Sagem my850v Crystal

It seems to be the fashion these days to give mobile phones names. We've seen the RAZR, Shine and Chocolate, to name but three. The carefree days of naming a new handset after a bunch of randomly chosen numbers are long gone, it would seem.

Not wanting to be left out, cheap and cheerful mobile manufacturer Sagem has recently released the Crystal, although it's also – rather thoughtfully– given the new mobile the more conventional 'my850v' moniker, possibly to appease all those stubborn traditionalists.

Given Sagem's rather sketchy track record, we were prepared to be underwhelmed by the Crystal but, as we found with the recently reviewed my411x, we've come away pleasantly surprised. The phone itself feels solid and well designed, with the glossy front and grippy, rubberized back making for an agreeable combination. It's not the thinnest 3G phone we've seen so far, but at a lean 16mm it certainly won't be creating an unsightly bulge in your pocket.

This handset is pleasingly feature-rich. The two-megapixel camera offers decent snaps, video calling is as good as to be expected, the on-board media player is low-key but dependable and microSD support goes as far as 2GB cards. Because it's a Vodafone exclusive you get an appropriately branded (and blissfully intuitive) user interface, as well as neat 'Live!' extras such as Mobile TV and video calling.

One of the biggest shocks for us was the quality of the QVGA display, though. We were cruelly disappointed by the poor screen of the aforementioned my411x, and thus expected corners to be cut with the Crystal – not so. The display is pin-sharp and wonderfully vibrant.

The big talking point of the phone is undoubtedly the external controls, which ape similar interfaces seen on other phones of late. When the handset is inactive the shiny front looks minimalist and completely featureless, however, once it's activated, a small black and white display magically appears along with illuminated touch-sensitive playback buttons. These enable you to control your music without having to open the phone; hardly a revolutionary innovation but it's a stylish move you wouldn't normally associate with a Sagem product.

From a gaming standpoint the Crystal is also impressively equipped. It supports downloadable Java games and can handle the latest cutting edge 3D titles with ease. The review handset we received came bundled with a selection of demos, the most visually impressive being Asphalt 3: Street Rules 3D. The sharp resolution and detailed visuals brought to mind the glorious arcade excess of Namco's legendary Ridge Racer series, and thanks to the phone's responsive D-pad, pulling off insane, tyre-eating powerslides was a breeze.

Similarly, we were extremely impressed with the performance of other titles bundled with the phone. Worms Forts 3D and Lego Star Wars both looked wonderful on the crisp screen, and showcased silk-smooth gameplay.

If there is a criticism, is that although the D-pad is fantastic for gaming, the layout of the keys is less ideal. This obviously isn't a problem when playing games that only require a single button (as there's one slap bang in the middle of the D-pad) but for more complicated titles the lack of a more thoughtful layout – like the one seen on the upcoming N-Gage enabled Nokia N81, for example – proves to be a hindrance. That said, it remains a relatively minor niggle, however.

Taking into account all of the above, we're pleased to be able to state that Sagem seems to have turned a corner with the Crystal. If you really wanted to be picky, you could moan about the rather drab keypad, the somewhat basic text messaging facility and the disappointing lack of bundled accessories (for example, there's no USB cable for data transfer or headphones for MP3 playback) but on the whole there's surprisingly little else to find fault with here.

Considering the phone is currently being offered as a free upgrade option on Vodafone contracts (one would assume a low-price PAYG release is not far away) it's a highly recommended piece of kit.