The best feature phone today - Nokia, Samsung or Philips?

Almost all modern smartphones look almost the same. If they have something different, then only the back panel. Fortunately, push-button mobile phones continue to be original, as they were a decade and a half ago. In other matters, as of today, designers have not noticed the same rampage of fantasy. This is due to the need to save money. Now no one will spend more than five thousand rubles on such a device. So it turns out that most often phones are made from boring black plastic, and as a form factor, the choice of the manufacturer usually falls on a typical "monoblock".

A certain variety is observed even in our selection. Let's start with the fact that Samsung is a flip phone. It's the most pleasant thing to talk about. As for BQ and Texet, the mobile phones of these two manufacturers received a shockproof case. At the same time, only Texet TM-530R can boast of maximum protection. He is able to survive not only all sorts of falls, but also a short-term immersion under water! In this regard, he can be forgiven for the existence of only one color option. Even though Nokia offers six, BQ offers five, and Samsung offers four.

And yet, it must be admitted that the use of mobile phones with a shock-resistant case causes some difficulties. The fact is that these models turned out to be much heavier than competitors. It is much easier to keep a 105-gram device in your pocket, which is how much Samsung and Nokia weigh. If we talk about Philips, then it cannot be called particularly light, but its design turned out to be well-considered and stylish. It is this phone that most of all resembles those mobile phones that were actively sold 10-15 years ago. And he is able to boast the most comfortable keyboard. Even the numbers on it are in large print, so they can be easily distinguished by an elderly person with insufficiently sharp eyesight.

Most often, mobile phone manufacturers embed a display with a diagonal of 2.4 inches. At one time, this was what most phones had. Even the first Nokia smartphones running Symbian could boast of them. It is all the more surprising to see a much larger screen in the novelty from Philips, even if its resolution does not exceed the standard 320x240 pixels. Most of all, this will please the elderly, who would not like to strain their eyes once again.

The Samsung clamshell loses to its competitors. Unfortunately, the design did not allow the introduction of any large screen here. Let him down and his resolution. But most of all, the device disappoints due to the lack of a second display. Until you open your mobile phone, you simply will not recognize the name of the person calling you. Alas, today the practice of creating clamshell phones with two screens has been forgotten, unless you remember the top smartphones from Samsung, which are sold for big money.

Modern mobile phones rarely have a 3G module at their disposal, not to mention high-speed LTE. They usually do not need fast data transfer, since most often their software platform simply does not have a browser. What can I say, the lack of Java support does not even allow you to use Opera Mini. Therefore, let's not be surprised that four of the five models we have selected have only a 2G module, with the help of which voice communication and SMS are implemented. But on the other hand, the devices are ready to boast of stable signal reception even in some village. Now you understand why such devices are in stable demand in small towns?

Nokia stands out from the competition.The presence of the KaiOS operating system in it forced the manufacturer to build in both a 3G module and even 4G support. All this business is endowed with a quad-core Snapdragon 210 processor, running at a clock frequency of 1.1 GHz. The device also includes 512 MB of RAM. As you already understood, the device allows you to download and install additional applications designed for the above operating system. You can also do this via Wi-Fi. Only this mobile phone also received support for this network. However, is it correct to call it such a word? Yes, the operating system is much more limited here than any Android. But its presence still makes it clear that the Nokia 6300 4G is more of a smartphone than a mobile phone.

Modern "buttons" have an advantage over their old relatives. Absolutely all of them have Bluetooth support, whereas in the past it was a rarity. This means that all five models can be connected to a wireless headset. And even in the old days, mobile phones sinned with non-standard connectors for the charger. Now this problem is noticeable only in the South Korean clamshell. The remaining four devices use the familiar microUSB to connect the network adapter. Got phones and a 3.5mm audio jack. It is needed not so much for talking with the interlocutor, but for activating the FM radio.

In fact, modern mobile phones often do not require a large amount of permanent memory. Where to spend it? Taking pictures with such a device is not interesting, and downloading something from the Internet is most often simply impossible. It remains only to copy music from the computer in order to use the device as an MP3 player. This feature is implemented in all five phones. However, any decent amount of memory is waiting only for the buyer of Nokia. Yes, and here 4 GB is sharpened rather not for music, but for installing applications for KaiOS. Therefore, you have to use a microSD memory card. All five devices received a slot for it. Some support a 16-gigabyte drive as much as possible, for some this figure gets up to 32 GB. We think that this is not so important.

Here we also note the fact that three phones out of five are dual-sim. It is possible that you can also find a Nokia with two slots for SIM-cards on sale, but a stripped-down version is much more common on store shelves. As for the Samsung clamshell, it has only one slot, and nothing can be done about it. All contacts, by the way, can be stored on the SIM card. Because of this, one should not expect a capacious contact book from such phones, when each person can be supplemented with numerous information.

