BlackBerry Pearl 3G 9105 Review

BlackBerry Pearl 3G 9105 black deals

BlackBerry have made their name on full QWERTY keyboards on their mobile phones, so it was a bit of a shock when the BlackBerry Pearl 3G 9105 came out with a traditional alphanumerical keypad in 2010. This makes it one of the only smart phones with an alphanumerical keppad, most of them being touchscreens of course. If you miss those alphanumeric pads but still want a smart phone, it's definitely worth checking out the phone deals on the Pearl 3G 9105.

Specifications

The Pearl 3G is quite a small phone, resting nicely on your palm and slipping in to a pocket with ease. With the keypad taking up a lot of space, the screen is small, as you would expect. It has good resolution though, and navigating through the menus with the optical trackpad is fast although it takes some getting used to. BlackBerry's operating system seemed dated even when it came out in 2010, there's no problems after a bit of practice.  There can be no complaints with the optical trackpad though, it is extremely responsive.

One of the great things about this BlackBerry, as opposed to some of the others from that time, is that you have all the connectivity you could want. There's 3G, wi-fi, GPS, the lot. It also comes with Facebook and Twitter apps installed, and integrates social media well. However there is a problem with BlackBerry App World, the marketplace for BlackBerry apps, in that it's very limited as opposed to the Apple and Android app stores, and is more expensive as well.

However if you want to use the phone mostly for messaging and emailing, it's still a great. It has the BlackBerry Messenger for one thing, which allows you to message freely (that is, for free) with any other BlackBerry users wherever they are in the world. Most people would probably prefer to be able to do that on one of the full QWERTY keyboards BlackBerry are famous for, but if you're a whizz on the alphanumeric pad and don't want to change, then this might just be the smart phone you've been looking for.  It is a nice one, with well spaced out keys and a wavy design making it easier to tell where you are on the keypad without having to look.

There's also a 3.2MP camera, which is okay considering the phone's 2 years old.  You get 256MB internal storage, but you can beef that up because there's room for a microSD card.

For the full specs, check out BlackBerry's website.

Phone Deals

This is still a very good little phone if you mainly want to use your phone for messaging and calling, with some web surfing mixed in too. Being 2 years old now, as you would expect there are some great BlackBerry Pearl 3G 9105 black monthly contract deals available online now.

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Nokia Lumia 800: Nokia's First Windows Phone

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The Nokia Lumia 800 is the first Windows Phone from Nokia, and it's mighty impressive. It might not have enough apps available to tempt established Android or Apple users, but if you're looking for a smart, fast and fun to use smart phone then it's definitely worth checking out the phone deals on the Nokia Lumia 800.

Windows Phone 7.5

Let's not beat around the bush, shall we? You want to know what Microsoft's Windows Phone 7.5 operating system is like, don't you. Well, in a word, it's good. In two words it's good fun. And with as many words as we like, it's a refreshing difference to the Android and Apple operating systems. It feels big, bold and modern.

On the homescreen you get two columns of 5 tiles. Now, take note that we said tiles, not icons. These things are nice and big, and you have all the essentials there: a dialler, texts, music, internet, social networks, etc. And if there's anything not there that you would like a short-cut for then you can simply add it. Or if you want a full list of apps, you simply swipe to the right.

When you select one of the apps there is a very cool little 3D effect as the tile flips over. And you get the reverse of that as you quit the app to go back to the homescreen. It's little touches like that which really make the experience of using a smart phone pleasant.

Another good feature of the Microsoft OS is that it integrates social networking in to it very nicely. For example with the messaging app you can message someone via text and through social networking sites like Facebook, and it all stays a part of the same conversation.

There's really very little to complain about with the operating system, taken in itself. However, we can't ignore the existence of Androids or iOS's any longer. The advantage they both have over a Windows Phones is that they support huge app marketplaces, Google Play and Apple's app store respectively. Windows Phone Marketplace is, by comparison, tiddly. You have some good apps there, like Amazon Kindle and Tesco Groceries, but your selection is decidedly limited. The good news is that it's growing all the time, but you're always going to have to wait quite a while for the new cool app. And it might not even get there at all. So if you want a smart phone primarily for the app selection, unfortunately a Windows Phone simply doesn't cut the mustard yet.

Other Features and Specifications

The build quality of the Nokia Lumia 800 is outstanding. It feels plenty sturdy and looks great. The front is covered with gorilla glass, making it nice and smooth, and means it should be able to stand up to the odd mishap here and there. It's also nice and slim, slipping in to a pocket with ease. The battery is not removeable though and there's no microSD slot so you're stuck with the 16GB internal storage on offer. To be fair though, that should be enough for most users.

Call quality is very good, but the camera is not a great performer. Its 3.7 inch screen is nice and responsive and uses AMOLED technology which is self illuminating, makes colours look good and creates very black blacks. It's run on a 1.4GHz processor which makes it extremely nippy, whether swiping through the menu, zooming in and out of a page or web browsing. Battery life is average for a smart phone, meaning you'll probably have to charge it every night.

For the full specs, check out Nokia's website.

Phone Deals

The Nokia Lumia 800 is undoubtedly a great smart phone so long as you're not married to the idea of being able to download countless apps for every conceivable task. If that describes you, then check out the best Nokia Lumia 800 black monthly contract deals available on the web! You also have a lot of different colours to choose from, you can also check out Nokia Lumia 800 cyan deals, Nokia Lumia 800 pink deals or Nokia Lumia 800 white deals.

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The Samsung Tocco Lite: Modest Phone, Gutter Prices

Samsung Tocco Lite Design black deals

There is something very likeable about the Samsung Tocco Lite, it has a simple charm from a bygone age... 3 years ago, that is (which is an aeon in mobile phone time). It's a touchscreen feature phone without 3G or wi-fi capabilities, so if that's going to put you off then you might as well stop reading now. However if you're looking for a phone that can do the basics well (calling and texting) but with a nice responsive touchscreen and a few widgets, then you can get some incredible phone deals on the Samsung Tocco Lite now.

