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Best phones of 2005. Version of Mobile-Review.com

Considering the totals of the past year in January has become an annual good tradition of our resource. And truly that looks logical, as despite the holiday hustle December is also full of new discoveries and models. Though, in the totals one should not consider models which appeared on the market in December, for users have only just received them and feelings of delight and admiration of the new toy are too fresh.

This is the third year we follow the rule to announce only the best from the best. Many awards in various editions make a reader get in a loss about what really deserves his attention. We try to avoid the problem and fully concentrate on the most interesting products.

In 2005 we tested about 300 GSM models and less than a half was reviewed on our site. All the conclusions are based on real experience of dealing with the phones but not their paper specifications.

The awards differ in colors and all the second or third positions (if we may call them this way) are encouraging (silvery and white icons). They only show between which models the competition for being the first took place but only the first place is a real award. The only and the main award is marked in yellow and a nomination is indicated.

The models stuck into the memory and the ones that passed by are marked with cheerful or sad faces.

When creating nominations we considered the things that bother a usual man and the things he is aimed at. And a Bestseller nomination comes to our minds. The models are evaluated very easily in this nomination since that's enough to look at the sales rates in every segment and choose the maximum functionality of the devices. Here users voted with a ruble and we only will announce the results. We left the low-end models behind the category since they have much higher sales than the devices of any other segment. In our turn, we tried to evaluate all the parameters and the way the model was accepted in the market (press reviews, users' feedback and the expectation of the device) and the way its sales grew or not after its appearance.

It would seem the word bestseller means the best price/quality ratio. And that's the reason users do buy the devices that become bestsellers. But this is true only in limited terms since the market rules play their roles. The models are usually not announced the way they should since the manufacturers sometimes lack production power. On the other hand the price/quality ratio is excellent. Due to the absence of any marketing efforts the models do not become bestsellers. And they are interesting for their classes from engineering point of view and considering a set of functions. Thus a Price/Quality nomination appeared. Here we commit our expert judgment and distinguish the best in all the parameters and price. Creating a model close to the ideal is possible but it'll cost like a sport car.

Leaving cheap models out of the Bestseller nomination we have crossed out many models at once. The nomination called Mass and Innovative is created for them. On the one hand we considered that innovation the models brought into the market (exclusively our estimation of the technologies) and compared our evaluations with the sales of the model. In difference to the first nomination that is not that much the analysis of a current market situation but our evaluation of new functions of this or that model that played its role. And they were confirmed with the sales.

The last nomination is Image. The name tells for itself, the most interesting fashion models stressing the owner's status are evaluated in this category.

Our devices may be divided this way according to the device segments:

Bestseller - business or fashion segments, maximum set of functions.
Price/Quality - the optimal set of functions.
Mass and Innovative - mass presented devices though having a raisin, innovations in their class.
Image - fashion, stylish phones.

Also the main and the most memorable models are indicated with smiles. It may be cheerful or sad, dull depending on our appraisal. We refused rewarding smartphones in a separate nomination again. Their number in the market certainly grew but the segment is still a niche one. Users select a device of two-three models and choosing the best one from this small list is not as interesting and right.

And now let's pass to rewarding after the description of the nominations.

Bestseller nomination

And again in 2005 smartphones failed to win over originally strong position of usual phones, due to their high functionality and relatively big size many customers compromised when selecting them. And that is why the major fight in this category involves usual phones. Sony Ericsson K750i made a bomb effect, this model not only repeated the two-year-old success of Sony Ericsson T610, but even surpassed the predecessor. This rather small device contains all thinkable functions of a usual phone - here is a 2MP camera, a memory card and an acceptable mp3 player, and an integrated radio with RDS. This model assigned a limit and other makers began reaching out for it. Even in 2006 the K750i will have no direct rivals, and comparable solutions will appear since the second quarter. Sony Ericsson K750i is an unconditional leader of the "Bestseller" nomination. And actually the maker even couldn't satisfy the demand, as the production could not keep up with the customers' wishes.

