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| Nokia 5610 XpressMusic |
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 We hate to be the bearers of faint praise, but the Nokia 5610 is a good music phone. It isn't great. In fact, it isn't even as good as the Nokia 5310, a phone with a better design that is available for half the price, $50 instead of $100. That phone may lack the improved camera we found on the Nokia 5610, and it only comes with a 1GB memory stick instead of 2GB, but we prefer the Nokia 5310 for its 3.5mm headphone jack, which let us use any headphones we had on hand, and its up-front controls that start playing music as soon as you press the button. Besides the improved camera, the Nokia 5610 offers little benefit over the Nokia 5310, and they're both good phones, but the Nokia 5310 feels like a step forward, while the Nokia 5610 is a step back. Release: August 2008. Price: $100.
Pros: Classy look. Camera beat our expectations. Good music feature set.
Cons: Lacks some of the ease of the cheaper Nokia 5310. Music features should be more compelling, quicker to acceess. 3.5mm headphone jack a necessity.
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Mediocre |
67%
GOOD |
Very good |
Excellent |
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| Nokia 6301 |
| Full review » Video » Scoreboard » Specs » Gallery » |
 For all its flaws, the Nokia 6301 is still a deceptively nice phone. Under the best conditions, at a Wi-Fi hotspot, calls sounded excellent, and the HotSpot @Home service worked well. We're big fans of this UMA service, as it could save customers a lot of money and provide better reception than normal cellular service. The phone also includes a robust music player with a 512MB microSD card as a bonus, and even some nice messaging options. Unfortunately, the fact that it doesn't use Wi-Fi for data keeps it from being more of a messaging and Web browsing powerhouse, and the tiny keys kept us from carrying on long, textual conversations. The menu also kept many of the best in hiding. Overall, this feels like a low-end phone with a few high-end features stuck on, but for the bargain-hunting HotSpot @Home crowd, those high-end features will simply be a nice bonus, anyway. Release: June 2008. Price: $130.
Pros: Calls sound great under Wi-Fi and when reception was strong. Lots of features for a simple calling phone. Included charging dock.
Cons: When reception was weaker, calls sounded bad or dropped out altogether. Small keys made typing difficult. Lousy camera.
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Mediocre |
49%
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Very good |
Excellent |
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| Nokia E71 |
| Full review » Video » Scoreboard » Specs » Gallery » |
 The Nokia E71 is a great slab-style QWERTY phone, better than almost any on the market. It has a slimmer, cooler design than the Motorola Q9h or the Samsung BlackJack 2, and it can handle almost all of the business tools that those Windows Mobile 6.1 phones use. It doesn't have all of the carrier amenities that we usually ignore anyway, like over-the-air music downloads and streaming video clips, and it could be more localized for U.S. users. Still, we had no problem setting up the phone for our Exchange ActiveSync business e-mail, and all of our favorite business features, like tethered modem support and Office Document handling, worked nicely. The biggest challenge this phone faces is competing with the ultra-low, carrier subsidized prices of its competitors, but if you want the top of the line phone in this form factor, the Nokia E71 is an easy choice. Release: July 2008. Price: $500.
Pros: Great design with a comfortable keyboard and a slim, slick case. Fast networking on AT&T's 3G network. Plenty of features, including GPS, Wi-Fi and Exchange support.
Cons: Setup could be confusing for the U.S. audience. Exchange AciveSync drains the battery significantly. Camera is lousy.
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Mediocre |
73%
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Excellent |
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| Nokia E66 |
| Full review » Video » Scoreboard » Specs » Gallery » |
 The Nokia E66 is a fine business phone, and a great, small alternative for users who want a slick design inside and out, paired with loads of great features. The phone has great options for business users, including Exchange server support and a robust Office suite, though not everything is as easy to use as it might be on a carrier-supported phone, and we found ourselves frequently searching for server settings, additional apps and instructions, all to get the phone working on this country's most popular carrier. Once all the settings were in place, we were continually surprised by how feature-rich and powerful this device can be. A little smoothing for U.S. buyers and a great unlocked price would make this a very compelling phone indeed. Release: July 2008. Price: $500.
Pros: Solid, classy design. Great keys. Live, while-you-type searching for contacts. Great Web browser.
Cons: Many features cost extra, like navigation and Quickoffice. Networking seemed slow in our tests. Could have more multimedia features, like the Nseries.
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Mediocre |
72%
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Very good |
Excellent |
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| Nokia N78 |
| Full review » Video » Scoreboard » Specs » Gallery » |
 The Nokia N78 is one of the best N-series devices we've tested to date, and it's a great phone all around. For music and Web browsing, it's snappy and easy to use, with powerful features that won't let you down. The camera and messaging apps (or lack thereof) are disappointing, but not a deal breaker if you're more of a media fan. The hardest part will be convincing buyers this phone is worth $500, but we have no problem recommending it to folks who hate contract agreements or love a good phone at any price. Nokia, take note: This phone with a SureType keyboard and some down-home, Americanized applications would be a killer device. Release: June 2008. Price: $500.
Pros: Scroll wheel makes navigating the phone quick and easy. Great Web browser. Top-notch music experience, with FM transmitter. Slick, fast phone.
Cons: GPS couldn't find us in Manhattan. Images from camera weren't great. No IM clients. Design is ugly.
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Mediocre |
Good |
76%
VERY GOOD |
Excellent |
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