Feature Phone

You shouldn't get the idea that this phone is only for calling and texting though, it's not that old. You can also play videos, connect to the internet, play music, all of that good stuff. It's just that you're not going to be able to download a whole lot of apps the way you can with an Android or iPhone device. If that's not something you'd be interested in doing anyway though, then you might as well go for budget phone such as this and save your money.

There's something you can be pretty sure about, if you're still able to get monthly contract deals on a phone three years after it was released, it has to be pretty good. Indeed, at the time it was one of the best phones of its type available. Its lack of 3G or wi-fi capabilities were, and are, disappointing but as we say, if you're not planning on using the internet too much then it's no great loss. Also, it's not as if you can't connect at all, it's simply that it is going to be slow. There are built in links and widgets for social networking sites such as Facebook, if that's something you're interested in.

It's a phone which is nice and small, easily fitting in to your pocket, the way phones used to be. Nowadays you can get phones that you practically have to carry around in a bag and hold in two hands. Well, this isn't one of those. It has a 3 inch screen, and no keypad so the screen dictates how big the phone is: not very. Again, if you're looking for a phone with a big screen, you'll have to look elsewhere.

As stated, this is a touchscreen. Looking at the specs and seeing that it is a resistive touchscreen might put you off, if you know about their reputation for being unresponsive, and needing a great deal of pressure to get the action that you want. Fortunately with this mobile, that is not the case, its responsiveness is fine and you don't even have to press down very hard. It's quality build means that it doesn't feel squidgy in your grasp either, it feels as if it could stand up to the odd knock here and there.

It's 3.2 megapixel camera is decent too. Nowadays you would expect at least 5MP even from a budget Android, but the Tocco Lite's camera performs well.

Perhaps most importantly, call quality is good and texting on the touchscreen is simple as well. What's more, not being a smart phone, the battery life is excellent. You can use it frequently throughout the day and for a few days after that until you have to charge it again. If you want to make smart phone users envious, just tell them that and see what colour they turn!

For the full specifications, check out Samsung's website.

Phone Deals

As long as you have modest needs from a phone, the Tocco Lite will satisfy them. However you don't need to expect a modest price because you can get some obscenely low SamsungTocco Lite Design black monthly contract deals now! As well as Samsung Tocco Lite Design silver deals too!

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LG Optimus L3 Vs L7

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If you're looking for a mid-range or budget Android with Hollywood good-looks, then you'd be remiss if you didn't consider the LG Optimus L range of phones. There are actually three of them, but we're going to be reviewing the two extremes here: the least expensive L3 and the most expensive L7. You can find some good phone deals on both of them out there.

LG Optimus L3 v LG Optimus L7

So clearly these phones are not intended to be in direct competition. They're more like squabbling brothers. As with real siblings though, you get to know more about each of them by knowing them together (yes, we can get pretty deep here) so we think that the comparison is going to be useful. And we think you might be surprised by the results as well. If that's enough of an intro, let's get started.

• Display. With smart phones being such a visual experience as much as anything, we'll start off with the display. The L3 has a 3.2 in. screen with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels while the L7 has a 4.3 in. screen with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels. In both cases, the resolutions are a little low for the size of the screen. However with the L3 having a screen over an inch smaller, its resolution is not actually as bad as the L7's. Which is not to say that either are ugly, but actually it is the smaller screen which delivers better colours and crispness.

• 

  LG Optimus L7 black monthly contract deals

  Processing Power. One of the most important factors in making a screen work properly is a large enough processing chip. The L3 has a single-core 800MHz chip, while the L7 has a single-core 1GHz chip. So that makes the L7 the faster phone, right? Well, actually, no. Yes it has a more powerful processor, but it also has a much bigger screen and runs a later version of Android (Ice Cream Sandwich to the L3's Gingerbread). The result is that the L3 feels nippy, whereas the L7 feels slow and unresponsive at times.
• Android. Both are Android phones of course, but as mentioned the L3 runs Gingerbread while the L7 runs Ice Cream Sandwich. Again this is a case of the latter looking better on paper, but the L3's Gingerbread OS works better with its processing power than the L7's works with Ice Cream Sandwich. That's despite the fact that the L7 doesn't come with all of ICS's features, such as face unlock, but that is promised in an update.
• Design. Both phones have a good build quality, and they are also both very handsome. Indeed that is one of the main selling points, and reasons for bringing this series of phones out. It is for those people who want a good looking phone without having to pay for all of the top of the range specs that can make smart phones so expensive.
• Camera. The LG Optimus L3 only has a 3 megapixel camera, which is pretty bad even for budget Androids these days. The L7 comes with a much more respectable 5MP camera and can record video with a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels.
• Storage. To store all of your pictures and videos (not to mention everything else) you're going to need some storage space. The L3 only comes with 1GB internal storage, to the L7's 4GB. However in both cases you can stick a microSD card in there and bump it up by an additional 32GB if you want to.

The full specs for the L3 and the L7 can be found on the LG website.

Summary

With the L7 being the top of this range of phones you would think that it would be the best of the bunch however, although it has the best specs, the L3 actually tends to perform better for what it is.

We wouldn't really recommend the L3 over the L7 though, they're not in the same league, but if you're looking for a good looking budget Android and you don't mind small screens, you should definitely check out LG Optimus L3 black monthlycontract deals.  Or LG Optimus L3 white deals of course.

On the other hand if you're looking for a mid range Android with a big screen, and you can tolerate a little bit of sluggishness getting around, then it's worth considering LGOptimus L7 black deals.  Or, again, LG Optimus L7 white monthly contract deals.

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The Cute and Colourful Sony Xperia U Review

Sony Xperia U white monthly contract deals

The Sony Xperia U is a budget to mid-range Android with some solid specs and cute little touches. It's fair to say that this is an artful little smart phone, and will appeal to many. However others could easily hate it, it's quite a daring move from Sony. Being at the lower end of the market though, you will be able to find some excellent phone deals for the Xperia U.

