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Unlocked GSM Phone
Reviews
Each section is ordered by review date. Scroll down for Windows Mobile, Nokia S60, Palm and BlackBerry reviews.
Feature and Fashion Phones
| Sony Ericsson W580i The new mid-level Walkman phone from Sony Ericsson is available from AT&T and unlocked from SonyStyle (we review both versions). This quad band GSM phone has EDGE for data and is small, really small. The slider design is sturdy and the curvy profile is attractive. It's available in white, black and gray and it has the usual full-featured Walkman phone music player, excellent audio quality, Music ID and an FM radio. The 2 megapixel camera takes quite good shots and there's a Memory Stick Micro slot to save photos and store music. |
Oct. 2007 |
|
| Sony Ericsson K850i The new flagship Cybershot phone from Sony Ericsson takes aim at the Nokia N95 with its 5 megapixel camera with autofocus lens and Xenon flash. This quad unlocked GSM import phone will work with any GSM carrier, and it has triband 3G UMTS and HSDPA that likewise will work anywhere in the world 3G is available (including the US on AT&T). The phone features touch controls, Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR with A2DP stereo Bluetooth, a Sony PSP-like media player, great music playback and a better than average feature phone browser thanks to Netfront on board. It also does email and push email with Exchange. Like the iPhone, it does that cool screen rotate when you turn the phone, but only in the Media app. |
Oct. 2007 |
|
| Sony Ericsson W810i The latest Walkman phone from Sony Ericsson not only holds more songs than an iTunes phone but it's got a great 2 megapixel camera as well. Looking more stately than the day-glow orange swiveling W600i, this phone is small, great looking and easy to use. It's a quad band GSM world phone with EDGE that's currently sold unlocked but will likely be picked up by Cingular in the US. It also has Bluetooth, an FM radio and Memory Stick Duo slot with 512 meg card in the box. Quite a lot in a small package! |
July & Sept. 2006 |
|
| Sony Ericsson K800i This import Cyber-shot camera phone earns its name with an excellent 3.2MP camera that features autofocus and a Xenon flash. The K800i has more than a camera, offering an MP3 player, Memory Stick Micro slot, FM radio, RSS reader and Bluetooth 2.0. It's a triband phone that's best for T-Mobile users in the US and it has GPRS for data. |
Sept. 2006 |
|
| Nokia
7270 The flip phone among
Nokia's Fashion Collection offerings, the 7270 has a definite
deco look crossed with contemporary touches. This GSM triband
phone is currently sold unlocked and runs on the 900/1800/1900
MHz bands. It has an FM radio, VGA camera and comes with
textile covers in both red and black. |
Aug. 2005 |
|
| Nokia 7280 A
simply glamorous and petit phone that's a member of Nokia's
Fashion Collection of art deco inspired phones. The phone
has a gloss black finish with white and red accents, and
weighs only 3 ounces. Not just about good looks, the 7280
has a VGA camera, Bluetooth and voice dialing which you'll
need since the phone lacks a number pad. Instead you'll use
voice dialing or the jog dial to enter numbers. This is a
GSM phone that supports the 900/1800/1900MHz bands and it
has GPRS and EDGE for data. |
March 2005 |
|
| Sony
Ericsson K700i This
phone follows in the fine tradition of the T610/T616 and
the T630. Like those very popular phones, it's very small
and light, features a built-in VGA camera that takes 640
x 480 pictures, Bluetooth, and an MP3 player. It's a triband
GSM world phone that supports GPRS for data, web and email.
