Nokia N-GAGE - SIM Free

Well, the big selling points are the Games, the Stereo Radio, the Stereo MP3 player, the Web Browser, the Email, the Video Player (which can handle full length films, although watching Gladiator on a 2 inch screen isn't that impressive), Bluetooth, the Image Viewer, Digital Ringtones (you can use an MP3 file or even record your own), the audio recorder, and about a million other things like Speakerphone, lots and lots of Symbian programs (calendar, address book, to do list, etc and you can download your own like an Instant Messenger type thing which is way way cheaper than text messages). If you download an emulator you can even run games from old machines like the Sinclair Spectrum. I actually bought this for the MP3 alone (it was the cheapest MP3 phone in the shop), and was very very very pleased to find all this other stuff. The MP3 was pleasantly surprising too, as larger and larger MMC memory cards have started appearing including a 1 gigabyte card which can handle hundreds of tracks (although that's ridiculously expensive right now cos it's just been released). You can also use your own headphones, or use the ones included which have a microphone to let you talk handsfree.

I also use my ngage as a camera phone, sort of. I have a digital camera which uses MMC cards, so I can take the memory card out of my camera, put it straight into the ngage and send photos as MMS or attached to emails.

The games were a bit uninspired last year but Tomb Raider was lovely (and I hadn't played it first time round) and there's lots of good stuff just appearing in the shops like Ashen and Tiger Woods (which is the first game to feature proper real time online play against other Ngage owners). The best one by far though has just recently been released, and it's called The Sims: Bustin Out. I just can't put it down, and I know how over the top that sounds but it's true, it suits the portable format really well. The online stuff works quite well too, shadow racing sounds dull but it isn't once you try it, but there's more in now appearing like real time multiplayer. The screen was a bit of a weird shape at the start but once you start playing the games you don't notice it at all. (It also works surprisingly well when you're writing text messages, the text is easy to read and doesn't look crowded at all.) The next game I'm most looking forward to massively multiplayer fantasy rpg strategy thing from Sega called Pocket Kingdom.

A downside on the games is the way you change from one to another. You have to switch the ngage off, take the battery out, remove the card, put in the new card, put back the battery, replace the cover, switch on. The cover IS very very easy to take off and on and you become very quick changing games, but this was a ludicrous design to use. Still, if you're playing The Sims you won't want to change games very often ;-)

Probably the biggest downside is the way you talk into it though. Yes, it's true, you have to hold it up to your head sideways with the spine against your ear, and you do feel self-conscious about it at the start. BUT... like all the other stuff you do get used to it, honestly, and if you're at home you can just switch it to the excellent speakerphone mode where you can pop it on a desk and chat to it like the person was in the room with you. Plus if you DO have to use it sideways, the hundreds you save compared to other Symbian phones will buy you some nice clothes to compensate for any loss of dignity ;-)

So, if you can try this out somehow, do it, because you might well be amazed. The email for example saves you loads in text message costs, the mp3 means you've always got a walkman with you, the web browser lets you surf the internet (or at least the XHTML bits), and the Sims is scarily addictive. I have never had a boring train journey since I got my ngage, it fills up time wonderfully.