Mobile Phones

The MOTOROKR EQ7 is an extremely versatile wireless stereo system. This UFO-shaped audio system provides A2DP Bluetooth audio streaming, a traditional audio-in jack and a wireless speakerphone for mobile phone conversations.

Taking into account its MOTOROKR branding and partnership with JBL, Motorola clearly considers the EQ7 first and foremost a music accessory. Although it's JBL branded, the EQ7 is distributed and sold solely by Motorola, so it's not really a JBL product.

The design is definitely eye catching. A nice touch is the gloss black edging surrounding the unit and the chrome volume buttons on the front. The anti-slip rubber on the bottom ensures the speaker remains firmly in place on a desk or table. On top, the black speaker grill hides four transducers, while a bass port is located at the rear of the unit. In addition to steaming A2DP audio, the EQ7 has basic playback controls, specifically volume, previous and next track and play/pause.

One of the best features of the EQ7 is its versatility. This unit is compatible with a whole range of devices, including iPods, notebook PCs, mobile phones that support A2DP and any device that supports a standard 3.5mm audio jack - including the iPhone and iPhone 3G.

A bare-as-bones handset offered on both pre-paid and post-paid plans, LG's KG370 is a mobile phone with minimal features. Although this stylish clamshell does the job, the poorly designed keypad and controls are a turn off.

The first aspect of the KG370 that stands out is its size. This tiny clamshell is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand and its lightweight frame means that it almost goes unnoticeable in your pocket. This has advantages and disadvantages - on one hand, the light weight means less bulk, but on the other hand the KG370 feels a little flimsy. The small size also means that this handset is very easy to lose.

The all-plastic frame of the KG370 is finished in a metallic grey and gloss black colour scheme. It won't turn heads, but the colour does give it a soft, subtle look. Unfortunately, despite being a clamshell, there is no external display for viewing caller ID and other details. Instead, the KG370 has a flashing status light for incoming calls or messages; this light annoyingly doesn't notify users of missed calls.

Many mobile phones these days ship with a bewildering variety of included extras that are often confusing, useless or add significantly to the retail price. Manufacturer Sagem has come up with a very basic mobile phone that is intended for those who don't require all the bells and whistles of current handsets. Billed as "the phone with common sense as a feature", the Sagem VS2 is marketed at non-technical users who are only interested in making phone calls and sending and receiving messages, and can only be used on Vodafone network (running on the Vodafone Simply platform)

The VS2 is quite large, somewhat bulky and simply designed, coming in a basic rectangular shape, with slight curves rounding out a sleek matt black finish. The VS2's keypad is somewhat uncomfortable, as the keys required a fairly stern press to activate.

The VS2 houses three selection buttons above the large display screen - Home, Contacts and Log. That pretty much rounds up the phone's feature set and unlike normal handsets there is no dedicated menu interface.

Almost identical in design to the F158, Telstra's F159 adds assisted GPS functionality, is ruggedised to an international standard and features the Telstra TalkNow application. The F159 is also water and dust resistant, making it an ideal companion for tradesmen.

The ruggedised candy bar design of the F159 certainly isn't very attractive, but it does the job. The orange and black F159 is dust and water compliant to international IP54 standards. Although we can't formally test these claims, we did drop the handset a few times on various surfaces (including concrete) and splashed water on it. It passed both of these tests with flying colours.

The design itself is notable, but the sheer size of this handset may be a hindrance. It's especially chunky and feels quite heavy in the palm of our hand. Despite the size, the display is quite small. The controls are impressive though - they are well spaced, comfortable and easy to press, making general browsing and messaging a pleasant affair. They are also quite large so they can easily be pressed wearing gloves, for example, if you are at work.

Combining functionality with a compact, stylish design, the HTC S730 keeps you in touch and productive while on the road. Much more than just a phone, its powerful features make light work of email, web and calls.

With the complete suite of Microsoft® Office Mobile applications you can open and edit documents while on the move, and the compact phone slides to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard, enabling fast typing and dialling.

Important information is just a glance away with the Live HTC Home™ screen, giving you an instant view of email, calendar, messages, missed calls and more. With email directly to your phone, super-fast internet access, and a full range of connectivity options, you can be sure to be kept in touch no matter where you are in the world.