Colourful Lights

Do you like your electronic devices to shimmer and glitter with light for no apparent reason? If so then you're probably going to love the Sony Xperia U. It has a small strip near the base of the phone which is always changing colours, although not entirely randomly. In fact the colour it displays is going to depend on what you are looking at on the phone. It will try to approximate the colour it displays to the colour of the content you are looking at. For example, if you have a picture of a blue sky on the phone, the light will turn blue. When listening to music, the colour will try to copy the dominant colour of the album colour.

At this point, you're probably having a reaction to that. Either you think that sounds cool, in which case you're probably going to like this phone. Or else you're going to think it sounds tacky and embarrassing. In which case this is probably not the phone for you. You may as well stop reading now to be honest.

Features and Specs

Right, now that we've got rid of the losers who don't like colourful lights on a phone, let's talk about the features and specs of this phone shall we?

It's actually kitted out pretty well. It has a dual-core 1GHz processor, which is going to handle with ease all but the most strenuous tasks. For instance you're probably going to have difficulty trying to keep multiple tabs open on the web, but for one at a time it's nice and fast. It's also going to handle the majority of games and other apps with aplomb. Don't expect to be able to play the latest 3D games though, for that you're going to need a more powerful phone. For things like Angry Birds though, it works very well.

This is quite a small phone, with a screen measuring 3.5 inches on the diagonal. That's the same size as the latest iPhone, however this screen is narrower and if you have large hands then it's probably going to be excessively fiddly. With 480 x 854 pixels though it has a good resolution, very nice for watching videos. Sony also uses its Bravia TV technology to make the colours vibrant and fresh. The only problem with the screen comes as a consequence of it being a budget Android; there is some flex if you push down too hard. That's not a major failing though.

The Xperia U runs the Gingerbread version of Android, but there's a promise from Sony of an update to Ice Cream Sandwich being available soon. Sony also put their own skin on top, which is not a major problem or attraction in all honesty.

If you need a lot of storage on your phone, then this might be another deal breaker. It has 8GB internal storage, which is okay. But only 4GB of that is available for pictures and apps. Which would also be okay, except for the fact that there is space for a microSD card, so you can't expand the memory capabilities at all.

There's a 5 megapixel camera, which is the best you are going to get on a mid-range Android. It can shoot 720p HD video as well. Both of these are of fine quality.

There isn't much more to say about this phone. The physical buttons feel a little bit spongy, the screen is very responsive though, as are the touch sensitive buttons. It's stable and reliable for the most part, a perfectly good phone all in all.

To get the full specs, check out Sony's website.

Phone Deals

If you like bright, colourful, cute and cheerful phones, then it's well worth checking out the excellent SonyXperia U black monthly contract deals and the Sony Xperia U white deals available online.

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HTC One X Review

HTC One X deals

The HTC One X is a very big phone – both in size and in specs. It's big, it's powerful, and if that's what you're looking for from a phone then you won't be disappointed with this top of the range Android smart phone. If you only have modest demands of a phone then you might have some difficulties with it, and it is on the pricey side, but there are some great phone deals out there if you like the sound of it.

Big Phone

Big is a relative term, so what do we mean by that? Well, its screen is 4.7 inches on the diagonal, which is not quite the biggest screen you can get on an Android, but it's close. It's over a full inch bigger than the iPhone screen. It has a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels, which is very good but because of the size of the screen it's not as impressive as it would be on most other phones. Still, there is certainly nothing to complain about when it comes to the quality of the display. When web browsing, for instance, if you have decent eyesight then you shouldn't have to zoom to be able to read the text.

With the screen being so big though, HTC made the decision to have very little bevel around the sides of the phone, meaning that the screen reaches almost to the edges. Which would be fine except that it means when you're holding the phone, it's easy to accidentally press something you didn't mean to, launching an application unintentionally for instance. The sheer size of the phone also makes it a little difficult to hold, unless you have very big hands yourself. The rounded corners and extreme smoothness of it doesn't help matters either. That said though, once you've found a way to actually get a good grip of it, it is comfortable to hold (good for long conversations).

If you're going to have a big screen though, you need a powerful processor for smooth running. There are absolutely no problems in that area with the HTC One X, it uses a 1.5GHz quad-core processor. This makes for quick web browsing and gaming, including the latest 3D games. It also supports tabbed browsing, having music play in the background and the ability to switch quickly between apps. However you can also do all of that with a dual-core processor, so there are some who wonder whether quad-cores at this point are strictly necessary.

You might say to yourself though, why not? Which is fair, except the thing is the more processing power there is, the harder the phone is going to be on the battery. Same goes for the size of the screen, the bigger it is the faster the battery is going to be drained. That's a double whammy against the HTC One X then, so as you would expect the battery life is problematic. You'd be lucky to get through a whole day without having to recharge if you go for anything close to moderate use.

Ice Cream Sandwich and Other Features

The HTC One X runs one of the latest versions of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich. This makes for very smooth operations, especially with the One X's quad-core processor. There are also a couple of things new to ICS which are pretty impressive. Chrome for Android is one of them, which is Google's own web browser. This supports multi-tabbed browsing in a very nice design. There's also a face unlock feature with this, so you get to feel very futuristic by using your face to unlock your phone (and we don't mean running your nose across the screen)!

The device comes with 32GB internal storage, which is very good but you have to take in to account that there is no microSD card. However there is a bonus, in that you get two years free service from Dropbox, allowing you an extra 25GB space with them.

Another big selling point for the HTC One X is the camera. It's an 8 megapixel camera with a quality lens which produces very good colours and depth of field. It also has a variable LED flash, and a number of cool after effects you can add to your pics. For taking pictures of high speed occurrences you can hold the capture button and take up to 99 shots in a continuous burst, then either keep them all or choose the best. On top of that you can record Full HD 1080p video as well, and with excellent results.

Audio quality is also very good on this phone, both for playing music and for calling people. Even in noisy environments, it's easy to hear what is being said on the other end of the line, and they will be able to hear you easily as well.

You can find the full specs on the HTC website.