In the mid-2000s, phones developed rapidly. They got more and more functionality. Alas, the situation is reversed.In most cases, modern mobile phones receive a very limited proprietary firmware that is not able to surprise with anything. There is an MP3 player - already good. It is all the more surprising to hold a device from Nokia in your hands. You quickly realize that this is a rare case when the device justifies its cost. The KaiOS operating system is, of course, not Android (even a decade ago), but it still allows you to install many useful applications. In particular, WhatsApp can be used here, albeit with slightly limited functionality (you cannot send voice messages, but this feature should appear in one of the next updates). You can also download YouTube, VKontakte and Twitter to your phone. Many other programs are available, as well as games.

Against this background, the remaining four mobile phones look very poor. I would like to recommend them only to older people who do not need access to various online services. Let's take Samsung's clamshell phone as an example — you can find an organizer, a unit converter, notes, a calculator, world time, an image editor, a voice recorder, a stopwatch, a timer, and other little things in it. Surprisingly, there is the possibility of downloading games here - this is done via WAP. Opera Mini is used as a browser.

The BQ stands out because its FM radio does not require headphones to operate. With such a thickness of the device, it was not difficult for the manufacturer to find a place for the antenna inside. And it is this mobile phone that has the brightest flashlight - on its upper end there are two huge LEDs. But in terms of software, the device is much poorer than the South Korean discussed above.

Texet is similar to BQ in many ways. Here, too, the operation of a radio receiver without headphones is implemented. There are no special complaints about the flashlight either.And the device suffers from exactly the same poor software. Alas, expensive Philips is not able to offer anything interesting. It can be seen that all the manufacturer's money went to create a design and metal for the back cover. A voice recorder, a calendar, an alarm clock, a flashlight, a calculator, a stopwatch and a video player - you won't surprise anyone with this now. There is no Java support here, so you will have to forget about additional applications and games.

It is foolish to buy a regular cell phone for the sake of taking pictures. At least in this case, you definitely shouldn't choose Texet, BQ or Nokia. The fact is that these devices have a camera whose resolution is equal to or even less than 0.3 megapixels! In the case of Nokia, this causes the greatest sadness, because many applications have been created for KaiOS related to processing and publishing photos. However, it was necessary for the manufacturer to save on something in order to achieve an adequate price tag?

Perhaps the best camera today has Philips Xenium E590. Its resolution is 2 MP. Alas, nothing more worthy in the modern "button" is observed. As for the clamshell from the South Korean manufacturer, it received a module with a resolution of 1.3 megapixels. He also does his job well enough. Especially if you are going to take pictures exclusively for the contact book.

It is easy to guess that the lightest phones are equipped with the least capacious battery. In particular, a tiny 880 mAh battery is hidden under the back cover of Samsung. I immediately recall the old mobile phones from Siemens, equipped with approximately the same battery. With an average load, the clamshell will work for two or three days, no more. Nokia won't last much longer either, because its heart is a more powerful processor, which has to process data coming from a full-fledged operating system and heavier applications.

Of course, the most capacious batteries are used by protected phones from BQ and Texet. They are mainly used for calls and SMS, so you can count on five to six days of work from a full charge. Philips has been operating the longest. Push-button phones under this brand have been famous for many years for the rare requirement to connect a network adapter. In standby mode, the device is ready to hold out for about a month and a half! Especially if you only insert one SIM card. As for the talk mode, the operating time in it is a couple of tens of hours. The best result, deserving only praise!

Since we chose for this comparison the best phones among those that can be found today on the shelves of Russian stores, it is foolish to expect a price tag of only a thousand rubles from them. However, these models cannot be called too expensive. The device from BQ looks the most advantageous in terms of price. At the same time, he will please with some impact resistance and stable signal reception even in the Russian outback. However, if you are really afraid to break or drown your mobile phone, then it is better to take Texet, even if you have to add an extra thousand rubles for this.

Perhaps, the device from Nokia is able to boast of the optimal ratio of price and quality. Like it or not, the presence of the KaiOS operating system plays a role - a mobile phone equipped with it at least partially replaces any smartphone. As for Samsung, this clamshell makes you use Java applications and games, and even download them exclusively via WAP. Sure, mobile sites still exist, but would you like to take the time to visit them?

If you look at the price tags of the devices we have chosen, it immediately becomes clear which models will fight for the right to be called the best push-button phone today. Of the three most expensive devices, I would not recommend only Samsung.Alas, the clamshell pleases only with its form factor and partial Java support (especially heavy games cannot be run on it). Otherwise, it loses to both of its competitors. As for the BQ and Texet, they have good battery life and a certain amount of shock resistance. If that's what you want, then the choice is made.

As the table below shows, Philips won the most nominations. However, Nokia still received the highest average score. We recommend it to everyone who cares about functionality. As for Philips, on the side of this phone is a huge screen, stylish design, comfortable keyboard and endless battery life. But something more than FM-radio and MP3-player should not be expected from this device.