Cell phones that fit your budget

The Qs, BlackBerrys, Chocolates, Blackjacks and Treos, and other feature-rich mobile phones -- with MP3 music players, PDA, cameras, Internet access and TV tuners -- that cost hundreds of dollars get the hype. But they can turn off technophobes and frustrate the frugal.

Good news: There are still loads of low-cost options available for people who want cell phones without laying out gobs of cash and who aren't necessarily infatuated with the bells and whistles.

A half dozen Sun-Times staffers tested low-priced phones from the major carriers. Generally, the less expensive, often bare-bones phones performed well. We also learned that if you spot a bargain, you probably should grab it because prices can change without notice.

Neil Mawston, associate director of the global wireless practice for Strategy Analytics, said that though the world market leans toward the high-end phones, there is increasing interest worldwide -- especially among new customers -- in ultra-low-priced phones. In 2005, only 1 percent of the global market opted for these phones. But the proportion is expected to increase to 7 percent by next year.

He said, "Low-cost devices can, potentially, be a useful, niche method of driving secondary handset sales in saturated countries. For example, an American buyer could use a Motorola Q smartphone during the office day, then take a cheap voice phone down to the club for a drink at night."

Sun-Times staffers tried out phones costing, with rebates, less than $50 from AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular and Verizon.

Our testers' favorites were a tie between the LG UX210, a silver flip from Chicago-based U.S. Cellular and the Motorola V325 from Verizon. The LG, featuring a one-touch speaker phone, voice-activated dialing and a melody composer to make your own ringtones, lists for $49, but can be had free with the easyedge application, which is a game and ringtone service.

The Motorola V325, featuring a camera and a speaker phone, was just raised to $70 from $30 when we started our test.

On the LG UX210: A fiftysomething tester from Rogers Park said the phone had a "nice compact design [and was] very user friendly. It was easy to figure out the functions without searching through the manual. Clear, bright display. All the musical tones you could want. Some functions that were new [to me at any rate] such as a tip calculator and a world time clock."

On the Motorola V325: A mid-twentyish Hyde Parker said: "Although it's not the best-looking, or most fashionable, the Motorola V325, covered with black rubberized material and a metal front and black center, has excellent reception."

Verizon offers a cheaper alternative: the free Motorola W315, no camera, but text messaging.<