Buying Guides -> Hardware -> Mobile phones

Budget Mobile Phones

Team CHIP | 06 March 2008

ULTRA BASIC

Suggested brands
Bleu 251x, Sony Ericsson J120i, Nokia 1208

Budget
Upto Rs 2,000

When selecting a cell phone, it’s not uncommon to be overwhelmed by the myriad available options. While multimedia and business phones are the most sought-after for their features, entry-level phones are ideal for those who want a budget phone strictly for communication. If you’re on a quest for a plain vanilla phone with bare minimum functions for calling and messaging, there are plenty of models available for under Rs 2,000. Most of these phones sport a candy bar form factor and come without any frills and fancies. The feature set includes reminder, alarm clock, calculator, and calendar. For around Rs 2,000 you can get a phone with a color display, support for polyphonic ring tones, wallpapers, and even FM radio. Instead of opting for a phone having monochrome display, we strongly suggest spending a few hundred bucks extra and going in for a phone with color display. Look out for large phone memory to store ample contacts and messages, and battery life of at least 6 hours. If possible get a feel of the device’s keypad and user interface. Ensure the buttons are sufficiently large, well spaced, and have good tactile response.

MID-RANGE

Suggested brands
Nokia 6030, Sony Ericsson K320i, Motorola Motoslvr L6

Budget
Rs 2,000 to Rs 4,000

If you’re looking out for something more feature-rich than an ultra-basic cell phone, take your pick from this category. These phones are priced around double as much as the ones from the previous category, but they are worth every penny. Value addition comes in form of features such as more storage space, larger screen, infrared port, data port, GPRS, MP3 playback, FM radio, and Java support. With these features you can backup and synchronize phone data, surf the Internet, listen to music, add Java games and applications, and do much more. There are plenty of options available in various combinations of features spanning the entire price band. So pick the one that meets all your requirements while fitting in your budget. Phones at the end of the spectrum even feature a VGA (640x480 pixels) camera. However, we suggest you don’t buy a phone solely for the camera as the results aren’t too clear. Finally, these phones compromise on the battery life for the additional features. Hence, ensure that the battery life is at least around 7 hours, or you’ll end up charging the phone everyday if you play around with the features too much.

BUDGET MULTIMEDIA

Suggested models
Nokia 3110 Classic, Sony Ericsson Z550i, Samsung X530

Budget
Rs 4,000 to Rs 6,000

Budget multimedia phones are high-end counterparts of mid-range phones. These phones are full-fledged entertainment devices equipped with all the features needed for sharing data wirelessly, listening to music, capturing images, and watching videos. For good multimedia experience don’t miss out on a 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth support, and memory expandability. Further, Bluetooth with A2DP and AVRCP compatibility would be a big bonus—you’ll be able to listen to and control audio playback with a compatible stereo Bluetooth headset. Also find out whether the phone has a media organizer for managing music and images. Look out for shortcut / programmable buttons. Make sure the buttons aren’t too tiny and crammed, especially in phones with big displays. The user interface should be intuitive without too many navigation levels, or you’ll have a tough time locating functions. Navigational aids like joystick and 5-way buttons make browsing much quicker. And don’t forget to check out the package contents—bundled earphones or memory card would make the deal sweeter.