Panasonic GD93

The GD93 offers POP3 email support and you can allocate email addresses to everybody in your phone book, which can mean up to 200 email addresses if you use both the SIM and phone memories. On the storage front, you can also keep a healthy 40 received emails and ten sent messages.

The WAP browser functions well but takes a lot of getting used to, as setting the thing up isn't intuitive or pleasant. Then there are some odd labels for various functions, while activating links always involves multiple key presses. In any other phone this would consign WAP to the 'unused gimmicks' menu, but the fantastic screen and quick processing of pages mean it's worth persevering.

It's also easy to browse offline, although the number of pages stored will be variable. During my tests I had six pages stored at one point, but a few more seems to be possible. The microscopic icon syndrome returns to haunt you here again, since there's a tiny LCD image at the bottom of the screen that tells you whether you're online.

Under a surface of bravado and fun, the Panasonic packs quite a punch for such a tiny handset. It's contradictions like this that make it a strange beast to figure out, since it has frivolous animations and images to show off its great screen as well as the gimmicky changeable backlight colours. But the desktop hands-free and POP3 email make it a great business phone.

That said, most business phones these days come with some organiser or diary function, which the Panasonic lacks, while the omission of any games - a feature that's made a raft of Nokia phones must-haves for anyone with time to idle away - suggests that Panasonic isn't aiming for a youth user. These contradictions and the styling are likely to make this 'a love it or loathe it', so it's only really an option for the more adventurous phone buyer.

Author: Andy Szebeni