This is not a new phone; it is been around for awhile and belongs to the Nokia’s high end line up of smartphones. We were initially impressed by the specs of this phone but then N97 was announced out and it stole the thunder. This doesn’t mean that N96 is an outdated device. The best feature about the phone is the 16 GB internal storage which lets you store tons of data on the device. It also has advanced multimedia capabilities and this is a good replacement for you music player. You don’t have to carry two gadgets while traveling. This phone is very much like N95, only the some of the features in design are tweaked and there is additional storage memory put in. For business users, there is a productivity suite and variety of wireless connections. The display of Nokia N96 is 2.8 inches big and has a resolution of 240x320 pixels. The display doesn’t support a touch screen interface which is bummer on a smartphone like this but you do get a  [...]

LG cellphones sell like hot cakes here in the US so its accessories are also bound to attract sales. Recently, the manufacturer launch LG Ally, its first Android phone for US (previous LG Android phones were released only in Asia and Europe). Here is the list of LG phone accessories that you might need if you have a high end LG smartphone. Handsfree kits: Amongst LG phone accessories, this is the most bought one. Handsfree set, as the name mentions, lets you talk on the phone with handsfree. If you are buying a wired set, check if the call quality is good. Voice on both the sides should be clear. Memory cards: This is for putting in more memory for you photos, music, videos etc. It is available in various storage sizes like 4, 8, 16 GB, etc. Getting a 16 GB card will give you virtually unlimited  [...]

Motorola i576 is a phone from Nextel and it doesn’t have anything out of the box regarding design or features. But there is hardly anything to complain about that since most Nextel phones have industrial and functional design and they are made mostly for durability and usablity instead of sex appeal. There have been occasional exceptions but Nextel has stuck to this rule for most phones. These handsets are made mostly for business. This handset has rugged design just like its predecessors and along with it, the phone has small external display, extendable antenna, and rubber sidings. The feature set on the device is pretty much basic, you don’t even get a camera but if you are looking for a sturdy phone with decent performance, the Motorola i576 won’t disappoint you. The phone costs $279 and with the service agreement, it comes down to $79. Motorola i576 has a tiny rectangular external display just like most Nextel phones. There is a lot of information crammed on to the small display;  [...]

If you think that there is not much to look when it comes to cheap cellular phones, you are wrong. Entry level cellphones might not cost that much but that doesn’t mean that you should pick any one amongst the crowd. If you want a good cell phone from the millions out there, here are our guide lines about it. Make sure all the essentials are checked before you purchase a phone. Display: Cheap cellular phones have smaller LCD displays and along with it, the resolution too is small. A smaller resolution won’t fit in lot of items on the display at a time. For instance, you will get just 3-4 lines text display on the screen. Also be wary of the fact that LCDs get blank when viewed in bright sunlight. The display should have good quality, images should look bright and text should be readable. Keyboard: You’d be crazy to expect a full fledged QWERTY keyboard in cheap cellular phones but still the keypad should have keys which are easy  [...]

RIM BlackBerry Curve 8350i’s display is 2.4 inches big and has a resolution of 320x240 pixels with support for 65,536 colors. The screen looks sharp and it is well complemented by BlackBerry OS 4.6’s user interface. Our small gripe here is that the icons in the menu looks quite similar and hence it is difficult to tell them apart even though they come with a description. Just like latest Blackberry phones, this handset comes with a light sensing technology which automatically adjusts the backlight of the display depending on the environment. Home screen can be customizable with various background images and themes. Underneath the display, there is a navigation array which consists of Talk and End button, back button, Menu shortcut, and trackball navigator. The latter is a bit deeper than we would have liked and it is not as comfortable as compared to the previous Blackberry phones but you will get used to it after a while. The full QWERTY keyboard has smallish keys and they feel  [...]