It's available around the world, and from importers in
the US. |
Aug. 2004 |
|

Symbian
OS Phones (Nokia Series 60, S60, Series 80, Series 90 and UIQ)
| Nokia E66 We take a long, hard look at the US version of the E66, to be released this summer as an unlocked phone with US 3G HSDPA support. The E66 is a business slider with weekender good looks and portability. And it's got every feature commonly found on a high end phone: GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, and business email support. There's plenty of fun too with a video player, YouTube support, 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus lens and an FM radio. The E66 runs S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1 and has a few new tricks up its sleeve, including automatic screen rotation. |
June 2008 |
|
| Nokia N78 We take a look at the Nokia N78, otherwise known as the N78-3 and N78 NAM edition for the US. The N78 is a mid-tier NSeries smartphone with an impressive feature set including the latest S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 system software, GPS, 3 megapixel camera with autofocus Carl Zeiss lens, WiFi and US 3G. The successor to the wildly successful N73 has a lot more to offer, yet manages to keep the same size. We like the flush QVGA display and minimalist clean looks, but this gloss phone won't stay clean without a cloth. |
June 2008 |
|
| Nokia E51 This E Series business smartphone looks more like a sexy feature phone. It's sold unlocked in the US by major retailers and is a quad band GSM world phone with non-US 3G. It's super-thin with a 2" QVGA display, 2 megapixel camera and Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR. There's WiFi for fast data, and support for most popular personal and corporate email including BlackBerry Connect. This affordable S60 phone dishes out some fun too with a capable music player, A2DP, Real Player and an FM radio. |
May 2008 |
|
| Nokia N95 8 Gig (N95-4) The fourth time around, the Nokia N95 is still looking good! When the original N95 came out a year ago it wowed pretty much everyone with its huge laundry list of cutting edge features, topped with a 5 megapixel autofocus camera. Flash forward to today and we've had the US N95-3, the Euro 8 gig model and now the US 8 gig N95 with US 3G HSDPA and a US warranty. The phone loses the microSD card slot and replaces it with 8 gigs of flash storage and has the latest firmware with a faster camera and other tweaks. The display size is upped to 2.8" and the phone has the usual N95 goodness: GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, FM radio, 2-way slider, music player and more. |
April 2008 |
|
| Nokia 6120 Classic Who says a Nokia S60 3rd Edition smartphone has to be expensive and large? The 6120 Classic is an unlocked quad band GSM phone that's very small, quite attractive and sells for less than $300 from online importers (no contract required). The 6120 has EDGE, dual band 850/2100MHz 3G, a 2 megapixel camera, sharp 2" QVGA display and Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP stereo headset support. Not bad and worth a look if you want a small smartphone and don't need the pricey bells and whistles like WiFi, a high end camera or GPS. |
Oct. 2007 |
|
| Nokia N95-3 This charmingly named smartphone is the new and improved US version of the N95 that's now called N95-1. Nokia didn't just re-package the N95 for the US and add the US 3G bands, they re-worked the phone, tweaking the original N95's few shortcomings away. The N95-3 is designed for the US market and is currently available at the NY and Chicago Nokia Flagship stores and online from a few retailers. It supports US HSDPA for fast wireless data, improves the GPS, quadruples available RAM, increases battery capacity and adds a soft-touch finish. The N95-3 remains one of the most capable GSM smartphones on the market with a 5MP autofocus camera, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR, GPS and an FM radio. |
Oct. 2007 |
|
| Nokia N95 This smartphone has every feature in the book, but its claim to fame is its 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss autofocus lens. If you thought the N73 was good, imagine a phone that takes better photos than the N73 and videos on par with the Nokia N93. That's just the start: this unlocked quad band GSM phone has a stunning QVGA display, two-way slider design, WiFi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR, integrated GPS, strong multimedia features and it's both compact and attractive. It syncs with Windows and Macs, has full PIM apps and Office viewers. The N95 has Euro-3G (not compatible with US 3G) and EDGE for data. It's sold unlocked directly by Nokia USA as well as importers. |
