Phone contracts can be annoying, because when the time comes to upgrade the choice can be a very difficult one. I’m in the process of negotiating a new student deal for university, and I could have any of the great phone above for free. Which one to choose? I’m a firm believer that writing your thoughts down can make a decision much easier to come to, so here goes:

Sony Ericsson K800i
I’m a huge Sony Ericsson fan. My last four phones have all been Sony Ericssons, and I’ve found every one to be fantastic (apart from the odd faulty joystick). However, they seem to be losing their innovative edge. The progression and difference between each phone previously was huge, but I’m not sure how much of a step the K800 is. Sure, it has a nice 3mpx camera, but I’ve got a Sony 5mpx shooter I use when I’m taking photos. Equally, a Xenon flash doesn’t really impress me. It’s quite big and bulky, but I’m drawn to it purely because it’s a Sony Ericsson like I’m drawn to Apple. It’s also 3g, which might be coming more important in the near future as the price of video calls drops.

Samsung E900
This is a beautiful phone. On beauty alone, I’d be sold. It has touch sensitive buttons (I absolutely loved that about the older iPods), and a nice slider mechanism. No complaints there really. I’ve never used a Samsung before, so it would be a learning curve getting used to menus and the difference in predictive text etc, but I don’t think it would be a problem at all. I like learning new things! It’s got a 2mpx camera, but I’ve heard about issues with lag leading to blurry snaps. It’s also not 3g which is a slight but not too important downer.

Samsung P300
Well there’s a lot to say about this one. I absolutely love the design - the retro calculator looks is both professional and stunning. I think it’s a great concept, and always loved little pocket calculators (the same can’t be said for maths…). It’s got a comparitively poor camera however, and no 3g. It does come with a classy leather case with a built in extra battery - which would be cool - but this does add to the overall width. It’s tiny - almost small enough to fit in your pocket. What I really don’t like? There’s no external memory card slot - so I’d be stuck with the (albeit not bad) 80mb internal memory. Then again, I’ve never used an external memory card in my Sony Ericsson K750i….

It’s a tricky choice, and I’ve got a feeling I’ll end up going for the Samsung E900. I need to head into town at some point and try to pit the various networks against each other for the best deal - that’s always fun. I’ll probably do a review of the one I end up choosing at some point. If anyone’s got any comments, feel free to share.