Not everyone can afford a smartphone that’s capable of providing users with the optimal connectivity options and that integrates full PDA functionality into it. Sure there are plenty of alternatives that come close although there’s no definitive line of distinction between a standard mobile handset and a Smartphone. The handset’s operating system has a lot to do with this classification while price really has nothing to do with it. For instance Android devices and Windows Mobile handsets are automatically classified as Smartphones. Nevertheless a category of devices does fall under the Smartphone genre and they’re getting cheaper all the time.

With that in mind here are a few of handsets that fall under the Smartphone selection if you’re looking for one and you’re budget is limited to Rs. 10,000 and under.

Samsung Monte - Rs. 8,600 – Best Choice
The Monte is a stylish looking device that has a comfortable grip. Using Samsung’s proprietary TouchWiz UI you’ll have the option of multiple desktops with plenty of handy widgets to drag and drop on to. Samsung’s DNSe audio enhancement feature has also been thrown in for a better multimedia experience. The 3 MP camera comes with a Smile Shot setting as well as geotagging and the Monte is also equipped with Social Networking features. It’s one of the cheapest smartphones in this category that can handle 3G connectivity that also sports Wi-Fi and GPS, making it the best choice for a budget smartphone.



Samsung’s Monte is also equipped with -

* 3.0-inch display with a 240 x 400 pixel resolution
* 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi
* GPS with A-GPS support
* Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB 2.0 (mini)
* 3 megapixel camera
* 3.5mm handsfree socket
* FM radio (recording)
* microSD card support

Nokia 5233 – Rs. 6,300 – Runner Up
The Nokia 5233 is, like I’ve been saying, a lower end version of their once popular 5800 XpressMusic handset. It’s simple and lightweight handset that’s designed to be comfortable to use and it is. It’s loaded with features running on a Symbian OS with a Series 60 touchscreen UI. Nokia’s also included their media bar touch-sensitive key just above the display which makes it really easy to access your on-board media files. S60 handsets also make it easy to download and install apps via Nokia’s Ovi Store (preloaded) application. The handset also comes bundled with Ovi Maps even though it doesn’t have a GPS module.



Other features include -

* 3.2-inch display with a 360 x 240 pixel resolution
* EDGE/GPRS
* Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, USB 2.0 (micro)
* 2 megapixel camera
* 3.5mm handsfree socket
* FM radio
* microSD card support


HTC Smart - Rs. 9,990
The Smart is one of HTC’s low end smartphones and they’ve opted to use Qualcomm’s new Brew Mobile platform as the OS for the device. The OS is simple and quite like using an Android device so it’s easy to get around. Thanks to the versatility of HTC’s Sense UI, the navigating through the menus and accessing functions are very convenient. The Handset is also equipped to handle social networking for Twitter and Facebook users with HTC’s FriendStream application that has its own full page widget.




The Smart also features -

* 2.8-inch display with a 240 x 320 pixel resolution
* 3G, EDGE/GPRS
* Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, USB 2.0 (mini)
* 3 megapixel camera
* 3.5mm handsfree socket
* FM radio
* microSD card support



If you have any other handsets you think are contenders, dear readers, feel free to discuss them in our comments section below.