April 2007 |
|
| Nokia N91 This convergence device wants to be your phone, PDA and iPod. It features a 4 gig hard drive which can hold approximately 1,000 tunes, great playback quality and a standard 3.5mm headphone jack so you can use your favorite headphones. If that isn't enough, it's a powerful smartphone running Symbian OS 9.1 and Nokia's S60 3rd Edition software, has a 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, WiFi and a slick stainless steel finish. It's a GSM triband phone with EDGE and Euro 3G that's sold unlocked by Nokia and importers. |
Sept. 2006 |
|
| Nokia N73 This smartphone is a photographer's dream. Now there's no tradeoff between a savvy business phone and one that can take simply excellent photos and videos. The N73 features a 3.2MP camera with Carl Zeiss autofocus lens and it can take some of the best photos among any high end camera phone on the market. Though the phone also plays MP3s, has an FM radio and does a great job playing video on its stunning 240 x 320 display, it's not just about multimedia. It runs Symbian OS 9.1 with Nokia S60 3rd Edition and has capable PIM applications, MS Office and PDF viewers and more. It's a GSM quad band world phone with EDGE and Euro 3G that's sold unlocked for use with any GSM carrier in the US. |
Aug. 2006 |
|
| Nokia E61 Brains and good looks: what a combination. The Nokia E61 proves that business phones can be beautiful. Its metal, sleek silver casing has that thin is in look which helps the Moto Q thrive, but the Nokia adds WiFi and BlackBerry Connect support. This quad band GSM world phone has EDGE and Euro 3G for data, Bluetooth, a really sharp landscape QVGA display, great battery life and a QWERTY keyboard. It's not offered by any US carrier, but importers in the US offer it at surprisingly reasonable prices unlocked. Definitely worth a look if you want more style and multimedia capability than BlackBerry offers and you feel that Palm OS is a bit too dusty. |
Aug. 2006 |
|
| Nokia N80 Who says good looks and great photos aren't for smartphone users? One of Nokia's flagship smartphones in their Nseries, the N80 boasts a good 3MP camera with flash, really great looks and a small size with a slider design. The phone runs S60 3rd Edition on Symbian OS 9.1 with powerful PIM applications, syncing, Office viewers and a host of multimedia goodness. The Nokia has an FM radio, video playback, PictBridge support, Bluetooth, WiFi and an amazing 352 x 416 pixel display with 262K colors. It's a quad band GSM phone with EDGE and Euro-3G that's sold by importers in the US. |
Aug. 2006 |
|
| Nokia N90 Thanks to Nokia, if you want a smartphone that can take a darned impressive photo, you can have it. While most smartphones and PDA phones have rudimentary cameras, the N90, released in the fall of 2005, has one of the best 2MP cameras on the market. It takes sharp, colorful photos and smooth video. It's a Symbian OS phone running S60 2nd Edition and it has full syncing capabilities, email, web and PIM applications. Though this triband phone isn't officially offered by any US carrier, some dealers sell it with a T-Mobile contract at a hefty discount. It's sold unlocked for use with any carrier. |
April 2006 |
|
| Nokia 9300 An
ergonomic delight as a phone and PDA. Closed it looks like
a large candy bar phone, open it's like a mini notebook. This
triband GSM phone runs Symbian Series 80 and has full support
for PIM, Office, web and email. It has GPRS and EDGE for
data and a sharp widescreen color display. It's offered by Cingular in the US. |
Sept. 2005 and March 2006 |
|
| Nokia 9500 This giant among phones looks like a candy bar phone until you flip open the lid and transform it into a micro notebook with QWERTY keyboard. It's a GSM triband phone that supports the 900/1800/1900Mhz bands and it has GPRS and EDGE for data. If that's not interesting enough, it has WiFi, a lovely 640 x 200 transflective display, Bluetooth and runs the Symbian OS with Nokia's Series 80 user interface. |
March 2006 |
|
| Nokia 7710 The
first and last Symbian Series 90 smartphone is both a PDA
and a phone. Not only that, it claims to be a multimedia
powerhouse. This triband GSM device is available only through
importers in the US and supports both GPRS and EDGE for data.
