Mobile Phone News:

As anyone who knows me, or has read even a tiny fraction of my blog posts, will know, I love gadget-y mobile phones. Always have, always will. So, it may surprise you that today’s posts is not about technical phones. In any way, shape or form.

This all came about because last week, I bought my auntie a new phone for her birthday. I can be confident that she won’t read this and spoil the surprise, as she has barely even HEARD of the internet, never mind used it. With that in mind, you can imagine the type of phone she needs (currently an old Ericsson T28s, which is about smurfed).

“Right,” says I, “I work for a mobile phone place, let’s see what I can get her!”

In the end, I ordered her a Sony Ericsson J110i (if you want to know the reason why, look at the price of it, right now, as I type this blog post. £2.50! Gawd knows how they can even manufacture it for that price!) and waited for it arriving.

Got the phone.

Opened the box.

Not expecting much.

Turned it on.

Whoa! I love the little thing!!

I mean, for just over two quid, you can’t really whack any mobile phone (especially this bad-boy, as it out-cheaped the F3, an amazing feat in itself!) Fact is, though, that it’s just lovely with it. Nice to hold, an absolute doddle to use, nice clear speaker, and so on. Oh, and it has the single brightest keypad I’ve ever seen on a phone. Seriously, look again at the pic up there. Damn thing nearly burnt my retinas out!

All of that got me thinking… what ARE the top ten ultra-budget super-cheap mobile phones in existence? To answer that, I had to lay down 2 ground rules:

1. No phones dearer than twenty quid.

2. No phones with cameras. BASIC phones only!

With that in mind, I set about my task… and here they are, in no particular order!

Sony Ericsson J110i

As already mentioned, dead cute, dirt cheap, and does exactly what it says on the tin!

Motorola F3

Better known as the Motofone, this is Motorola’s uber-cheap offering, the one that forgoes a traditional screen altogether, using e-paper, instead. Cheap, cheerful, and the only downside is the fact the screen is a pig to read in the dark.

Nokia 2310 Red

Nokia’s first entry into our cheap mobile phone chart, but it won’t be its last! This one sails dangerously close to not being in the list, as it actually has a ‘feature’ (FM Radio), but since it’s only a tenner, I’ll let it go.

Samsung C300

It’s cheap, it’s slidey, it’s Korean. It’s the Samsung C300!

Nokia 2310 White

Now, you may be wondering why there are two separate 2310’s in this top ten, but the answer’s simple: Nokia make so many damn colour variants of it, I was making a point!

Nokia 2610

Oooh, another one that nearly didn’t make it in, since it has a feature, which isn’t allowed. I’ll let it go, though, because, truth be told, I’ll run out of mobile phones before I reach ten, if I don’t include it…

Nokia 1112

God, seriously, can we have something in this list that isn’t Nokia?? Nice phone, mind you, although the lack of a colour screen goes against it.

Samsung C170

Now, this phone’s an interesting one, because it’s a slim fashion phone, that costs less than twenty quid. Which doesn’t usually go together in my head, but hey, it’s proof that even if you’re skint, you can still look good!

Motorola W220

Ooh, look, another cheap mobile phone with an FM radio. I’m noticing a pattern here… anyone else thinking that FM receivers cost in the region of about nothing…? Basically, this phone is a camera-less RAZR on the cheap. Which isn’t a bad thing. And those icons on the front of the phone are just pure win!

Nokia 1600

Seriously. No more Nokias. Please.

So, overall, you can see the list was dominated by Nokias. Well, come on, who expected it to be any different? (Certainly not people like me, who remember Nokia’s domination in the glory days of the old 3210, with fondness!)

What was surprising, though, was that they were all trumped by the humble Sony Ericsson J110i. It meets the criteria of having a features list with one item in it (colour screen, that’s it), because, and this is absolutely true, NOT EVERYONE NEEDS A FLASHY PHONE. Most of all, though, I admire it’s no-nonsense attitude. None of this milksop “ooh, have a couple of features, go on” silliness, this phone sits there and goes, “Nope, two quid, you’re not having a radio, do as you’re told, and lump it.” No pretensions, no delusions of grandeur, just a mobile phone that is a phone, and a phone is all it is. Simple, but effective.

So, will I be replacing my P1i with one?

Don’t be daft, of course I won’t…

Have you got a J110i? Do you like the budget end of the market, with cheap but lovely phones? Leave us a comment and have your say!