Cheap Thrills

We ain’t all billionaires in this city. Just look at you—you’re reading a free magazine. While it might be a point of pride for investment bankers to be seen flashing the latest smartphone, it just isn’t realistic for the majority. And so we present alternatives—affordable smartphones for every budget.

The Standard

Nokia 6120
The Good: Extremely affordable price, sleek classic design, small and lightweight, long battery life, Symbian operating system, able to read PDF and Office documents, fast downloads via Wi-Fi (only through carrier), support for up to 2GB cards, built-in mini-USB for quick PC transfers, front-facing camera for video calls.
The Bad: Poor 2 megapixel camera, average call quality, no WLAN (ability to connect to any wireless LAN).
The Decision: Perfect for your average consumer, with its exceptionally reasonable price, ease of use and Internet capabilities, making it the ideal choice for your non-geek.
Recommended price: $1,790

The Surfer

Nokia E51
The Good: Sleek and small design akin to the 6120, long battery life, Symbian operating system, extremely fast downloads via both Wi-Fi and WLAN, support for up to 4GB cards, mini-USB, onboard speakers, amazing call quality.
The Bad: Expensive, poor substandard 2 megapixel camera, no front-facing camera, not “officially” available in Hong Kong.
The Decision: Can’t stand the thought of shelling out hundreds and hundreds to your phone service for a bit of web surfing? Dip into the dollars and pay the extra charge, if you can.
Recommended price: $2,490

The Muso

Sony K530i
The Good: Very affordable price, extremely light, conservative design, easy-to-use keyboard, Wi-Fi enabled, support for up to 2GB, great music player, built-in stereo.
The Bad: Poor 2 megapixel camera, no WLAN, only 16MB built-in memory.
The Decision: Sony has always aimed squarely at the music market, and this is no exception. All you music bloggers out there can rant till your heart’s content, and then some. Just watch the phone bills.
Recommended price: $1,580