Ten years ago, all you used your mobile phone was to yap and send short messages. But things changed dramatically as mobile companies wanted to offer users more services and usability. So besides cameras, one of the other features that they concentrated on was music as most handset users preferred to listen to audio.
Not a bad idea but most of such music phones are quite expensive. However, there are quiet a few phones that come in the budget price band also. Diwali has just commenced. It has brightened up not only our houses, surroundings and environment but also has enlightened our lives with new ray of hope and happiness. As a token on blessing and good luck, we gift our near and dear ones.
We’d like to celebrate the festive season by offering you ideas to add into your shopping list. Here are the top ten music handsets for the budget-conscious buyer that can bring melodies to your life:
The phones below are listed in an ascending order from low-cost music phones to middle-priced music phones.
Starting with Spice, we have chosen S-820 and X-1. Both these mobile phones feature Yamaha-amplified 3-D surround-sound, video player, record-and-play support and stereo Bluetooth.
The Spice S-820 sports a 1.76-inch 256K colors TFT color display, a 1.3 mega-pixel digital camera with 4x digital zoom, single touch operation, multi shot, night vision, wide screen video, Bluetooth connectivity, 56 onboard memory with up to 1 GB microSD support, WAP and GPRS capabilities, privacy lock feature as well as a one-touch access to Thomson Reuters. It supports MP3, MIDI, WAV and AMR music formats.
The Spice X-1 features a 2.4 inch display that comes with an auto rotate function, 23 MB phone memory with 2 GB expandable memory card that supports T-Flash Card, Java and Bluetooth connectivity, FM Recording, 2 megapixel camera and built-in Opera mini-web browser. It is compatible with WAP and GPRS connectivity options.
The price of the Spice S-820 is Rs. 5349 and the Spice X-1 carries a retail cost of Rs. 7,099.
From Samsung, we have selected F250 and Beat 450 mobile phones.
The Samsung F250 comes equipped with Windows Media Digital Rights Management (WM DRM) and open-standards OMA DRM (versions 1 and 2), Microsoft’s Media Transfer Protocol (MTP) along with 3GPP compliant playback as well as Microsoft’s PlaysForSure and Napster OTG. It also loads a natural 3D effect for headphones and features stereo-widening for true stereo reproduction, even on closely-placed speakers.
The other specs include a 2-inch TFT screen, a 20 MB embedded memory with support for microSD card, Bluetooth and USB connectivity as well as a 1.3 megapixel camera with video capabilities.
Coming to the second Samsung phone, the Symbian OS-powered Beat 450 makes use of the ICE power amplifiers by Bang and Olufsen for 3D surround sound and 3.5mm standard stereo audio jack. It has a dual slide design with unique Touch wheel key to store, access and juggle through songs. It also comes with a 2.4-inch 256K color TFT LCD display with QVGA resolution, 3G with HSDPA connectivity and Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP.
In terms of cost, the Samsung F250 and Beat 450 music phones carry a price tag of Rs. 7,699 and Rs. 14,799, respectively.
Next up are Sony Ericsson’s W580i and W660i music phones.
The W580i is a fully-featured mobile phone with Walkman Media player v2.0 with hosts of media player features, integrated speakers with optional external dual stereo speakers, shake-control and MusicDJ feature with built in instrumental sounds & rhythms to create their own polyphonic ringtone. It also includes a 2.4 inches screen, 2.0 megapixel camera, VideoDJ feature, Bluetooth and GPRS.
The W660i is installed with Walkman player 2.0, Mega Bass, MusicDJ, TrackID music recognition, MP3 music format support, built in FM radio with RDS, Stereo Bluetooth and hands-free speaker.
Additionally, the phone also provides other multimedia features such as 3G speed, an Access NetFront Web browser with Push Email, a 16 MB of internal memory with an expandable Micro M2 memory stick, a 2 megapixel with 2.5 digital zoom and a 2-inch display. The Sony Ericsson W660i music phone also sports a USB, Macromedia Flash Lite & SVG Tiny version 1.1 and comes pre-installed with 3D Java games and VideoDJ.
The Sony Ericsson W660i music handset costs Rs. 9,995 while the W580i Walkman phone retails for Rs. 10,995.
Now we have the very popular music ranges, the Nokia XpressMusic 5610 and N70 Music Edition.
The Nokia 5610 possesses an iconic 2-way spring loaded music slider key, visual radio, Nokia Music Manager, crystal clear Hi-Fi audio enabled by dedicated DAC33 audio chip, hands-free speaker, advanced music functions, radio with RDS, stereo Bluetooth and an ability to deliver 22 hours of music playback. It is compatible with a wide range of music file formats such as MP3, MP4, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR-NB and WMA.
It also features 3G technology, a 2.2-inch color display, a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, Bluetooth, micro USB connector, Java, Web 2.0 support, 20 MB built-in memory with expandable microSD card slot, S 40 user interface and dual LED flash.
The next music phone is the Nokia N70 that features Speaker Independent Name Dialing (SIND), an integrated hands-free speaker, dedicated music key, music management functionality for HS-41 headset adapter and RealPlayer media player.
Powered by the Series 60 OS, the N70 music edition also comes installed with other features that would lure the users such as a 2 megapixel camera and up to 20x digital zoom, 176×208 resolution display, Bluetooth minus Wi-Fi, GPRS and Nokia Push to talk.
Price wise, the Nokia XpressMusic 5610 and Nokia N70 Music Edition cost Rs. 14049 and Rs. 11,139, respectively.
Last but not the least, here are two multimedia phones by Motorola. The two phones are Moto Rokr U9 and E8. Both the Moto Rokr phones ensure to deliver a molded rhythm of many rhythms to offer music and not chaos.
Talking about the first preferred Motorola Moto Rokr phone, the U9 shows off its one-touch access to the library. It features Windows Media Player 11 that supports a variety of music files including Windows WMAv10 plus Janus DRM, MP3, AAC, AAC+ and AAC+ enhanced. It also has Innovative CrystalTalk technology for better call clarity, Stereo Bluetooth wireless technology, 25 MB internal memory with up to 4 GB microSD memory card slot support.
The Moto Rokr U9 has a 2.0 megapixel camera with 8x zoom, multi-shot feature, video capture and quality playback, enhanced “speaker independent†voice recognition, dialing and talking phone along with USB 2.0 for speedy transfers.
Finally, we come to the Moto Rokr E8.handset. It features ModeShift and CrystalTalk technology, FastScroll navigation wheel, Windows Media Player 11, access to MotoMusic, Stereo Bluetooth Class 2 with in-built speakers, a 3.5 mm stereo headset jack and music mode to deliver three-dimensional stereo. Some of the other essential attributes of the music phone include 2.0-inch QVGA 240×320 262K TFT display, a 2.0-megapixel camera with 8x zoom, multi-shot feature, video capture and playback and USB 2.0 Hi-speed support.
Motorola’s MotoRokr U9 has a price tag of Rs. 11,535 and the Moto Rokr E8 sells for Rs.13,999.
The price of these phones varies from retailer to retailer.
So here’s wishing you a Happy Diwali and a Prosperous New Year with a list of music phone of our choice that would bring harmony in your life. Hope you have a safe and a pleasant-sounding Diwali.