Motorola RAZR V3 follows the winner very closely. Having appeared in the end of 2004, it really created a furore, and it only gained popularity within the year 2005. The model has become an ancestor of fashion for "slim" models, and now all manufacturers aspire to create something alike. The increased number of available colours and great advertising made the model a bestseller n the true sense of the word.

It's an open secret that new form-factors attract people. And the previous year passed under a slider sign. Clamshells bring no innovation, candybars are classic and sliders were quite new to the customer. The company of Samsung has become the main manufacturer of such phones and here it launched out. Samsung D500 was the first company's model with the maximum possible number of functions and by the way in a slider form-factor. And even the D600, which appeared in the end of the year, haven't become such a revelation for the market despite better characteristics. And again demand for Samsung D500 was outgrowing supply. This model takes the third position.

Strangely enough that Nokia focused on smartphones so much that even gave way to other makers in a usual phone field. A stage-by-stage renovation of the 40th platform brought no significant break in 2005, and the release of the third edition becomes a new word, however this covers the models of the current year. An improved version of Nokia 6230i could have pretended on the bestseller's reward if it had a better camera and some functions were more interesting. But the company took a break in 2005. Although at the same time I should emphasize on such models as Nokia 6680/6681, Nokia N70. Despite high costs they achieved very good appreciation among users and got mass.

Price/Quality nomination

The company of Siemens with its С75 wins this reward. From year to year they offer the maximum functions for the minimal price in middle segment. Now models which were placed much higher a year before, now get the C index and become bestsellers of their price groups. The C75 was not an exception, only few models could compete with this device; however they lost due to the price.

The closest functional copy of the C75 is Sony Ericsson K500i, which at last got less popular due to the higher price. And anyway it rightfully deserves the second place.

Motorola C650 holds the third position. For many people it was the first device equipped with a colour screen and an integrated camera, for some time it took part in a serious competition with Siemens C75.

Image nomination

The company of Motorola impressed the customer with its slim phone concept so much, that not only users but manufacturers were fascinated, and thus a RAZR mania started. This was the only fashion phone, which attracted everybody's attention. We observed many attempts to borrow this or that design element, the appearance of entire product lines based on this phone. This model can be rightfully called the one that "changed the direction of mobile phone design in 2005". And submitting to such great influence, we award the first place in this nomination to the device. Motorola PEBL and Motorola SLVR represent interesting innovations of 2005; however they were produced on the market in too little quantities.

The company of Nokia renewed the premium segment and launched its Nokia 8800, which raised great interest of everybody. Even the high price of the model couldn't scare away real worshipers of the brand and ones who love to show off with an "expensive" device. This handset deserved high indexes in the "Image" category and took the second place.

Several models could have pretended on the third place simultaneously, but we think it belongs to Samsung E530. This one of those few models created specially for women and standing out for unusual design (which charms a customer), wide colour range and good plastic.

Mass and Innovative nomination

Smartphones gained customers for long as they provided a capability to view office documents. However in 2005 the monopoly of such devices came to its end. And the company of Samsung integrates Picsel Viewer into its phones, which allows viewing presentations, MS Word, MS Excel, and PDF files on the phone's screen. The presence of TV-OUT allows transfer of this data to any external device like a TV set or a projector. Now you do not need to have a notebook to hold a presentation, feel more freedom. Such solutions are to become mass and appear in product lines of various manufacturers in future.

Sony Ericsson K750i has all the rights to appear in this segment, as no other phone collected as many innovations as it did in the 2005. However the model faced a direct rival in its own product line, which name is W800i or a Walkman-phone. The reanimation of the Walkman brand could not pass unnoticed, and seriously many users feel the difference between the K750i/W800i, though the models are equal and differ only in earphones included into the packages. This marketing measure to promote equal phones even brought a new peculiarity to this phone - now many people consider it to be a serious device to listen to music. And that is mainly to the Walkman promotion.

Also the appearance of two models equipped with motion sensors and controlled by simple hand motion was quite unusual for the market. And it is the field where Samsung showed itself again by the introduction of Samsung E750/E760. Other functions are equal to Samsung D500 and similar company's models. This device takes the third place.