Samsung Strive SGH-A687 has a 2.6 inches display with resolution of 320x240 pixels. The screen has support for 262,000 colors and seems both vibrant and bright. You can change the display theme, wallpaper, background color, backlighting theme and the dialing font’s color, size and type. The menu can be adjusted in grid or list style and both ways, it is user friendly. Navigation array of the Samsung Strive SGH-A687 is well designed with tactile and spacious controls. It houses back button, four way navigation button with confirmation key in the center, two soft keys, pop up shortcut menu button, and Talk and End/Power keys. The toggle can be programmed for four shortcuts. Our only complaint here was that the OK button opens up Web browser in the standy mode. We would have liked if it brought up the menu. You might say that the QWERTY keyboard is too small, we too were skeptical about it. But after some 30 odd minutes of usage, we were  [...]

There are a lot of smartphones coming up in the Asian and European markets and some of these have made way to the American shores as well. Reviewing such unlocked phones is a tough ask since we don’t get much of it in our labs. However, this time we got lucky with HTC Tattoo. This is an entry level smartphone with HTC Sense and Android 1.6 and it has a cool personalization option where in you can design the cover and make it one of a kind. This phone is aimed at budget users who yearn for a smartphones at the cheapest possible price. For some carriers, you get this device for free but it also comes with a few sacrifices like lack of high resolution screen. The discount too is provided only in Europe or Asia. Here in the US, this handset costs $300 and it is not heavily recommended due to the big price tag. The display of the HTC Tattoo is 2.8 inches big (diagonally) and has a tiny resolution of 240x320 pixels. This is very low as compared to what  [...]

Before this, we had the LG VX8350 in our labs for review and we really liked the way the manufacturer managed to pack in lots of features and still kept the price low for it. It is been two years since then, we have got VX8360 and we had high expectations from this phone too. But we were disappointed to see that this new phone doesn’t have any new features and it is pretty much the same as VX 8360. We won’t recommend an upgrade if you already own the predecessor. The price of this handset is $49.99 and comes with a two year contract from Verizon Wireless. On the front of the LG VX8360, you have a tiny 1.7 inches color screen. It supports just 65,000 colors but that is acceptable for an external display. On this screen, you get caller ID, signal strength, battery, time and date. It also supports photo caller ID. When the camera is switched on, you can use this screen as a viewfinder. You also get track information and album art when you  [...]

It is been a while since Pantech came out with a handset. It previous attempt was Slate and it has been a long wait after that. This handset shares the thin look of Slate but the features are a bit updated here. The display of Pantech Link is 2.4 inches big and gives a resolution 320x240 pixels or support for 262k colors. Slate had 176x200 pixels resolution. The display is colorful and crisp and you get sharp images with legible text. Adjustable features include brightness, backlight time, font style, and appearance of text and clock and menu type. Below the display, there is the navigation array which has two soft keys, a discrete speakerphone key, round toggle, clear button and the standard Send/End buttons. Toggle key is made of metal and has a confirmation or OK key in the middle. Navigating on the phone is easy since the buttons have a comfortable feel. The toggle is preprogrammed for four shortcuts: email, AT&T Address Book, new text  [...]

The LG Incite CT810 is the first true smartphone for LG in the United States. Previously, the company has released the high-end phones like the LG Dare and the LG Voyager in United States as well as the LG KS20 smartphone in Europe only. The Incite CT810 is one of the shiniest handsets available in the market. It runs on the Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system and features inbuilt Wi-Fi, HSDPA support, 3-megapixel camera, Microsoft Office Mobile, ActiveSync, and so forth. The CT810 costs $199.99 with two-year AT&T service agreement. It has minimalist appeal and its touch-screen is reflective like that of the LG Shine. However, the Windows Mobile smartphone suffers from few issues like others. It performs sluggish occasionally and its surface is reflective enough to work as mirror for capturing images. The LG smartphone continues to have the large screen dominating its front face like other touch-screen phones including the HTC Touch and the Samsung Omnia. The  [...]