It has a 3.5" 640 x 320 touch screen, lots of memory,
Bluetooth, an MMC slot and a suite of Office, PIM and Internet
applications. |
July 2005 |
|
| Nokia N-Gage
QD This unique device is a GSM
mobile phone, smartphone with PIM apps and application expandability
and most interestingly, a handheld gaming device. It's compact
enough to carry with you, and works surprisingly well as
a phone while offering excellent gaming ergonomics. And it's
a smart fella, running the Symbian Series 60 OS. Add Bluetooth
and a hot swappable MMC slot for games and expansion and
you've got the QD, head and shoulders above the original
N-Gage. Not bad for $199 or less! |
Feb. 2005 |
|
| Nokia 7610
Smartphone This Symbian
Series 60 phone sports a lovely design, has good ergonomics
and a very impressive 1 megapixel digital camera. Add in
the usual Nokia Series 60 features like Bluetooth, great
reception and reliable operation and you've got a winner.
This phone has been out in Europe for several months and
is now reaching US shores where Cingular is offering it. |
Nov. 2004 |
|
| Siemens SX1 Here's
a rare find: a Symbian Series 60 phone that's not made by
Nokia. Since it runs Series 60, it qualifies as a smartphone,
offering PIM apps, MP3 playback, bluetooth and more. It's
a GSM tri-band world phone with GPRS for data. Add to that
a VGA camera and one of the oddest designs you'll find in
a production phone and you've got the SX1. |
July 2004 |
|
| Sony
Ericsson P900 The
successor to the P800 offers just about every feature you
could want in a smartphone: GSM/GPRS world phone service,
Internet browsing, email, full featured PIM apps, Bluetooth
and a VGA camera. It runs Symbian OS 7 and UIQ 2.1. The
keypad flips open to reveal a large touch screen color
display. |
March 2004 |
|
| Sony
Ericsson P800 This
much anticipated smartphone runs Symbian OS 7, has a touch
screen display, an integrated VGA camera and runs on GSM
networks anywhere in the world. The dial pad flips open
to reveal a large color display suitable for web browsing,
email and more. Discontinued. |
June 2003 |
|

Windows Mobile Professional - Pocket
PC Phone Edition Models
| Toshiba Portege G810 It's a Portege, but it's not a Toshiba notebook. This is Toshiba's latest Windows Mobile Professional 6.1 phone with a flush touch screen and custom touch user interface software. It looks beautiful, fitting in with the LG Prada, Touch Diamond and other recent slate-design touch screen phones. It's an unlocked quad band GSM world phone with worldwide 3G HSDPA and HSUPA that plays nicely on AT&T's HSDPA network. Though fairly compact and light, it's got a laundry list of high end features including GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR, a 3 megapixel autofocus camera and FM radio. This 400MHz Pocket PC phone is offered by importers in the US. |
July 2008 |
|
| HTC Touch Diamond Here's our full review of HTC's flagship Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional GSM phone featuring TouchFLO 3D. The Diamond sports a very innovative and attractive UI that makes you feel like you're not using Windows Mobile (for the most part a good thing). Beyond the new interface, the HTC Diamond has jaw-dropping good looks and it's amazingly thin, small and light. Yet somehow HTC managed to fit 4 gigs of flash storage, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, non-US 3G and a 3 megapixel autofocus camera. The only drawback is a biggie: the Touch Diamond lacks the 850MHz US GSM band and there's no US 3G support. But HTC tells us a US version will follow in the next few months. |
June 2008 |
|
| HTC Touch Dual US version This is the US version of the Touch Dual, currently offered by Best Buy with no contract. The Dual is a quad band GSM phone with US 3G HSDPA and a slide-down 20 key QWERTY keyboard that uses predictive text. It offers many improvements over the original GSM HTC Touch including a 2x faster 400MHz processor, 128 megs of RAM, 256 megs of ROM, Windows Mobile 6.1 and a 2 megapixel autofocus camera. The Touch Dual has HTC's TouchFLO user interface, matured and more responsive since the Touch first launched a year ago, and we like it quite a bit. |
June 2008 |
|
