Nokia 603

If you find the Nokia 603 familiar, it's because the handset shares its looks with the recently announced Nokia Lumia 710. Don't be confused though, as both phones are quite different. The Nokia 603 doesn't run Windows Phone 7--instead it comes packing Symbian Belle-- and has a retail price of around S$390 (US$299).

Upside

Nokia makes great hardware, and the Nokia 603 is a looker. Most smartphones these days use a generic black or white color scheme, but the 603 takes the prettier route with interchangeable back covers that come in six colors. If you're looking to stand out amidst a sea of black handsets, the Nokia 603 is your device.

Now, the Nokia 603 is an affordable handset at just S$390, which makes its 1GHz processor all the more impressive. It also comes with a 3.5-inch display with a resolution of 640 x 360 pixels, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and A-GPS.

The smartphone also has near field communications (NFC), which means you can read NFC tags or share information with other compatible handsets. Nokia had previously announced its NFC Hub service for businesses to create marketing collateral with such tags.

As it is a Symbian device, you'll be able to get Nokia Maps and Drive, which provides turn-by-turn navigation. Nokia Maps also lets you download maps to use offline while you're traveling in a foreign country.

Downside

The Nokia 603 doesn't run on Windows Phone 7--it will be using Symbian Belle. While the OS has its strengths and Nokia has promised to support it till 2016, the fact that Nokia will be focusing its efforts on Windows Phone 7 devices is something you can't ignore. That said, 2016 is still quite far away--the OS is still quite new and viable--and Nokia may continue to extend and develop for the OS past its deadline.

Outlook

If the fact the Nokia 603 will be running Symbian Belle does not put you off, and you want something that can read NFC tags, then this is probably the handset you are looking for. However, paying a little more (S$469) for the Lumia 710, which runs WP7 and faster hardware, may be the better option.