Top 10 Games Phones: December 2006

The handsets that make mobile games a pleasure to play

| Dec 21, 2006

Update: This list is from 2006, so why not head over to our very latest listing of the top game phones.

Welcome to our updated Top 10 Gaming Phones feature, something some of you – and all of us – have been looking forward to for a little while. Well, we've finally had time to sit down and nominate our new favourite handsets for pocket gaming purposes and what's surprising is how well our old faithful phones have stood up to the test of time.

We considered each handset against the same criteria: how the hardware handled 2D and 3D visuals, how the controls, screen and sound suit gaming and, also importantly, what each handset is like to live with as a phone.

The results you can see below, so have a read and let us know your thoughts or views on your own phone with a comment.


	Sony Ericsson W550i Yes, it's just marked its first birthday since release in the UK. And yes, there are more powerfully equipped handsets out there (see number two, below). But still there's no other phone that comes anywhere close to achieving as perfect a union of handset design, hardware and sheer availability of games as Sony Ericsson's W550i. With the ability to turn the phone sideways, providing a landscape view for a game's visuals, and console-style controls, it's the dog's danglies of the pocket gaming phone world. Oh, and did we mention that it's still got high street cache, thanks to the fact it resides under the Walkman brand? Read the review

	Nokia N93 Of all the mass-market mobile phone handsets at the time of writing, the Nokia N93 boasts the most powerful combination of processor and 3D graphics accelerator. That's right: like your home computer or games console, the N93 has a dedicated 3D chip that works on the visuals, whether they be from a video, photo or game. This means that it's capable of producing more detailed and fluid visuals than the competition and can handle 3D Symbian and Java games with ease. It's been pipped to the post due to its price (it's around twice as expensive as the W550i) and its controls, which aren't terribly well-suited to gaming.

	Nokia 5300 Nokia handsets make up half of our top ten gaming phones, due largely to the fact that they're dependable performers in the hardware and software stakes. The Series 60 Symbian operating system handles practically any Java or Symbian game you're likely to come across and the controls are almost universally intuitive. That the 5300 makes it to number three is testament to the handset's 2D and 3D gaming performance, and a display that's geared towards landscape orientations, though it's a feature that's not been employed to the same success as the W550i – yet. The fact that it's not black or silver and a joy to hold in your hands adds to the 5300's pocket gamer appeal.

	Sony Ericsson K810i You could, quite legitimately, replace the K810i with its immediate predecessor, the K800i. The reason behind our decision to go with the new model is in its circular directional pad, which replaced the K800i's little thumbstick that became almost unusuable after long periods of play unless you had calluses like a bricky's. Although it's geared toward music playback, it packs enough processing power into its candy bar form to handle 3D games without having them collapse into juddering piles of ragged edges, while its 2D abilities mean bright, colourful scenes. If you do spot a K800i for sale, don't ignore it – similarly impressive performance can be had at a reduced price now it has been superseded.

	Nokia N73 We had several gripes with the N70 and some of them have been carried over into the N73. But it's a strong enough performer to muscle its way into our top ten through sheer strength of hardware. A big help has been the addition of a thumbstick that replaces the awful square directional pad that dogged the N70. But the best part of the N73's buffet is its 2.4" screen that's centred on a 240 x 320 resolution display that's a wonder to behold. Thanks to the size of the handset (it's 3G, natch) the N73 also packs a pretty mean speaker, too, so when you do come across a game that has had more than an iota of time spent on audio, you'll notice it.

	Nokia 6234 A slimline 3G phone, the 6234 is a special edition that's available only through network operators. Comparatively speaking it's a no-frills handset and, after Nokia's N-series range, it's refreshingly compact. But it's also ideally suited to games. It comes with a massive amount of memory and the controls are simple and easy to use. The kicker is the 3D performance, which'll handle all the games you want without making a fuss. Just be sure that you don't want your phone to do much else than play games, though, as the thinner specification limits some other 3G fun and frolics.

	Sharp 903 The second of four holdovers from our initial top ten, Sharp's 903 is a dark horse. You're unlikely to come across one with a network contract and even Vodafone only offers refurbished handsets. Regardless, the 903 is a supreme 3D performer, only to be out-gunned by the Nokia N93. The reasons it's stuck mid-field (down one position from our initial top ten) can be found in a directional pad that feels a bit too flimsy for its own good and an operating system that's never been fully accepted by games publishers. Age hasn't been terribly kind to the 903, either, with the handset looking distinctly big and brick-like by today's standards.

	Sony Ericsson K700i It feels as though this Sony Ericsson handset as been around as long as time itself, but even so, we were surprised when we dug through our notes and discovered that it was launched in early 2004. Despite its age, the K700i continues to impress and is a regular platform for our review games thanks to its gaming prowess. It handles 3D games with an ease that's uncommon among phones released today and, though the screen is relatively small, they look great. We're still using our K700i, a handset that spent two very fraught years as an everyday office mobile, which is the best complement we can pay it. If you see one for sale – invariably for peanuts – you won't regret buying it. Read the review

	Samsung D600 The D600 didn't quite make it into our original top ten thanks to the fact that, as a Samsung phone, quality games for it were as rare as hens' teeth. But the publishers have warmed to it since then, thanks in part to the fact that the D600 has sold like hot cakes. And in the same way that we've relied upon clichéd metaphors in this passage, we've relied on the D600 to review a fair amount of the games on Pocket Gamer. 2D games are the area in which this handset excels with its high-resolution screen (240 x 320 pixels) that is the crispest, most vibrant display we've ever seen. The controls let the side down slightly, though, with a stiff and unresponsive directional pad. Read the review

	Nokia N-Gage QD We couldn't let the N-Gage QD drop out of our top ten completely, despite everything that's going against it. Lacking the Series 60 MIDP 2.0 support that all modern Nokia smartphones have, the N-Gage struggles with modern 2D and 3D games, and the bulk of the thing means it's about as portable as a melon. But we've got a soft spot for the handset that revolutionised the notion of mobile phone gaming. The controls are perfect, it's a joy to grasp in your sweaty mitts and the line of exclusive N-Gage titles includes a couple of bona fide classics. We hope Nokia does the platform justice when the next-generation N-Gage debuts. Read the review