| HTC Advantage X7510 The not bigger (thankfully) but somewhat better HTC Advantage should be out next month. We got our hands on a final hardware version with not quite final software for this review. The X7510 is a refresh of the Windows Mobile mini-computer with a VGA 5" touch screen display, GPS, quad band GSM, triband US-friendly HSDPA 3.5G, WiFi, Bluetooth and a 3MP camera. What's new? The tiny hard disk is gone and has been replaced by a 16 gig flash drive, the OS is now Windows Mobile 6.1 and the removable keyboard has been redesigned. The X7510 will only be available through importers in the US unlike last years's X7501 and as ever, it's the MacGyver of mobile devices, doing most everything well. |
May 2008 |
|
| E-TEN Glofiish X650 The non-3G sibling to the Glofiish X800 features a more basic industrial design that harks back to the E-TEN Glofiish X500+. Though slim and light for a Windows Mobile Professional Pocket PC phone, the X650 packs in every popular feature including a VGA display, SiRF III GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, a good camera and an FM radio. The X650 is a quad band GSM phone with EDGE for data that's sold unlocked by a variety of importers. It has a 500MHz CPU, 256 megs of flash memory and an SDHC microSD card slot. |
April 2008 |
|
| ASUS P527 The P527 is an unlocked GSM Pocket PC phone that's sold in the US. It features an integrated SiRF III GPS, and is available with ASUS Go navigation software and maps of North America on a microSD card. The P527 isn't offered by a US carrier, but is sold by a few US retailers (mostly online). It's a quad band GSM Windows Mobile 6 Professional phone with EDGE for data and it has WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR. It has a 2 megapixel camera with autofocus lens and a microSD card slot that supports SDHC high capacity card. The ASUS runs on a 200MHz TI processor with 64 megs of RAM, which means it's not the fastest kid on the block. The P527 is one of the few PPC phones with a hardware number pad and true candybar phone design. |
March 2008 |
|
| Sharper Image TSI101 Who'd think you could visit your local mall and come out with an unlocked GSM Windows Mobile 6 Professional PDA phone? Sharper Image has gotten into the unlocked GSM phone business, and we take a look at their Windows Mobile Pocket PC phone that works with any GSM carrier's SIM. There's a catch though- the TSI101 is missing one US band, the 850MHz band used by AT&T, so don't get your hopes up if you're an AT&T customer. T-Mobile customers might want to check out this triband phone with EDGE for data. It's got the usual QVGA color touch screen, a GPS, 2 megapixel camera and Bluetooth. In fact,SI includes a mini Bluetooth headset in the box. |
Feb. 2008 |
|
| E-TEN Glofiish X800 Yet another swiss army knife of a Windows Mobile Professional phone from E-TEN. The X800 is the first to sport 3G with triband HSDPA that works in the US. Not only that but it has a VGA display, WiFi, Bluetooth, a 2 megapixel autofocus camera, front-facing videoconferencing camera, an FM radio and a SiRFstar III GPS. Whew. This relatively slim and pocketable Pocket PC phone is sold unlocked and its quad band GSM radio works worldwide. Well worth a look if you want everything but a hardware keyboard. |
Jan. 2008 |
|
| HTC Advantage X7501 While PDA phones have morphed into phones, or tried to, in the past few years, HTC tries something novel and useful: a PDA phone that's firmly rooted in handheld computing. Looking like a tiny notebook, the HTC Advantage X7501 runs Windows Mobile 6 Professional on a 624MHz processor with 128 megs of RAM, 256 megs of flash ROM and an 8 gig microdrive. It has a VGA display, VGA-out for TV viewing and presentations, detachable QWERTY keyboard, a 3 megapixel autofocus camera, Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi and a full GPS inside. Whew! And there's a quad band unlocked GSM radio with EDGE and triband HSDPA 3G for voice and data. This is the US version, due for imminent release at US retail outlets. A viable and interesting mobile computing alternative to UMPCs and micro PCs. |
July 2007 |
|
| E-TEN Glofiish X500+ The VGA version of the Glofiish X500 runs Windows Mobile 6 Professional and features a SiRF Star III GPS. Slim and pocketable compared to other VGA Pocket PC phones, the X500+ has everything but the kitchen sink: an unlocked quad band GSM phone with EDGE for data, WiFi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR, 2 megapixel camera with business card reader and an FM radio. |