Phone Deals

If you like big phones, we're confident that you'll love this phone. The only downside really is the poor battery life, but if that's something you can live with then check out the excellent HTC One X monthly contract deals available online.  There are some great HTC One X black deals as well.

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Motorola Milestone XT720 v Orange San Diego: Old v New

Orange San Diego contract deals

The Motorola Milestone XT720 is a top of the range smart phone from 2 years ago, whereas the Orange San Diego is a current mid-range Android. As you would imagine, it's not going to be much of a competition between the two, the mid-range San Diego blows the Milestone out of the water. Also, ironically the San Diego houses its own milestone as it is the first smart phone to be run by an Intel processor. More on that later. For the most part this review is going to be a feature on showing how far mobile phone technology has come in three short years.

You can still get great phone deals on both devices though.

Specifications

Back in 2009, the Motorola Milestone was wowing Android users with its 3.7 inch screen (bigger than the iPhone), its 480 x 854 pixel resolution (which is still pretty good to be fair) and the new Android 2.1 Eclair operating system. Well, we're now up to 4.1 Jelly Bean but that's not what the Orange San Diego has, it still sports the 2.3 Gingerbread system. It also has a 4 inch screen and 600 x 1024 pixel resolution. Remember, the San Diego does not represent the best that it is available, it is only twice as expensive as a budget Android. You'd have to double that cost to get the very best available right now.

Some other major differences. The Motorola Milestone came with 150MB internal storage. The San Diego has 16GB. Both can be topped up with microSD cards though. When the Milestone came out it was one of the first to have multi-touch features, allowing you to zoom by pinching your fingers on the screen. That's pretty standard these days.

The San Diego comes with an 8 megapixel camera which can record 1080p HD video. The Milestone has an 8MP camera too but only records jerky 720p HD video. The San Diego camera also has a burst mode which takes ten pictures in quick succession, which is good for photographing high speed action. This is quite rare even these days though.

One of the most significant differences is in processing power. The Milestone has a 600MHz processor, which would be bad even for budget phones now. The San Diego, however, is not typical in its processor. In fact, as mentioned, it is the first smart phone to be run by an Intel processor.

Motorola Mileston XT720 deals

Intel Processor

The San Diego's Intel processor has been clocked at 1.6GHz. That's a 1GHz of processing power more than the Milestone. That is very high for a single-core processor though, the high end Androids usually only reach around that mark with dual or even quad-core processors.

The major benefit of the Intel processor is that it makes web surfing very fast and slick. In fact, for the money, you won't get any faster web browsing. It also promises a more stable system, meaning that you're not going to get apps crashing on you.

It also means that it can do things that usually you would need a dual-core processor to do well, such as record video in 1080p and export through a HDMI port, allowing you to link it directly to your television. The only disappointment in this area is that the lens is not very good, so the quality of the shots is not as good as it might be.

There is a downside to this Intel processor though, which is that, for technical reasons too complicated to properly explain, it is incompatible with some downloadable apps. Orange says that 70% of apps will work with the Intel processor, but another way of saying that is that almost a third of them will not.

The full specs of the Milestone can be found on the Motorla website. The San Diego specifications can be found on Orange's website.

Phone Deals

So what have we learnt here, children? That even mid-range phones these days are better than the best phones from two years ago? Didn't we know that already? Yes, we probably did.

However, hopefully we have also learnt that the Motorola is still a quality phone, if a little dated now. Also, that while the San Diego's Intel processor has some impressive benefits, it also has some potentially deal-breaking downsides.

What else is there to know? Well, if you're interested in getting your hands on either of these phones then there are some great Motorola Milestone XT720 monthly contract deals and Orange San Diego deals available online.

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Samsung Galaxy Mini 2 v Galaxy Y: You Know... For Kids!

Samsung Galaxy Y S5360 contract deals

Is your child badgering you to get them a smart phone, but you don't want to spend too much?  Then the Samsung Galaxy Mini 2 or Samsung Galaxy Y S5360 might be just the phone you're looking for. They're both small (good for tiny fingers), with a solid design should stand up to a bit of rough and tumble. While neither are all that powerful, their simplicity is appealing, making them good entry-level smart phones. There are also some very good phone deals available for these budget Androids. But which one is better?

Samsung Galaxy Mini 2 v Samsung Galaxy Y

If you want to go for a phone which has been designed specifically with children in mind then the Galaxy Y is the one to go for. The “Y” literally stands for “Young”. It has a tiny screen, just 3 inches at the diagonal, and will fit very nicely in to smaller pockets (it's about the height and length of a bank card, although much bulkier of course). The truth is though that the Samsung Galaxy Mini 2 meets these standards as well. Its screen is a little larger, at 3.27 inches and it has a better resolution of 320 x 480 pixels. The Galaxy Y only has a dismal 240 x 320 pixels, meaning that graphics and text are fuzzy.

The good thing about the small screens with low resolutions, however, is that they make the battery last longer. With light use, the Galaxy Y could last a few days without a recharge, which is practically unheard of with a smart phone. The Mini 2 is also pretty good on its battery.

Another reason for the longer battery life than usual is the smaller processor. In this case the Galaxy Y actually has the slightly larger processor, at 832MHz. The Mini 2 is only just behind at 800MHz though, and it is in good company as a couple of other excellent budget Androids, the Orange San Francisco II and T-Mobile Vivacity, also have that sized chip. In fact when it comes to budget Androids, the only one that really beats it is the Huawei Ascend G300 with a 1GHz processor.

Samsung Galaxy Mini 2 deals

Of course you are always going to have to make compromises when it comes to budget smart phones, and the screen of the Galaxy Y has certainly been sacrificed to make it as cheap as possible. Not only is it low-res but there is often a noticeable lag when swiping your finger across homescreens. Plus if you give anything but the lightest of touches, the screen will flex. Not a good sign. The buttons on the phone are not always the most responsive either.

While the Galaxy Mini 2 is a bit more expensive then, you do get a better screen as well as more internal storage (4GB to the Galaxy Y's 160MB) although in both cases these can be expanded with a microSD card, which usually come with the phone.

