Free to $99
If you’re a first-time buyer, this is how wireless-service companies like to get you hooked: offer you an entry-level phone at little or no cost, hoping you will eventually trade up to one of their more gee-whiz models. But today’s basic phones aren’t as basic as they used to be–last year’s midrange handset often becomes this year’s low-end model. The Siemens A56 offers Enhanced Messaging Service (EMS), which allows you to personalize your phone with ring-tone songs that have a surprisingly rich sound, along with clip-art-style graphics and animations. Industry leader Nokia has several sub-$100 phones; the Nokia 1261 allows downloadable rings and can even double as an alarm clock.
$100 to $199
If you already have a service plan, or you are thinking of taking a step up from your entry-level phone, a little more cash goes a long way. You’ll find larger displays and helpful applications like calculators and currency converters. LG’s 5350 phone with Verizon service has a color display with various screensavers and downloadable games including those much-beloved classics Tetris and Pac-Man. The Motorola T720i is a bit more PDA-like with its icon-driven interface and Internet access to news and e-mail. But Nokia’s 6385 kicks it up a notch with swappable faceplate covers, various musical ring tones and even instant messaging. And the phones in this category tend to be more stylish than their less expensive, plain-Jane brethren.
$200 to $299
Now you’re approaching “Star Trek” communicator status. Digital cameras, PDA features like address books and calendars, snazzier interfaces and multimedia messaging service (MMS) allow you to reach out and touch someone in more powerful ways. The Sprint-exclusive Sanyo PCS 5300 has just one quarter the resolution of a one-megapixel digital camera, but more than makes up for it with adjustable color tone. What’s more, you can upload your snapshots to Sprint’s PCS Vision Web site and share them with your friends. Another Sprint model, the Samsung A600 camera phone, could bring out your inner James Bond with its rotating LCD screen-viewfinder and rotating camera lens for the perfect self-portrait. If you see the camera feature as a sometime thrill, Sony Ericsson’s CommuniCam MCA-25 has the ideal solution: it snaps on to –the base of the T300 phone.
$300 and up
When the sky’s the limit, you can get something that will dazzle your seatmate. Sony Ericsson leads the way with the P800 multimedia phone, which offers expandable memory through Memory Stick Duo and has an MP3 player. Part phone, PDA and digital camera, the P800 is Bluetooth-enabled, for an easy wireless connection to a PC or other Bluetooth device. The Nokia 3650 trumps that with an integrated speakerphone, a digital camera, video recording and voice dialing for up to 25 numbers. It even gets you a special version of the Real One multimedia player. If you’re a PDA fanatic, cut down on the number of gadgets in your pockets with the Handspring Treo or T-Mobile’s Pocket PC phone. All of these high-tech handsets are so jammed with goodies you may not even want to answer the phone.