July 2007 |
|
| HTC Touch A small, light and simply elegant Windows Mobile Professional phone. Its claim to fame is a touch screen that's optimized for finger and gesture use, so you need not use the stylus as often. The Touch is a triband 900/1800/1900MHz unlocked GSM phone, with an 850MHz version coming later this year. It has Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP stereo support, WiFi 802.11b/g and a 2megapixel camera. The Touch runs on a 201MHz TI OMAP processor and it has EDGE for data. |
June 2007 |
|
| E-TEN Glofiish M700 Take the recently reviewed Glofiish X500 and add a side-sliding QWERTY keyboard and you've got the M700. This "everything but the kitchen sink" PDA phone has WiFi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR, a 400MHz Samsung CPU, a 2MP camera with flash, an FM radio and best of all, a SiRFStarIII internal GPS. This quad band GSM world phone has EDGE for data and is sold unlocked for use with any carrier. |
March 2007 |
|
| i-mate JAQ3 The second Pocket PC phone to sport both a front-facing static keyboard and a QVGA landscape touch screen display (the JAQ was the first). The JAQ3 is a quad band phone with EDGE that's sold by importers unlocked for use with any GSM carrier. It has a very good QWERTY keyboard, WiFi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth and a 2 megapixel camera. The uber-thin JAQ3 looks like a super-sized Samsung BlackJack MS Smartphone, which is a compliment, though its width and height may stretch your pocket. |
Jan. 2007 |
|
| HTC P3300 and XDA Orbit These two phones are variations of the HTC Artemis. Though they have different casings, they're identical inside. They are Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC phones and the HTC P3300 is sold unlocked while the XDA Orbit is offered by O2 in Europe. Features include a very compact design, internal GPS, quad band GSM phone with EDGE for data, a 2MP camera, WiFi and Bluetooth. We got a hold of both models for this review. |
Jan. 2007 |
|
| E-TEN Glofiish X500 The X500 wants to be your everything. It's a Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC, a quad band GSM phone and a GPS. Featuring a PDA-like design, the Glofiish X500 features an internal SiRF III GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, EDGE for data, a 400MHz CPU and a 2 megapixel camera. It's sold unlocked by importers in the US and will work with any GSM carrier. |
Jan. 2007 |
|
| HP iPAQ hw6915 While the iPAQ hw6515 didn't meet our view of perfection, HP's new Windows Mobile 5 model, the hw6915 comes pretty close. This Pocket PC has a strong quad band GSM mobile phone, full PDA, WiFi, Bluetooth and a good GPS inside. No external antennas either, despite the 4 wireless radios inside. It runs on a 416MHz XScale processor, has 128 megs of flash ROM and a very good QWERTY thumb keyboard. Release date estimate: June 2006. |
May and Oct. 2006 |
|
| i-mate JAMin This follow-up to the popular i-mate JAM keeps the super-compact design while offering many upgrades including a 2MP camera, more memory, Windows Mobile 5, WiFi and a quad band GSM radio with EDGE for data. That's a lot of features packed into one of the smallest Pocket PC phones on the market! It's sold unlocked for use with any GSM carrier in the world. |
May 2006 |
|
| E-TEN G500 Need a shot of triple convergence? The E-TEN G500 is a Pocket PC, quad band GSM phone and a GPS in one. This kissing cousin to the E-TEN M600 we reviewed a few months back, is compact yet it has a SiRF Star III GPS, 1.3MP camera, Bluetooth 2.0, a Mini SD slot and a 400Mhz processor with plenty of memory. Those of you who weren't wow-ed by the iPAQ 6515's lower resolution square screen and slower performance will find the G500 compelling. The G500 is sold unlocked for use with any carrier. |
April 2006 |
|
| E-TEN
M600 A very compact Pocket PC phone running
Windows Mobile 5.0. It's a quad band phone that's unlocked
for use with any carrier and it has GPRS for data. The
device has it all: 1.3 megapixel camera with flash, Bluetooth
1.2, WiFi and an SD slot supporting SDIO. This 400 MHz
Pocket PC is one of the fastest Windows Mobile 5 devices
we've reviewed so far. |
Dec. 2005 |
|
| i-mate
K-JAM This unlocked GSM Pocket PC phone runs
Windows Mobile 5.0 and has a slide-out thumb keyboard.
