+ mobile gadget awards '05 (2) +

MOBILE PHONES

Non Camera Phones
Best: Nokia 6021

As much as I dislike Nokia, they're still the strongest at the low end of the market because of their simplicity. Something extra for 6021: comes with bluetooth. Technically 9300 also falls into this category, but the point for non-camera phones now should be simplicity and ease of use.
Design: Nokia 6060

The external antenna, although pocket unfriendly, is what exactly makes this and the 6101 stand out in the clamshell market. Looks luxurious for such a basic phone, especially in black.

Mainstream Phones
Best: Sony Ericsson K750i / W800i

Obviously The phones of 2005, these 2 mobiles are still the best camera phones available almost half a year after launch. If you don't need 3G, these are nigh on perfect. W800i throws in a sportier design and a dedicated MP3 player function that renders your flash memory based MP3 players useless. Looks great, works great, sounds great. And the price is coming down too.
Design: Motorola PEBL U6 / Samsung E760

All hail the most stylish phone to arrive in time for Christmas. Brushed metallic rounded outer casing, V3 style flat keypad. Motorola proves that it can deliver in the style department after the ghastly ROKR.
Samsung's avant garde E760 also wins honours this time round. The round outer display offset to the top right corner just makes it different from most other phones. Why not D600 you say? Cos it looks like a cross between the E630 and D500.
Interesting: Motorola L7

The features are actually bog standard V3, but it gains interest from being now the slimmest phone in the local market. Still impressive, when 11mm can hold a VGA camera and bluetooth module. What's more, it's wonderfully cheap.
Special Mention: Panasonic VS6

The VS series is a massive improvement over the crap X series, and Panasonic returns to form (finally) after the GD88. Glorious screen, decent camera, elegant looks, bluetooth and user friendly. Very good. Reasonably priced too. VS6 edges VS7 for its more compact size.

Smart / PDA Phones
Best: BenQ P50

What a smart phone should be - chock full of features, running on Windows Mobile Edition, built in keyboard. To top it off, it's elegantly designed too. Beats the Treo 650 for the absence of an external antenna.
Design: O2 XDA II Mini

Chosen because it performs most of the P50's party tricks but in a clean, compact brushed metal body.

Multimedia Phone
Best: Motorola E680i

Huge screen, powerful speakers, support up to 2GB SD cards. A decent megapixel camera and slightly simpler operation would make it even better.
Design: Sony Ericsson W800i

The Walkman ranks second in this category for its smaller screen size, but it's still mighty powerful as an all rounder, with great sporty looks to boot.

3G Phones
Best: Nokia N70

Again, I hate to give Nokia a 'Best Of', but this model's features list is simply so long that I have to be impressed. Still not a fan of its design though.
Design: Samsung Z500 / Sony Ericsson K600i

Samsung's Z500 still reeks of more than 2-year-old E700, but just look at how elegant the basic design of that model is.
Sony Ericsson's ultra retro-cool candy-bar makes it a tie.