They both run Android Gingerbread, which is not the latest but does make just about every app at Google Play usable. Neither phone has a great camera, the Galaxy Y's 2 megapixel device producing quality a bit above what you would expect, but the Mini 2's 3MP camera does beat it.

All in all, there really isn't a huge difference between the phones. The Mini 2 is probably a bit better than the Galaxy Y on specs, but then on the other hand it's also a bit more expensive and doesn't have as good battery life. So it is really very much a judgement call. To compare the two in more detail though you can find the full specifications of the Mini 2 and the Galaxy Y on the Samsung website.

Google Play

Both phones serve as a very good stepping stone from a feature phone to a smart phone. They're basic and simple, and not overly powerful, but that's okay. They make for a nice transition if you're not accustomed to smart phones, especially for younger users.

So what's the biggest benefit of a smart phone over a regular feature phone? Well there are a few but for most people the main one is the amount of downloadable apps that there are available. For Android users these come at the Android Marketplace, now called Google Play. There are plenty of free apps available to download, and cover everything from iconic games such as Angry Birds to applications that let you point your phone at the night sky and will identify the constellations visible to you. There are social networking apps, ebook readers, apps for news and sports and just about anything else you can think of.

You can also browse the web of course and watch videos, listen to music and edit documents. The smart phone constitutes a revolution in phone design, so that we will never again think of them as simply allowing us to connect to people through voice and test. A phone can now be a computer that you can carry around in your pocket, and it's well worth getting involved in this relatively recent advance.

If you're already on the smart-phone ladder, however, then the San Francisco II, Vivacity or Ascend G300 are probably going to be more appealing budget Androids. If you're new to smart phones though, especially if you're young, then it's definitely worth checking out the Samsung Galaxy Mini 2 monthly contract deals and Samsung Galaxy Y S5360 deals available online.  You can also check out Samsung Galaxy Y S5360 white deals and Samsung Galaxy Y S5360 pink contract deals.

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Nokia E72: Accomplished Business Phone

Nokia E72 black and Nokia E72 grey

The Nokia E72 is the follow up to the excellent E71. It is now a couple of years old but remains an excellent business phone, rivalling BlackBerry in its messaging capabilities. Of course it doesn't have as many features or apps as an Android or iOS device, but if you're looking for a quality phone for calling and messaging, it is very good. With some superb phone deals around now, you can also get it on the cheap.

Business Phone

The Nokia E72 is classed as a business phone for its excellent messaging functions, making emailing and texting on the go simple and fast. One of the main features making this possible is a QWERTY keyboard. Sometimes it feels as if BlackBerry has a monopoly on phones with a full QWERTY keyboard but Nokia is practically giving a lesson in how to design a keyboard for a mobile with this design. The layout is superb and the keys have a slight inward curve which maximises the ease of use. It's a pleasure to use and you'll be churning out the emails on this device in no time.

Another important feature of a business phone is call quality, something which it is easy to almost entirely overlook with most smart phones nowadays. If you want a phone to be a phone though, and you don't want to have a crackly reception while having business conversations then it is of course very important. This is another area in which the Nokia E72 excels, voices are clear incoming and outgoing, so there is no problem there.

While you might not be able to get as many apps as you would with an Android or iPhone, the E72 comes with some pre-installed apps that are very useful for business use. For instance Quickoffice allows you to create and edit written documents. There's also some very good messaging features, including a wizard for setting up your email accounts on the phone. And with Nokia's push-email service, when you get an email you will be notified on your phone and immediately be able to read it.

Operation and Other Features

The Nokia E72 runs the Series 60 OS, which looks quite old fashioned when you take in to account Android and iPhone advances, however it is easy to navigate and with a 600MHz processor works smoothly. There's also a 5 megapixel camera, which is good for phones of its age. Connectivity is also fine, with 3G and wi-fi capabilities. You also don't have to worry about the battery life the way you do with a lot of smart phones since the E72 can go 2-3 days without having to be recharged.

Find the full specs on the Nokia website.

Phone Deals

If you're looking for an accomplished business phone with excellent messaging features and great quality, this is an excellent alternative to a BlackBerry. With the phone now being a couple of years old, you can now find some excellent Nokia E72 black monthly contract deals and Nokia E72 grey deals online, so check them out!

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Why is the iPhone 3GS 8GB Still So Popular?

iPhone 3GS 8GB deals

With the iPhone 5 now on the horizon, and the iPhone 4 a great success, why would you ever want to consider the three-year old iPhone 3GS? Well, actually in the third quarter of 2011 sales of this phone were more than any Android on the market. Clearly then, it is far from obsolete. So what is it that makes phone deals on the iPhone 3GS still worth considering three years on from its release?

iOS 5 Upgrade

First of all it's important to note that we're not talking about exactly the same phone from 3 years ago. The hardware is the same, yes, but it's been upgraded to the much more recent iOS 5. This includes goodies such as iMessage, which makes messaging between fellow iPhone users free since it travels over the internet connection rather than over your contract provider's network. It's based on RIM's very popular BlackBerry Messenger service.

Even better perhaps is the inclusion if iCloud storage which lets you wirelessly sync your data between all iOS devices that you own. In other words, if you download a tune from iTunes on your Mac, then you'll be able to access it straight away over iCloud on your iPhone, and visa versa of course. Not only is it convenient, but it means that if you lose or break your phone, you're not going to lose all of the data on it. In fact just about the only thing missing from is Siri, which allows you to control the phone with your voice.

Of course the iPhone 3GS is nowhere near as powerful as the iPhone 4, but what processing power it does have goes a lot further than you would expect. With only a 600MHz processor and 256MB of RAM, you might think you would be getting a slow and jittery phone. In fact it is quite the opposite. It's still very smooth, and only starts to struggle when you try to have multiple apps running at the same time. Surely it will be sluggish on games, though? No, not with the PowerVR graphics chip installed. Of course it won't be able to handle the latest 3D games, but just about everything else will continue to run fine.