It's a quad band phone supporting all GSM networks in the
world and it has both GPRS and EDGE for data. It's also
got Bluetooth 1.2 and WiFi to keep you connected to most
anything, anywhere. Throw in a 1.3MP camera with LED flash
and you've got the K-JAM. This phone is sold unlocked for
use with any carrier. Also known by its code name, the
HTC Wizard. |
Nov. 2005 |
|
| BenQ P50 The P50 was billed as the "Treo killer" when BenQ first showed it off back in 2004. Though it took quite a long time to hit the market (too late to eclipse the Treo), this quad band GSM PPC phone has some strong points: front-facing QWERTY keyboard, WiFi, Bluetooth, a fast CPU and it's unlocked for use with any GSM carrier. It runs Windows Mobile 2003SE rather than the current Windows Mobile 5 operating system. |
July 2006 (released in 2005) |
|
| E-TEN
M500 This compact Pocket
PC phone running Windows Mobile 2003SE really wowed us.
It competes with the i-mate JAM in size and features, and
just might win. It has a bright 2.8" transflective
display, 400 MHz processor, 135 megs of available memory,
Bluetooth and a 1.3 megapixel digital camera. It's both
a Pocket PC and a quad band GSM world phone with GPRS for
data. Though sold only by importers in the US, the M500
is reasonably priced and is sold unlocked for use with
any carrier. |
July 2005 |
|
| i-mate
JAM Who says a Pocket
PC phone has to be huge? The JAM is the darling of many
thanks to its small size, elegant looks and strong feature
set. Similar in size to the very portable and popular Palm
OS Treo 650, the JAM has a 2.8" transflective display,
416 MHz Intel XScale processor, Bluetooth and a 1.3 megapixel
digital camera. It's a GSM phone with GPRS for data, and
we review the 850/1800/1900 MHz version which targets the
US. Though offered by importers rather than US carriers,
the phone is reasonably priced and worth a look! |
June 2005 |
|
| E-TEN
P300B This
Pocket PC Phone runs Windows Mobile 2003 Phone Edition
and is a GSM world phone that works on the 900/1800/1900MHz
bands. Though not offered by any US carrier, FutureCom
Global will begin selling it in the US for $499, unlocked
with no contract required. It's a bit smaller than other
Pocket PC phones since it has a 2.8" display rather
than the standard 3.5" display. The P300B has integrated
Bluetooth, a 200MHz processor and can display 4,096 colors. |
June 2004 |
|
| XDA
II Wow! The most powerful
Pocket PC phone currently on the market. This 400 MHz device
combines a GSM mobile phone with a Pocket PC and runs Windows
Mobile Phone Edition 2003. It has a whopping 128 megs of
RAM, Bluetooth, a VGA camera and an SD slot that supports
SDIO. Though no carrier in the US currently offers the
XDA II (also sold as the i-mate and MDA II overseas), it
is available from importers unlocked, and will run with
any GSM provider's SIM. |
March 2004 |
|

Windows Mobile Standard - Microsoft
Smartphone Models (these
are not Pocket PCs and don't have touch screens)
| HTC S630 The follow-up to the HTC S620 (aka T-Mobile Dash) looks quite similar but it adds 3G HSDPA, a 2 megapixel camera, doubles the clock speed and weighs less. This unlocked GSM Windows Mobile 6 Standard edition smartphone is sold by importers and online retailers rather than US carriers. It's a quad band GSM world phone with triband HSDPA 3G, so it will work anywhere in the world GSM service is available. Like the Dash, it's slim, sexy and sports a QWERTY thumb keyboard. In the US it offers competition for the Samsung BlackJack, various recent BlackBerry models and the Motorola Q9. It has a QVGA display, WiFi, Bluetooth and a 400MHz CPU. |
