Nokia 7250i - Orange - Fixed Rate

With Java technology and wap, not only can you use great games and applications, you can download new ones whenever you want to. Couple all this with a distinctive metallic finish and you've a phone that's both functional and fashionable.

As always with a Nokia mobile phone, the Menu is simple, and you barely need the manual at all. Previously, I had a 3310 - I loved it, but the main reason I wanted an upgrade was due to it only being able to store 10 messages. In total, my 7250i is capable of storing 150+ text messages, which is fantastic, as it saves you having to delete them every five minutes.

The phone book is capable of storing up to 500 contacts, and my favourite thing about the "Contacts" on this phone is being able to store more than one number under each contact name - it avoids confusion and just makes things easier.

When you're bored, you can always go to "Games" - "Bounce" and "Triple Pop" were the only games available when I first bought the phone. I was disappointed that the classic "Snake" wasn't featured, but I now have it, thanks to Nokia's official website, where you can download the new version of "Snake Ex 2" for around £4.50.

If you're only buying the 7250i for its integrated digital camera, then don't buy this phone. The pictures are quite good, but sometimes the quality isn't that great - there is a "zoom" option, and you also have the option to add "clip art" to the pictures. Having a camera is just a novelty, so I'm not too bothered about having a fantastic camera - what do you expect from a phone? If you want a good camera, get one of those confusing "flip-phones" that are difficult to use.

One of my favourite features is the FM radio - good for when you're bored and when you don't have your walkman. Sometimes the quality isn't that great, but most of the time it's ace - you can only listen to the radio when the headset (comes with the phone) is plugged in - there is an option to have it on loudspeaker through the headset.

Another good feature is the general "Loudspeaker". I often find myself on the phone to someone whilst having a boring conversation - so I set the phone on to loudspeaker, and go and do something else while the person on the other end is rambling.

Most people probably don't use the "Organiser", but I find it great. I have all my birthdays stored in the calendar, and they alert me a week before the birthday has arrived. You can get a full, clear view of the calendar, simply by pressing the "right-key". It shows all the days of the month, and the days with reminders are in bold.

The colour screen is ace - and there is a good range of pictures in the "Gallery", to have as your background. You can also set photos as your background - this brings people to the most common problem with this phone. I worked my way around it, but everyone seems to have some big issue with it. When you go to the gallery and select a photo as your background, the phone will restart. To get around this, simply go into "Settings", then "Display Settings", then "Set Wallpaper", then go into "gallery/photos" and it works just fine.

On my 7250i, I have the "right-selection-key" as "Go to" options, but you can have it as "Contacts" instead of going into "Menu" to find it. The "Go to" options are very useful. Once pressed, you have a list of options of which you can go to. Eg, on my phone, I have "Inbox", "Gallery", "Contacts" and "Radio" as my first 4 "Go to" options, as these are my most frequently used features on the phone - it saves you browsing the menu trying to find what you are looking for.

The ringtones aren't really to my taste, but who cares? Most ringtones that companies make are designed for Nokia phones anyway, so you can always pay for one you do want, but I didn't buy this phone for ringtones. There are about 30+ polyphonic ringtones for anyone wondering.

Picture messaging is also great, but can be a little expensive. You can send photos and images through "Multimedia Messages" quite easily. I had a bit of difficulty with it at first, but I soon got the hang of it.

I'm on Orange. When you buy this phone on Orange, it comes in the ace "Imperfect Blue" Xpress-On cover (featured in the Amazon pic). If you're going to purchase this phone on the Orange network, it may be an idea to also buy "Orange Text Saver" from Amazon (only £10.00 from Amazon, but around £15-£20.00 in shops like The Link and Carphone Warehouse) - you get 5 free texts a day for a year, £5 top-up and a new swipe-card to top-up in the future with. Also, for the phone-addicts out there, there is quite a big range of Xpress-On covers for this phone.

There are probably loads of features that I haven't mentioned, but you get the general idea. So if you're looking for a good, practical, easy-to-use, feature-packed phone, then you can't go wrong with the Nokia 7250i - ignore the bad reviews - I highly recommend this phone.