Top 10 phones for May

Like April, we had a number of ties in our monthly Top 10 chart for May. The Nokia 6500 slide and Sony Ericsson W910i could be seen still battling it out for pole position, while the Nokia E51 and N82 shared the 5th position. LG's Viewty KU990 slowly made its way up the ranks, pitting itself against the Nokia N95 (8GB) for 7th spot. New to this list were the Samsung Soul and Nokia 3120 classic.

Note: Results are based on readership as well as data collected from retail outlets (Mobile Square and WhyMobile) and the major mobile operators in Singapore including:

MobileOne

SingTel

StarHub

	1.	Nokia 6500 slide   CNET Asia rating: 7.7 out of 10 The good: Solid build quality and one of the best sliders available; Carl Zeiss optics for the 3.2-megapixel autofocus camera; quadband GSM with dual-band UMTS; A2DP. The bad: Autofocus doesn't work in video mode; no backlight adjustment feature; phone doesn't auto keylock after closing the slider. The bottom line: The Nokia 6500 slide is an excellent basic camera-phone based on the S40 platform, though some tiny issues prevented it from getting a higher score. Review | See full specs | Rate this
	2.	Sony Ericsson W910i Walkman       CNET Asia rating: 7 out of 10 The good: Slim design; built-in motion sensor; large 2.4-inch LCD; HSDPA connectivity. The bad: Walkman button too small; poor location of connector port; no onboard 3.5mm audio jack; sub-par camera. The bottom line: The W910i is great for those looking to purchase a trendy music phone with a little bit of fun, but which doesn't lack in features, although it's a little pricey. Review | See full specs | Rate this
	3.	Samsung Soul   CNET Asia rating: 8 out of 10 The good: Classy design with solid build quality; excellent keypad; decent set of camera features; 3G with HSDPA; Bluetooth with A2DP; FM radio; microSD expansion card slot. The bad: Uses LED instead of Xenon flash; screen legibility suffers under direct sunlight; character limit in subject field when creating calendar appointments; below average battery life; sluggish picture browsing on the phone. The bottom line: The Samsung Soul doesn't do everything; there's no Wi-Fi or GPS for starters. But for everything else, there's plenty enough to enjoy. Review | See full specs | Rate this
	4.	Sony Ericsson W890i Walkman   CNET Asia rating: 8 out of 10 The good: Chic and slim design; brushed metal finish; improved usability; bundled with 2GB Memory Stick Micro M2; 3.5mm adapter accessory; HSDPA; Bluetooth stereo. The bad: Proprietary connector port on the left edge; M2 card slot behind battery cover; mediocre camera features. The bottom line: Design is clearly the focus on the W890i and it's where this Walkman truly shines. At the same time, we can't deny that the W890i is also a solid handset. If you can live with its mediocre camera, this Walkman phone is a keeper. Review | See full specs | Rate this
	5.	Nokia E51       CNET Asia rating: 8 out of 10 The good: Slim, solid design; stainless steel construction; multiple dedicated buttons and shortcut keys; excellent tactility; HSDPA, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth stereo A2DP; generous 130MB of onboard memory; snappy performance. The bad: Rose Steel version attracts fingerprints easily; preinstalled Quickoffice is read-only version; no front-facing camera for video calls; average image quality. The bottom line: Simple is good, and that's what the E51 is. It may not have a fancy design, but the E51 excels in nearly all other aspects with a truckload of connectivity features, good performance and attractive price point for an enterprise phone. Review | See full specs | Rate this