The screen is 3.5 inches at the diagonal, which is typical, but the 320 x 480 pixel resolution is significantly less than the iPhone 4's resolution. Still, with a 3 year old phone you have to expect to make a few compromises.

Another feature which doesn't set the world alight anymore is the 3 megapixel camera, not when the top phones now have 8MP cameras and even budget Androids can stretch to 5MP. It also can't record video in HD, but again that's just a consequence of it being a 3 year old phone.

On the whole, this revamp of a classic phone is surprisingly successful and the mystery of why it continues to outsell Androids is not so stunning when you really look at it.

For the full specs, check out Apple's website.

Summary

Despite its age, the 3GS continues to perform well with some excellent updates to a classic phone. When it comes to value for money, it might even still be unbeatable.

So if you're looking to get on the iPhone bandwagon but can't afford the latest offerings, then it's definitely worth looking at the iPhone 3GS 8GB monthly contract deals to see if you can join the party on the cheap.  Also available: iPhone 3GS 8GB white deals.

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BlackBerry Bold 9780 Review

BlackBerry Bold 9780 deals

There are no huge changes with the BlackBerry Bold 9780 to its predecessor, the Bold 9700 (which we have also reviewed on this site). But then they probably figured it was a case of, if it's not broken then don't fix it. If you're a fan of the BlackBerry yand its full QWERTY keyboard and you're not worried about getting the most up to date phone, it's well worth checking out the phone deals available on the BlackBerry Bold 9780.

Physical Design

In its physical design the BlackBerry Bold 9780 is almost identical to the Bold 9700. At a glance it really is difficult to tell them apart. Which is not necessarily to say that's a bad thing because the 9700 is a very good looking phone... which means that the Bold 9780 is as well. It's just that with this sort of thing, the first time something is done is always the best, after which it just feels like copying. So while it does look good, some kind of tweak of the design would have been welcomed.

One aspect that we don't have any complaints over, however, is the QWERTY keyboard. That's basically the same as well, but this is an area in which originality is not important. What's important is how well it functions, and this keyboard functions extremely well. It can be daunting at first, with so many buttons close together but after a little bit of practice your fingers will soon be able to get used to where everything is. This allows you to punch out a long email in a similar amount of time that it would take with a regular size keyboard. Which is of course why the BlackBerry has proved so popular in the business community, as it is especially good for emailing when you are out and about.

Having said that though, Android and iPhone devices do a good job these days as well with on-screen keyboards. And if you don't need a physical keyboard then with an Android or iPhone you have access to plenty of other benefits, not least of which being a copious amount of downloadable apps.

Upgrades

We've talked a lot about the similarities of the BlackBerry Bold 9780 with the 9700, but what about the differences? There have been upgrades, so what are they?

• BlackBerry 6 OS. One of the major ones is an upgrade to RIM's BlackBerry 6 operating system which has made web browsing smoother and includes a feed which brings together your Twitter, Facebook and other notifications. It runs very smoothly on the 624MHz processor with 512MB RAM. The only problem is that this is an operating system which was designed to be used with a touchscreen as well as touchpad, and the Bold 9780 only has a touchpad. That makes it feel a bit awkward some of the time, when it feels like the most natural thing to do would just be to stab an icon with your finger. However there is a search feature on the phone, accessible at all times, that allows you to find anything on the phone simply by searching for it so this makes up for some of the difficulties.
• 5MP Camera. Another major upgrade for those of you who like to be able to snap a good pic with your camera is the inclusion of a 5 megapixel camera. Unfortunately you can't record HD videos as well, which is pretty standard these days.

The 2.4 inch screen is as big as you would expect with a phone that has a lot of its space taken up with a QWERTY keyboard, and the 480 x 360 pixel resolution is fine for a screen of this size.

For the full specs, check out BlackBerry's website.

Summary

If you're in the market for a smart phone with plenty of apps and customisable features, then this is probably not the phone you're looking for. On the other hand it's well worth checking out the BlackBerry Bold 9780 monthly contract deals available if you're looking for a smoothly operating smart phone with a great QWERTY keyboard.  Or if you prefer another colour, BlackBerry Bold 9780 white deals.

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Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro Review

Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro deals

There's a lot to like about the Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro. Of course it helps if you're not a fan of large screens; if you are then you're probably not going to like this phone. But then if that's the case, why are you looking at a phone with “mini” in the title, hmm? A lot of the time people who do prefer smaller screens have to put up with lesser specifications though, but that is not the case with the Xperia Mini Pro. So as long as you're not dead-set on getting a large-screened phone, then you might be tempted by the phone deals available on this device.

Defining Characteristics

We recently reviewed the Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini, so what makes the Pro different? Well, the major difference is that with the Pro you get a full QWERTY keyboard which slides out from underneath the screen. We suspect that's going to be the main pull for anyone who is going to be interested in this phone. If you like physical keypads for your texting and emailing on the go, but you also want access to the vast array of apps that Android smart phones offer (rather than the minimal apps on a BlackBerry, for instance) then this has got to be one of the top contenders.

If you're looking for the highest specs available, then you won't find them on the Xperia Mini Pro, however this is no entry level Android either, and for a small phone it's really quite powerful. We say small, which it is of course in terms of width and height (92mm x 52mm) but it's also twice as thick as many androids at 18mm. Of course with a QWERTY keyboard that slides underneath the screen you have to expect that. It also means that there's room there for a 1GHz processor as well as 512MB RAM, which is plenty for the Gingerbread OS from Android, with operations feeling very smooth and flowing. Sony Ericsson also use what they call “Hot Corners” which are present on every home screen and provide short-cuts to things like your SMS app, the dialler, media apps and address book. These are customisable, and make up for the fact you can't fit as many apps on the screen as you would with other smart phones.

