BenQ M315

This phone is not expensive. The M315 looks like a far more expensive model--you can take it out with you and not be embarrassed in the company of more costly or feature-packed units.

The Ben(Q) boasts between 65 and 142 hours of standby time, and three to five hours of talk time which is a good result for this 85 gram compact communication tool.

Of course, nobody is perfect. The primary omission is in the iTap predictive text input. It's not that iTap doesn't work, quite the opposite--it operates with precision and even includes more obscure words like "linux", place names like "paris" and brands like "hilton". It's just that there is no mixed case option. In other words, you can use iTap to type "HILTON" or "hilton", but not "Hilton". While the available letter input mode can achieve the desired result, it's far more cumbersome.

More minor gripes are a keypad that does take a little getting used to (which, unfortunately, is probably true of the writer as well), it has an almost unreadable on-screen clock when the phone is in automatic sleep mode, and no speakerphone. These are countered by the well-designed menu and keypad navigation system that includes the extremely functional five-way navigation controller. The controller is used to access most functions on the phone: press left and a new SMS message is started; press up for shortcuts (speed-dials which can be used for numbers or phone functions); right to select profiles; down for the album; and OK for the full menu.

The 4x digital zoom camera works well, but like many basic camera phones only offers 100K resolution. Seven effects including negative, embossment and sepia are present and multi-shots are supported. There is a self-timer but it is only fixed at three seconds.

Overall, the BenQ M315 is a well-designed, stylish, low-resolution camera phone with Bluetooth. Good value for money, the M315 can also be purchased with optional Bluetooth headset, hands-free headset and a travel charger.