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This story was printed from CNET Asia.
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Top 10 phones for January

By Damian Koh
22/02/2008
URL: http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/mobilephones/0,39050603,62038074,00.htm

At first, we thought there was a mistake, but after checking through once more, we noticed an interesting lineup for January's Top 10 chart. Sony Ericsson bagged both the top and bottom positions of the list with the W910i and K810i, respectively, sandwiching a bunch of Nokias in between.

In fact, we had the Sony Ericsson W580i and the W960i also running for the last spot, but we gave it to the K810i eventually as the Cyber-shot had been on the chart more times than both the W580i and W960i combined over the past few months. New entrants for January's Top 10 comprise the Nokia 6500 classic and the 5310 XpressMusic. The chart now tips 8:2 in favor of Nokia. Scroll down for the full listing.

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


Top five | Next five mobile phones | Last month's rankings



Click here for a feature comparison table.
1.  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.

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2.  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.

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3.  Nokia N95 (8GB)    
 
CNET Asia rating: 8.2 out of 10
The good: Sleeker shade of black; better build quality; 128MB of RAM which is twice the amount compared with the earlier N95; 8GB built-in memory; larger capacity battery.
The bad: No expansion card slot; no lens cover on camera.
The bottom line: The N95 (8GB) is a great successor to the original N95 with most of the earlier issues addressed, making it one of the best and feature-packed smart phones available now.

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4.  Nokia 6300
 
CNET Asia rating: 8.3 out of 10
The good: Slim design; sharp color screen; easy-to-use keypad; slick-looking user interface that keeps it simple.
The bad: No auto-focus or flash on the camera; lack of 3G connectivity.
The bottom line: While this isn't the most advanced handset out there, it has a strong casing, a decent all-round feature set and an elegant, straightforward design. This is Nokia at its best.

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5.  Nokia 6120 classic
 
CNET Asia rating: 7.7 out of 10
The good: Series 60 platform; HSDPA; Bluetooth stereo; mini-USB port; 2.5mm audio jack.
The bad: Fingerprint database; no autofocus for camera; 2-megapixel image quality not impressive.
The bottom line: If you're hunting for an inexpensive 3G/HSDPA handset equipped with an overall decent set of features, this is it.

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Top five | Previous five mobile phones | Last month's rankings



Click here for a feature comparison table.
6.  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.

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7.  Nokia 6500 classic
 
CNET Asia rating: 7.3 out of 10
The good: Chic design; solid feel; dualband 3G; Bluetooth stereo A2DP; 1GB onboard memory.
The bad: Single micro-USB connector prevents multitasking; not autofocus camera; video calls not possible even with main camera; lacks FM tuner.
The bottom line: The 6500 classic is truly a great-looking model for users who just want a good and simple handset that works.

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8.  Nokia 5610 XpressMusic
 
First take
The 5610 is a sexy slider handset that comes in red and blue editions. It's a bit larger than the its little brother the 5310 (99mm tall by 49mm wide by 17mm thick; 110g), but it's still small enough to take on the go. It doesn't have the same side-mounted music buttons, but it does have a sliding control above the navigation toggle that activates the music player with one swipe. Also, the camera lens on the 5610's rear face has a flash.

First take | See full specs | Rate this
9.  Nokia 5310 XpressMusic
 
CNET Asia rating: 8.0 out of 10
The good: Slim, chic design; good sound reproduction; onboard 3.5mm audio jack; dedicated music controls; A2DP Bluetooth stereo; microSD card slot; crisp image quality.
The bad: Slow camera performance; average battery life; no 3G/HSDPA.
The bottom line: Despite its less-than-impressive camera performance, the 5310 XpressMusic is still one of the best-equipped music-phones in the market today.

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10.  Sony Ericsson K810i Cyber-shot
 
CNET Asia rating: 7.9 out of 10
The good: Auto-focus and xenon flash on camera; new and improved camera cover.
The bad: Keys are a little too small on the keypad; Web browser could be better; no killer extra features over predecessor.
The bottom line: It's a good camera phone, but it lacks the wow factor of its predecessors. If you already own a K800i then it's not worth upgrading, although others will want to check it out.

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