You do have to be willing to put up with a smaller screen than usually found on smart phones though. When it comes to web browsing, for instance, you're going to have to zoom in pretty close to be able to read even normal text. The screen is 3 inches on the diagonal which, in fact, is better than a lot of small Androids, and only half an inch off the iPhone size. Also, if you're planning to watch videos, although the 320 x 480 pixel resolution is okay for a screen of this size, and contrasts are actually good, the screen is so small that it's difficult to really feel involved in what is going on in the video. Not a phone to watch a whole television episode on, or a feature film, in other words.

Other Features

Everything else on the Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro is pretty much what you would expect from a mid-range Android. You have all the usual connectivity possibilities, as well as DNLA support meaning that you can stream videos or pictures from your phone through a PS3 or a DNLA equipped TV to see it all up on the big screen.

The Xperia Mini Pro comes with a 5 megapixel camera, which is pretty standard but the results from it are not great. Also, although it can record 720p HD video, the quality doesn't come out very well, there is often quite a lot of blurring. It also has a VGA camera on the front for video calls.

Check out the full specs at Sony's website.

Summary

On the whole this is a very good phone if you're looking for an Android smart phone with a small screen, a QWERTY keypad, or both. If you're not interested in either of those features though, you might be better off looking elsewhere. If you're searching for a truly pocket sized Android phone which doesn't compromise on the specs though, it's well worth looking in to the Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro monthly contract deals that are available.  Or the Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro white deals if you prefer.

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The Motorola Gleam: A Shining Example of a Budget Phone

Motorola gleam black deals

It seems that these days, with all the smart phones around, actually using a phone as a phone seems like the lowest priority on most people's list. If that is the case for you, then you're not going to like the Motorola Gleam. On the other hand, if you primarily want a phone for making calls and texting, then the phone deals on this the Gleam are well worth a look.

Design

The Motorola Gleam is made in a clam-shell design, the type that opens up on hinges. You don't see that very much these days of course, but the main reason that Motorola has returned to this design we suspect is to harken back to the days of the Motorola Razr, perhaps its most popular phone. This was in the days before smart phones, when a good game of snake was just about the height of mobile gaming and hardly anybody had even uttered the word “app”. Now, the Motorola Gleam doesn't go that far back in time, but it's not a touchscreen and you're not going to have any apps to mess around with.

Although the design is reminiscent of the Razr, the Gleam is made from plastic rather than metal so isn't quite as sturdy. It has an alphanumeric keypad with very large buttons, which take some getting used to but once you do, texting because very simple.

The screen is only 2.4 in. at the diagonal, which compared to smart phones is very small but for phones of this sort it's not bad.

Hardware

Even for for a budget phone such as this, we would have expected something better than a 2-megapixel camera. That really isn't very good quality, and the video it takes is quite bad as well. That's okay though because you're not going to be able to fit much of any pictures of videos with the 5MB internal storage. You can get a microSD card to beef up that storage capacity though, so that's not so much of a problem.

There's also no 3G or wi-fi capabilities, which is a bit of a disappointment. But then they probably figured that anyone who is going to want to a fast web connection on a phone will go for a cheap Android instead.

There is some good news with all of this, which is that the Motorola Gleam has an excellent battery life. It can go days without a fresh charge, whereas with a smart phone you're not always guaranteed a full day without having to charge it again.

Find the full specs on the Motorola website.

Summary

If you're nostalgic for the days when a phone was a phone and don't want all the fuss of a smart phone then you're probably going to love the Motorola Gleam. It's not flashy, but it has a nice design, it looks good and it gets the job done. If you're interested, check out the best Motorola Gleam black monthly contract deals available on the web.  Or if you'd rather something other than the black, you can find Motorola Gleam lilac deals and Motorola Gleam white deals.

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Samsung Galaxy Note: Is Bigger Better?

Samsung Galaxy Note v iPhone size comparison

The Samsung Galaxy Note has the biggest screen of any smart phone anywhere ever... and it might not ever be beaten either. Get much bigger than the monster 5.3 inch screen of the Note and you're practically a tablet, like it or not. So if your philosophy when it comes to phone screens is the bigger the better, then you're not going to be disappointed with Samsung Galaxy Note phone deals. However, there are some drawbacks which are also worth considering.

Pocket Sized?

For one thing, you're going to need pretty big pockets to be able to carry this beast around with you. It is thin and surprisingly light, but the width and length make it better suited for the inside pocket of a jacket or even a bag instead of the side pocket of your trousers.

If getting the Galaxy Note in to your pocket is a physical difficulty, taking it out might cause a bit of embarrassment. Not that it's badly made or looks cheap, of course... but again, you really have to understand how big this thing is! It doesn't exactly look like it's phone sized anymore, it looks like something else... something alien almost. It might provoke the odd sideways glance is basically what we're trying to say. A double take here and there.

Is it Worth It?

So okay, there are definitely some downsides to having such a large screen. There are also some good things about it though of course. For instance, watching videos on it is great. It has a sumptuous 1280 x 800 pixel resolution making every image crystal clear, and Samsung's acclaimed AMOLED technology makes colours vibrant and blacks deep. With the screen as big as it is, you can actually become immersed in what you're watching, which is sometimes tough on a phone.

With a screen this large you also need a processor powerful to run it properly, and the Samsung Galaxy Note certainly has that too with a 1.4GHz dual-core processor. This makes operations smooth, and apps open quickly. Any slowness in web browsing will probably be down to the internet connection rather than the phone itself. The Note comes with 3G and wi-fi capabilities.

The phone runs on Android's 2.3 Gingerbread operating system, although an Ice Cream Sandwich update is now available. This is overlaid with Samsung's TouchWiz User Interface. It doesn't make a huge difference to be honest, which is good because Android in its pure form is usually the best.

There's an 8 megapixel camera which can also take 1080p HD video and a Voice Talk app which operates like the iPhone's Siri feature, enabling you to control the phone with your voice. This is not entirely reliable though.

