Panasonic G70 and Siemens Xelibri 6

26th December 2003

Sometimes mobile phones compete on features, and sometimes on design. In the case of the Panasonic G70 and Siemens Xelibri 6, we have two phones designed strictly for the "girlie" market that are prepared to sacrifice technical features for looks and handbag-friendliness.

In strictly technical terms neither phone is too impressive. The screens are small on both phones, only the Panasonic G70 supports GPRS or WAP, there's no bluetooth or Java support for applications or games. But this largely misses the point - these are meant to be simple, functional handsets that cover the basics.

In pretty much all technical aspects, the Panasonic G70 is superior to the Xelibri 6. The Panasonic is tri-band (compared to the Xelibri 6 which is dual band), supports GPRS data and has a WAP browser (the Xelibri doesn't have this), it has an external display (the Xelibri has none) and the Panasonic's display has 50% more pixels.

However, the Xelibri 6 is pretty much identical to the G70 in terms of weight, and battery life is roughly comparable too. Although prices for the G70 aren't available yet, the SIM free model will probably be around the same as the Xelibri 6 at roughly €280/£180.

Where the Xelibri 6 scores is, arguably, in looks. The Xelibri seems to have a much more elegant design than the Panasonic which manages to look a little like a Christmas decoration. The Xelibri's twin mirrors, one standard and one magnifying are a much simpler way of doing it than the Panasonic's in-screen mirror which is limited the inbuilt 128x96 pixel display. The key point with the Xelibri 6 is that it has the ability to swap SIM cards on the fly, and this really is the whole point of the Xelibri.. it's not designed to be your main phone, but something that you can use if you're going out and want something small and smart.

So, if you're looking for this type of phone, we think the key point is how pretty it looks, and to us the Xelibri 6 is the far more attractive handset. If you want a phone that's powerful and practical, then probably neither of these is what you're looking for.