVANTAGES OF SWITCHING YOUR MP3 PLAYER FOR A PHONE
Convenience:having one gadget rather than two outweighs a phone’s inherent audio compromise. The difference may be hard to detect when you’re out and about anyway, especially if you upgrade the headphones.
Incoming calls:music phones offer elegant, often hands-free pausing of your music to take a call.
Cameras:all these phones also take a decent snap.
AND THE DISADVANTAGES
Clunky software:the supplied music management programs for many of these phones are often hard-to-use afterthoughts.
Poor battery life:even if you are not making calls, mobiles still keep in constant touch with their networks. Expect to charge these phones every day.
Small function keys: dedicated music-playing keys have to fight for space with a dozen functions, and none offers the ease of use of an iPod’s click wheel.
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