Samsung Galaxy Note: S Memo

The Galaxy Note also comes with a lot of bloatware unfortunately, and you'll probably want to spend a bit of time figuring out what you want to keep and what you want to get rid of. If you're going to get this phone though then one of the main reasons may well be for the S Memo app which allows you to sketch, jot things down, do a little drawing – which on a big screen you can actually make look pretty good. A stylus also comes with it, and while you might think that we've come past that kind of technology, it actually is really helpful on the Galaxy Note. It means you can be that bit more accurate than you can be with your finger, so if you like making notes or drawing little pictures while you're out and about, and want to be able to put them in your calendar or maybe share them on Facebook or Twitter, this phone is fantastic for that.

For the full specs, check out Samsung's website.

Battery Life

This brings us, unfortunately, to one aspect you have to consider when considering this phone that might be enough to put you off. All smart phones have an issue with battery life of course, since they do so many functions, using up a lot of energy. However, to power the Galaxy Note's dual-core processor and extra large screen really takes it out of the battery and you might only get 12 hours out of it with just moderate use.

So long as you're not going to be away from a plug socket for a long period of time, it's not really a problem but if you're going to be away from a charging source for long periods of time you'll have to come up with some kind of strategy to deal with this issue. A car charger might do the trick, perhaps. It's an issue you have to consider though.

Summary

If you love big screens on an Android you're going to love this phone, it's as simple as that. Yes, there are problems, but they're the problems you would expect with a screen of this size. If the big screen is enough for you to look past these potential difficulties, it's definitely worth checking out the Samsung Galaxy Note monthly contract deals and Samsung Galaxy Note white deals that are available online.

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Nokia Asha 300: Low Cost Feature Phone

Nokia Asha 300 black deals

The Nokia Asha 300 is a simple feature phone, not a smart phone, so if you're looking for something to download apps galore on to, you're much better off getting an Android. However if you're in the market for a simple touchscreen phone that makes calling and texting easy, and even comes pre-installed with Angry Birds Lite, then it's worth checking out the great phone deals you can get on the Asha 300.

Display

The Nokia Asha 300 houses an alphanumeric keypad, ala mobile phones of bygone eras, but it still has a touchscreen for it's 2.4 in. display. That size of screen is fine for budget phones of this type but there is a problem with the touchscreen, in that it is resistive rather than capacitive. In effect what this means is that you're going to have to work a little bit harder to get things moving at your fingertips. If you're not careful it's easy to accidentally open an app when you are just trying to swipe somewhere else.

That's a shame because the phone is run by a 1GHz processor, which is more than a lot of lower end Android phones. The fact is though that you don't really feel that processing power in the speed of the phone most of the time.

Instead of Android you get Nokia Series 40 OS and it works fine, but as we say if you're looking for something that is highly customisable and that has access to a number of different apps then you'd be better with an Android or iOS device.

No Wi-Fi

The most disappointing thing about what is a fine phone otherwise, is that there is no wi-fi capability. It does connect to the internet though, through 3G services. If you want to use it on your wireless network at home however, that's not going to be possible.

In terms of web browsing with the 3G though, it is quite fast, as you would expect with a 1GHz processor running the phone.

Extras

You will find everything else you would expect from a feature phone on the Asha 300, including a bit more actually. A 5 megapixel camera, for instance, is an unexpected bonus. And as mentioned, it is one of the first phones to have a version of Angry Birds pre-installed. There's a music player of course, although not much room to store music with only 140MB internal storage. Having said that however you can purchase a microSD card to increase that up to 32GB.

You can find the full specs on the Nokia website.

Summary

If it weren't for the lack of wi-fi and a resistive rather than capacitive touchscreen, the review for this modern feature phone would be unreservedly positive. If you are able to see past these flaws then it's still a nice little simple phone, and it's well worth checking out some of the amazingly low Nokia Asha 300 black monthly contract deals that are available online.

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The Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini: Good Things, Small Packages...

Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini white contract deals

Are you in the market for a smart phone, but hanker for the days when mobile phones didn't look like something that apes might start dancing around and killing each other over (and if you don't get the 2001: A Space Odyssey reference this just means that lots of smart phones are practically monolith size these days)? If so then it's worth checking out the phone deals for the Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini.

Size is Everything

The size of the screen on the Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini is quite small at 3 inches, but that is not really a down side. To complain about that would be to entirely miss the purpose of this phone. It's small, that's the point. It fits snugly in to your hand and even though you are still basically going to be carrying a mini computer around in your pocket, it's not going to feel like it quite so much. With 320 x 480 pixel resolution images are sharp as well.

What's more, for a mini phone, the screen is actually pretty large. It's only half an inch off the size of an iPhone screen, so it's still easy to use the touchscreen. More so than with other mini phones. Plus a full QWERTY keyboard can fit on the screen, even in portrait mode, so it really doesn't have to be used any different to a regular smart phone.

Having said that though, you can't fit as many icons on each screen but they make up for that by having shortcuts to apps in each corner. In that way you can have more than enough apps available to you at the swipe of a finger.

In fact the whole design is good, including the physical buttons. There's a nice and large home screen button at the bottom, and on either side of that you have touch sensitive buttons for accessing a menu and to go back.

For the full specs check out Sony's website.

Power

Just because the Xperia Mini is small, that doesn't mean that it doesn't pack some punch. It runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread with a 1GHz processor, which is more than enough for the majority of apps out there. These days the high end Androids come with dual-core or even quad-core processors but unless you need to be able to play all of the latest 3D games, a single-core is more than adequate. Sliding between menus is nice and smooth and watching videos is a pleasure as well, especially considering that it's such a small screen.

Added Extras

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini comes with some custom apps, the one that stands out probably being Timescape, which provides you with an animated stream of your combined Facebook and Twitter feeds. It's optional though, you don't have to use it if you don't want to.

There's also a 5 megapixel camera, which is pretty standard for all but top of the line smart phones. You can also record video in 720p HD.

Summary

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini might be small in size, but it's large in stature. No compromises have been made with processing power and it's a perfectly good little Android. Of course if you prefer big screens then it's not going to be your cup of tea but if you prefer phones on the dainty side, be sure to check out the best Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini monthly contract deals on offer. Or even better perhaps, Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini white deals instead.

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