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| Samsung Behold |
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 The Samsung Behold reminds us quite a bit of the Samsung Instinct. It's not quite smart enough to be an iPhone clone, but it's still a good phone in its own right. In fact, in terms of call quality and calling features, it's a great phone. But Samsung still hasn't nailed the touchscreen interface. In some areas, like the QWERTY keyboard, they've done a great job, and it works well. In others, like the home page widgets and the problems we had with scrolling and moving through lists, the problems make using the phone a real chore. The phone has a very nice music player, but lacks a standard headphone jack, which seriously hobbles its potential. It uses fast networking on T-Mobile's new 3G network, but the Web browser lacks the deeper options needed to unleash its full potential. It's a flawed device, but not fatally flawed, and hopefully Samsung will work out most of these TouchWiz UI kinks as more of these phones come to market. Release: November 2008. Price: $200.
Pros: Responsive screen. Great call quality and calling features. Fine music player.
Cons: Scrolling issues hurt using the interface. Widgets might not work at this size. Web browsing and video player both mediocre.
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63%
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| Motorola Zine ZN5 |
| Full review » Video » Scoreboard » Specs » Gallery » |
 The Motorola Zine is a phone that would be a good replacement for your low-end point-and-shoot camera, and that's the nicest compliment you can pay a cameraphone. It's a good phone, a pretty good camera, and a surprisingly capable multimedia and Web browsing device. The camera takes real, good-quality pictures, helped along by some agile post-processing, and we even enjoyed the full-size 8 by 10 inch prints we made directly from the device. Kodak et al. don't quite deliver on their promise of easy uploading, and we had trouble sending and managing our pics, probably caused by the phone's buggy OS, which was sluggish some times, and completely unresponsive at others. Still, if you can manage your own pics, and you're looking for a casual shooter that's also a fine phone, the Motorola Zine is a great choice. Release: November 2008. Price: $100.
Pros: Very good call quality with fantastic battery life. One of the best cameras we've seen on a phone.
Cons: Still can't match a good compact point-and-shoot. Image transfer software buggy and useless. Messaging options limited. No 3G networking.
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67%
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| T-Mobile G1 |
| Full review » Video » Scoreboard » Specs » Gallery » |
 Apple finally has a competitor in the phone market. The T-Mobile G1 may not have the visual panache and artistry of Apple's UI, and some basic features are missing or slightly undercooked, but in terms of navigating the phone's myriad and diverse feature set, Google has created an interface in Android that is fun, intuitive and quite powerful. The phone offers convenience beyond belief without redundantly stacking menu items on top of each other. The apps included with the device, and some of the earliest apps we've downloaded from the Google Market, are fresh and in many cases mindblowing. From the Google Maps Street View that creates a virtual world with the built-in compass and accelerometer to the Amazon MP3 store that offers DRM-free downloads to the Compare Everywhere app that scans barcodes and finds local deals on popular products, the T-Mobile G1 offers capabilities and developer access beyond any handheld device we've seen. Though we did encounter some reception issues and problems with call quality, we're hoping these will improve as T-Mobile builds out their 3G network, just as we're hoping that many of the features we miss, such as Exchange ActiveSync support or a working video player, will be solved by a vibrant developer community. Release: October 2008. Price: $180.
Pros: Excellent, fun and intuitive new interface design from Google. Solid messaging and Web browsing options. Surprisingly good camera.
Cons: Dull hardware design. Serious reception problems hurt voice quality. Lacks many necessary options, including business e-mail and video player.
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79%
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| RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 |
| Full review » Video » Scoreboard » Specs » Gallery » |
 With the BackBerry Pearl Flip 8220, RIM has another winner on its hands, and after spending some time with the new polished interface on this lightweight flip phone, we have to say we like it even more than the standard candybar Pearl, which is a tall order. The phone isn't the prettiest, in fact we found the shell to be a bit goofy looking. But as soon as we turned it on and so the rich contrast on the bright screen, as soon as we typed on the wider, more solid SureType keypad, we knew that this would be a compelling device. The interface is still bogged down with long, textual menus, and the Web browser won't win any iPhone converts, but T-Mobile has endowed this phone with a great feature list, including Wi-Fi calling and more messaging options than you'll find almost anywhere else. Plus, it upholds the BlackBerry's great battery life reputation, though we would have given up an hour or two of talk time for some 3G networking. Release: October 2008. Price: $150.
Pros: Great new BlackBerry user interface. Lightweight phone. Good battery life. Great messaging features, especially for IM fans.
Cons: Interface improvements don't go deep enough (especially in the calendar). Poor Web browser for a modern smartphone. Call quality could be better.
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71%
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| Nokia 5610 XpressMusic |
| Full review » Video » Scoreboard » Specs » Gallery » |
 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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67%
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Excellent |
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