Nokia 2605 Mirage

"This is basically a throwaway phone," writes one owner of the Nokia 2605 Mirage at PhoneScoop.com. CNET reviewer Kent German doesn't mince words either, saying the Mirage fails the most basic durability tests. In a chorus of complaints, the Nokia Mirage falls short on nearly all counts -- for its flimsy construction, poorly designed controls and keypad, inconsistent call quality and non-functional speakerphone -- preventing it from competing with rival basic phones like the Samsung Knack (*est. $10) and the LG VX5400, which garner awards for simplicity and superb performance. The tiny Mirage is smaller than its competitors, measuring 3.22 inches by 1.65 inches by 0.62 inches, but the biggest difference rests on the scale: The Mirage weighs a mere 2.32 ounces, which German contends is "almost too light in the hand." Plastic dominates its construction, with hinges so flexible that one user was able to hyperextend the phone backwards. The exterior postage-stamp external display rates as standard issue, whereas the 1.8-inch, 128-by-160-pixel internal display fares well for brightness. And although the keypad is backlit and spacious, the buttons are flush, making it difficult to differentiate keypad buttons from one another or from the navigation controls.

The dual-band Mirage also lags as a calling device. German speaks for most users when he describes the variable call quality as "barely passable" and calls the speakerphone unusable. Communication performance aside, the phone offers a 500-entry phone book, calendar, notepad, calculator, alarm clock, world clock, stopwatch, voice commands, voice dialing and a 2.5 mm headset jack. Verizon Wireless' network supports Bluetooth, GPS receiver with a turn-by-turn navigator, mobile web and web-based email, as well as text, picture and multimedia messaging, instant messaging, a location tracker for children's phones, and downloadable games and ringtones. The Mirage also comes equipped with a low-resolution VGA camera, albeit one without flash or video capture. Photo quality rates as mediocre, and the phone offers only 18 MB of internal memory for storage. With such setbacks in form factor and performance, reviewers and users don't consider the Mirage a good buy, with one owner at CNET saying it isn't worth it, "even for kids." Instead, German recommends the Samsung Knack as a better option.

CNET provides a standalone review of the Nokia Mirage 2605 that evaluates form factor, call quality and features, while user comments from CNET, PhoneScoop.com and Amazon.com show how the Mirage holds up with extensive use.