The Bad: Due to this phone being aimed at business users, it does not feature a camera to comply with the more and more businesses prohibiting camera phones in the workplace.  The display is generally clear, although does become difficult to read in direct sunlight.  Call quality is adequate; however there is some echo and distortion when using both the earpiece and speakerphone.

The Bottom Line: Whereas the red colour may be eye catching and make the phone stand out aesthetically, the basic feature set and poor call quality don’t really impress that much.

The Bad: The inabilities to only read, and not create Word; Excel and PDF documents may be problematic for business users, however e-mail can be synced with another computer via Outlook Mobile.  The 1.3 megapixel camera has a confusing interface and produces hazy, washed-out images.  Also, the touch-sensitive volume control strip on the right side of the handset is a little fiddly and unresponsive at times.

The Bottom Line: All in all this is a great offering for the modern mobile user with an ideal balance of features for both productivity and entertainment.  The long talk and standby times add extra appeal as does the integrated WiFi receiver.

The Bad: With all this gadgetry on board, the handset is a little on the heavy side.  Also, it sometimes behaves somewhat sluggishly, especially when multiple applications are open at the same time, which also takes a toll on battery life.  Whereas the display is quite clear under normal operation, it can be difficult to read in direct sunlight.

The Bottom Line: T-Mobile has taken mobile productivity to the next level with the Wing, with a raft of useful features, enhancements and capabilities.  However, its weight coupled with several bugs and performance issues give some pause for consideration.

The Bad: The LG Voyager VX10000’s camera lacks such extra options as a flash and Wi-Fi, and its photo quality was below par. The touch screen can be clunky at times, and the streaming video quality and EV-DO connection speed were sporadic.

The Bottom Line: Though we had some minor complaints here and there, the Voyager’s sleek design, generous feature set and excellent performance make it the best LG messaging and multimedia phone by far.  What we like most about this phone is the improvements LG has made to the Verizon Wireless interface. Verizon Wireless believes, that users like to learn an interface and then find it useful on the next phone they buy. We don’t buy it. Phones are improving too fast, with too many new features every season, and users want a phone that makes sense. Maybe it made sense to bury the touted HTML browser under the “Get It Now: News and Info” submenu in the past, but now, that’s the last place we’d look.

The Bad: The external display only displays in monochrome and cannot be used as a viewfinder.  The included SureType keyboard is difficult to get used to and becomes frustrating after a time.  Also, the earpiece and speakerphone volume sounds low and muffled even when set to maximum. Also, despite having a camera, photo Caller ID is not supported.

The Bottom Line: The Blackberry Push technology undoubtedly gives this handset appeal, but otherwise it’s fairly mediocre. However the difficult keyboard and low volumes may cause buyers to think twice before purchasing.

The Bad: Although the phone has both an internal and external display, both are very small (less than 2 inches diagonally) leaving items on screen looking cramped and hard to read.  Also the external display cannot be used for photographic Caller ID.  The VGA camera provides lackluster picture quality.

The Bottom Line: This is an adequate phone for first-time buyers but what does give it great appeal is the inclusion of wireless connectivity, allowing the making of low cost VoIP calls and web surfing on pre-configured wireless networks.  However those wanting something with a little more ‘jazz’ may wish to look elsewhere.

The Bad: Despite a wide range of photographic options, the T409’s camera is disappointing with pictures appearing washed out and hazy.  The speakerphone also suffers from poor sound quality.

The Bottom Line: This phone’s greatest asset has to be, without doubt, the wireless connectivity which allows users to browse the web, make and receive VoIP calls thus saving money, particularly on long distance calls.  The phone is simple yet effective and is more than suitable for business and leisure consumers alike.

The Bad: The phone is very pricy for the feature set.  Both displays are hard to see especially in bright light.  The keys are small and rather flat, making dialling by feel difficult and causing frequent mis-dials.  Standby time is also disappointingly short, lasting just 3 days despite the rated 9.

The Bottom Line: This phone isn’t likely to win any beauty or technology awards anytime soon, and those wanting anything more than super call quality should probably look elsewhere.

The Bad: Lacking a QWERTY keyboard and with a rather cramped keypad, typing longer messages may be difficult for those with longer digits.  Adding additional memory is also a little cumbersome with the expansion slot resting underneath the battery.  Also the limitation of being able to view but not edit Word; Excel and PDF documents may be problematic for business users.

The Bottom Line: All in all this is a great offering for the modern mobile user with an ideal balance of features for both productivity and entertainment.  The long talk and standby times adds extra appeal as does the large 64MB internal ROM and RAM memory banks.