Christmas may be a time for many things, but for me, with the nature of this blog, it’s the time for me to write lots of “best of” posts. So, how about we start with one that might help you out if you’re stuck for a present for someone, since you’ve just got time to get an order in at most places, and have it despatched before Chrimbo.
Yes, it’s the category that pulled my bottom out of the fire a couple of years ago when me and the whole family banded together to get me mam’s present; it’s the top 5 Pay As You Go phones for Chrimbo, presented in an entirely subjective manner by me.
That’s how I roll…
Anyway, yes. Top five pay as you go mobile phones. And I’ve divided them into five main categories, to make this a bit easier on myself. Y’know, otherwise I’d have no real judging criteria to say which is best, would I? So yes, let’s begin with…
Best ultra-cheap PAYG phone
Anyone who’s read this blog before will know that one of my little personal crusades (of which I have so many) is championing the idea that everyone should have the phone they want, and if they don’t want a smartphone, they shouldn’t be forced into having one. And that means talking about uber-cheap, uber-simple phones.
Besides, I love the idea of buying a phone where the price is in the single digits. Ah but the winner of this category does even better than that, yes sirree, because there’s a PAYG phone that costs only 90p. So, since it costs less than a quid the winner is… the Nokia 1661!
Best value touchscreen non-smartphone
Some people don’t like smartphones, but a significant number of the people who don’t like smartphones do want a touchscreen phone. Which is fine, because there’s a load of touchscreen phones out there that aren’t smartphones, and they offer some smurfing good deals on pay as you go.
However, we have to pick a winner, and what we have here is the cheapest touchscreen non-smartphone on our site (at just under 45 quid), unless I missed one by not looking properly, which is always possible. However, I quite like this phone anyway, and since it’s also really nice to use (‘cos of the TouchWiz UI), the winner is the Samsung Genio Touch.
Best value feature phone
When you’re judging a feature phone, there’s two big features people always seem to look for: 1/ camera; and 2/ music player. Well, let’s not beat about the bush in this category, the winner is the LG Viewty Lite, and I’ll tell ya why: it’s the only phone in this price range (that I can find, anyway) that’s got a 5MP camera.
Now, again, I may have missed another one that has a 5MP camera, but since the LG Viewty Lite is absolutely no different to the original Viewty (seriously, all they did was rebadge it as the ‘Lite’ when they brought out the Viewty Pro), and since I adored the original Viewty, it wins.
Best value mid-range smartphone
Right, here we go, a category where you might be surprised by me recommending a phone I did a review on, where I said it wasn’t as good as the HTC Wildfire (yes, I’m recommending the LG GT540 Optimus, well spotted). But there is a very good reason why…
While I still maintain that the HTC Wildfire is a better phone, there is a crucial difference between the to that many people pointed out in the comments on that blog post I did. Y’see, the LG GT540 Optimus, at just under £100, is £120 cheaper than the Wildfire. That means it’s disgustingly good value, and that’s why it beats the Wildfire, here.
Best value top-end mega-uber-superphone
This final category turned out to be a hell o a lot easier to judge than I expected, because it turns out that one of the cheapest high-end superphones on pay as you go is also one of the best (yes, that surprised me, an’all). And no, it’s not the iPhone 4, fanboys, that costs 520 quid.
No, the winner is, surprisingly, the PAYG Samsung Galaxy S. Considering that the Galaxy S is one of the best smartphones out there, I’m stunned that it’s also one of the cheapest on pay as you go. Of course, all things are relative, so it still costs 390 quid, but if you want a superphone on pay as you go, then this is undoubtedly the one to go for!
And there we have it! That’s my run-down of what I reckon are the top 5 PAYG phones for Chrimbo 2010, although I have absolutely no doubt people will disagree with me. But that’s what comments sections are for, so off you go, it’s just down there, give us a shout, and let me know if you think I’m wrong (or right, either’s good).
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