Top 10 phones for August

The good: Compact size; solid build; cool widgets interface; HSDPA; Bluetooth stereo; microSD expansion card slot.

The bad: Vulnerable to fingerprints; software can be improved; lacks Wi-Fi.

The bottom line: The F480 is a stylish touchscreen handset with a wealth of features, but its user interface could do with a little improvement.

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.

The good: Slim and trendy design; solid build quality; 3G with HSDPA; video-recording features; supports DivX up to VGA resolution; fun preloaded motion games.

The bad: Horrible control buttons; touch interface difficult to use; screen washes out in sunlight; glossy surfaces attract fingerprints; below-average performance for a non-smart phone.

The bottom line: It may be a stylish camera-phone with some entertainment features, but LG seriously needs to rethink the user interface of the handset, not just rely on pretty looks alone.

The good: Solid hinge; well-spaced keypad; Bluetooth stereo; HSDPA; 8GB onboard storage; FM transmitter; decent sound quality.

The bad: Fingerprint magnet; still no onboard 3.5mm audio jack; lacks camera features.

The bottom line: It may not outperform a dedicated music player, but the W980 is a Walkman that's great as a secondary (and fashionable) music device when carrying two players is just not possible.