Sept. 2007 |
|
| HTC S710 The first Windows Mobile 6 smartphone out the door from HTC is a winner. This phone is about the same size as the T-Mobile SDA yet it sports a side-sliding QWERTY keyboard like the HTC TyTN (Cingular 8525) and other popular Pocket PC phones. But this is a smartphone, running what's now called Windows Mobile Standard Edition. It has Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi 802.11b/g, a good 2MP camera and a QVGA display with LED backlighting that operates in both portrait and landscape modes. The S710, otherwise known by its codename, the Vox, is a quad band GSM phone with EDGE that's sold unlocked for use with any GSM carrier. |
April 2007 |
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| T-Mobile Dash and HTC S620 One of our favorite smartphones. The Dash and its unlocked near-twin the HTC S620 came out at the end of October. This super-slim and attractive quad band GSM Windows Mobile Smartphone has a very usable QWERTY keyboard and a landscape 320 x 240 pixel display that's just fantastic. It's got EDGE for data, WiFi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 and a 1.3MP camera. Certainly one of this year's hot MS Smartphones. The Dash sells for a modest $199 with contract from T-Mobile and the S620 will set you back a few hundred more. |
Nov. 2006 |
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| Samsung i320 This Motorola Q killer is smaller, sleeker and faster than the fabled Q. Alas it's not offered by US carriers but you can buy it from importers unlocked for use with any GSM carrier. This triband phone has EDGE, Bluetooth and a wickedly fast 416MHz Intel XScale processor. And let's not forget a small but very usable QWERTY keyboard and a decent 1.3 megapixel camera with flash. |
Sept. 2006 |
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| QTEK 8500 This is one of several versions of the device code-named HTC STRTrk (Star Trek for those who like their vowels). It's one of the few clamshell MS Smartphones and it does bear a resemblance to its namesake, the Star Trek communicator. This is a Windows Mobile 5 quad band GSM phone with EDGE for data. It has a 1.3MP camera, Bluetooth and is sold unlocked by importers in the US. It's the kissing cousin to the i-mate Smartflip and Cingular 3125. |
Sept. 2006 |
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| i-mate
SP5m One of the first
Windows Mobile 5 Smartphones to hit the market, the SP5m
is available overseas and through importers in the US.
It has a quad band GSM radio that will work anywhere GSM
service is available, EDGE, GPRS, WiFi, a 1.3MP camera
and front buttons that make MP3 playback a natural. |
Nov. 2005 |
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| Orange
SPV E200 This 2nd generation
MS Smartphone runs the new 2003 operating system. It's
sold by carriers in Europe and other countries overseas,
but not in the US. You can buy it from several importers
in the US, and it works fine on US GSM networks. This is
a candy bar phone with a VGA camera, Bluetooth and a wonderful
display. If you're looking for a camera, BT or the latest
OS, check this out! It's also sold as the i-mate Smartphone
2 and the XPhone. |
May 2004 |
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