External controls
The first is fairly obvious. You don’t want to be hunting through your phone’s menu system every time you want to select a new track, skip forward or back a track selection. Easy accessibility to music controls is something any handset that proposes itself as a serious alternative to a stand-alone MP3 player must have.
Memory Capacity
It’s no good taking a phone as a serious contender to mp3 players if you only have room to store a couple of albums worth of tracks. Another option to keep in mind is memory compatibility. Will your new phone use a recognised standard of memory card, or will it use a bespoke option? This can affect the price you’d be expected to pay for a larger capacity card, and also the size of card available to purchase. Also, keep in mind your handsets own limitations. Not all phones that use Micro SD cards, for example, can take the current maximum size of 8GB available. Some are restricted by software limitation to 2GB or 4GB maximum capacity.
Bluetooth
Most handsets support Bluetooth, but two variants of Bluetooth exist, Bluetooth 1.2 and Bluetooth 2.0 The main difference is in the support offered between these Bluetooth versions. Bluetooth 2.0 allows you to listen to your music wirelessly, by streaming the music to a stereo Bluetooth headset. Bluetooth 1.2 does not have this feature.
3.5mm Audio Output Jack
Some people take their music very seriously. Not only do they want their files to be optimised for sound quality, but they also get very serious about the quality of headset they choose to listen to their music. For people like these, a stereo Bluetooth headset isn’t going to be good enough, they will want to use their own favourite wired headset. Some music handsets will have a 3.5mm audio jack built in. This is the best solution. Some phones, like the Sony Ericsson Walkman range, use a proprietary connector on the handset to connect their headsets. To use your own headsets with a Walkman phone you will need to use an adaptor, which can mean longer wires to deal with.
Music Playing Software
Often overlooked, an important consideration is just how good is the music playing software? A good UI makes all the difference, and extras such as equaliser, album art, and ’skins’ will enhance the user experience.
Other features
You may be buying your phone with the main purpose of playing music (apart from actually making calls and sending texts, of course) but a consideration should also be given to other features the phone may have. How good is the camera? Does it include GPS? How good is the web browser? Is there a decent email client? The design and look of the phone is also important.
Our Recommendations
There are some excellent music phones out there but if we had to choose just one, right now the Nokia N81 8GB would be our choice; 3.5mm jack for using your own headphones, large memory for music storage, dedicated music controls, etc. The N81 is a superb mp3 phone with the Sony Ericsson W890i a close second.
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[Source: The UK Mobile Phone Blog]
