A few years ago, music on the move was simple. You wanted to listen to tunes, you bought an iPod. Today, things are a lot more complicated, and every mobile phone worth its salt now has one eye on toppling the iPod. Even Apple will later this year do the unthinkable and launch a gadget combining a mobile phone with an iPod.
However, music mobiles are not without their problems. Sound quality can be awful, and getting the music on to them in the first place can be a chore. But gradually phone-makers seem to be getting the message, and the latest batch of potential iPod-killers is showing real promise. Here are some of the best, and a few hints on what to be wary of.
LG U400 NEO
From Free
Possibly the most badly-designed mobile phone you'll ever see, the Neo has a giant scrollwheel in the middle of it you can use to create "scratching" effects while listening to music, thereby ruining any song you've lined up. However, horrible looks aside (and it's certainly not a handset you'd want to pull out in the middle of a meeting), this is a actually a pretty decent, if chunky, handset.
It's got a hint of the looks of LG's Chocolate about it, and is exclusive to 3 so has links to their very good online store built in, meaning you can download tracks from 3's 500,000-track catalogue easily and quickly when you're out and about, and a USB cable lets you put your own music on there too. A2DP support and a 3.5mm headphone remote/adapter also shows LG knows a thing or two about mobile phones.
PROS: Great online music store
CONS: Truly hideous styling
LG PRADA
Price: £400
The LG Prada phone really does have the wow factor – it is undoubtedly the best-looking mobile phone you'll ever have seen, even when compared with Apple's new iPhone.Weighing just 85g and measuring a mere 99x54x12mm, the handset is incredibly slick, and when the display is not active the entire front of the screen is black. Click the hold button on the side and the full-colour display comes into life.
Getting around the menus is extremely intuitive, as you just click on the screen itself rather than messing around with a load of navigation buttons, and this makes choosing music options a breeze. There's also a 2-megapixel camera which produces decent-quality pics, and the inbuilt MP3 and video-playing software is also very well thought out.
Overall, it's hard to find fault with this phone. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of Apple's iPhone, but as 'just' a mobile, its probably the best phone we've ever seen. If nothing else, it'll certainly make you the centre of attention every time you whip it out...
PROS: Incredible looks and touchscreen
CONS: You'll need to add memory cards to get decent amounts of storage
NOKIA N91
From £185
With a massive 8Gb of storage, enough for around 4,000 songs, Nokia's N91 is a heavyweight music phone in every sense of the word. But despite having a design apparently inspired by a housebrick, this a well thought out phone in terms of software, if not design.
Getting around your music library is relatively easy, and crucially there's a 3.5mm headphone jack, so you can plug in normal headphones. The music software is good, if not brilliant – sometimes it feels a little clunky finding individual songs. Crucially, the N91 can also play songs you've downloaded from online stores such as Napster, giving it a big plus over its rivals. There's also A2DP support for those swanky wireless headphones.
Of course, as well as all the music functions, you're also getting a great little Nokia handset. It's big and bulky, but even so the massive storage makes it a contender for the title of best music phone.
PROS: Huge storage
CONS: Awful looks
APPLE IPHONE
Around £500
Sadly, Apple has yet to let journalists play with the iPhone, but it has cast a shadow over the whole music phone market. It's basically an incredibly slick touchscreen phone with an iPod thrown in, along with a 2-megapixel camera. There are, however, some worries – battery life and the high price being the biggest.
However, it's a case of wait and see – if Apple gets it right, this will be the phone we are all lusting after at the end of the year when it finally comes to the UK. Crucially, it'll also play all the music you've spent a fortune downloading from iTunes.
PROS: Those amazing looks, and the fact it's a "real" iPod
CONS: Battery life, and the fact it'll be an instant sellout
MOTOROLA RIZR
From Free
Motorola's mobile music reputation took a real hammering over its disastrous tie-up with Apple for the truly horrible ROKR E1 iTunes phone, where it produced undoubtedly the worst music mobile ever. However, thankfully it seems to have learnt its lesson. The RIZR is a slider phone and looks fantastic with its shiny casing and slick sliding action, which is even spring-assisted for that smooth and slinky feel.
However, sadly it seems Motorola still hasn't quite got music right – there's hardly any functionality in the way of editing playlists, and choosing individual songs is a real chore at times. There is one saving grace though, in the addition of A2DP Bluetooth stereo headphone connectivity. Overall though, it's a disappointing handset – a slick fashion phone, but you'll need the iPod too.
PROS: Slick looks and slider action
CONS: Music software is not great
SAMSUNG X830
From Free
The tiny, tiny X830 at first glance looks like a horrible, gimmicky handset. But spend a bit of time with it, and this is a surprisingly good little phone. Samsung has managed to shorehorn in 1Gb of memory, so you'll be able to store a big chunk of your CD collection.
There's also a 1.3MP camera, and the trackwheel-like interface makes browsing tracks really easy. Samsung's music software is excellent, although it does feel a little cramped on the tiny screen. The keyboard also only has two columns of keys, so it'll take a while to get to grips with. But this is really a fashionista's phone, and the swivel action makes it a real headturner – just, whatever you do, don't buy the pink version...
PROS: Tiny size
CONS: Keypad can be fiddly
SONY ERICSSON W950I
From £50 with contract
Sony Ericsson's flagship walkman phone, the W950i is all about the music. It's got 4Gb of storage (the same as a low-end iPod), so will comfortably carry a big chunk of your CD collection around with about 1,000 tracks. However, all this musical ability has come at a price – there's no camera, for instance, and it is a large handset, although only 15mm thick.
The key is Sony's new version of its Walkman software, and it's full of neat touches. Album artwork is downloaded when the online CD database retrieves song names, while the stylus-propelled touchscreen-toting Symbian UIQ interface means working your way around is convenient, if a bit sluggish at times. The W950i lives and breathes music but doesn't neglect its phone duties, making this a real contender to the iPod, although as with all music phones, don't expect the interface to be quite as slick as everyone's favourite MP3 player.
PROS: Superb software, loads of storage
CONS: No camera
