HaierMobiles.com - Haier P5 Pen Phone

Mobile phones get released, used and become outdated in months these days. You can shell out for your £300 handset only to be tempted by a smaller, lighter feature-packed model later on.

Similarly, the mobile phone is so common these days that its near impossible to get your hands on a phone that you know nobody else will have. Even if you do find an odd phone from a crazy manufacturer, people probably don't buy it because it isn't any good. Granted Nokia and the likes make excellent phones and are usually their packed with all the features under the sun, but do you really use them all?

The standard phone user needs the ability to make calls, send SMS messages and keep themselves occupied on the train with a few games. More demanding users may want a bluetooh headset or synchronisation with their PC. Nobody uses WAP and facilities such as GRPS and fully-blown internet on your phone because they are so costly that the average Joe wont use them. Even if our Joe were mega-rich, short of being an international businessman he would have no use for these features.

One feature that we all want however, is exclusivity. To own something that turns all the heads in the room. Owning something that everybody else wants but nobody else can get is the epiphany of our material world.

One company in the mobile phone field who can deliver this is Vertu. Their reputation precedes them and clearly it should. The Vertu handsets are crafted from materials such as gold & platinum, finished with fine leather. Costing up to £25,000, sadly the most of us can't afford a Vertu. But the idea behind the Vertu is certainly a good one; a mobile phone for the sake of making telephone calls. Few bells and whistles, the workmanship of the phone is the main selling point.

Now what if you could get a phone with the same Philosophy as our beloved Vertu, but with the price tag of your standard Nokia? That's what the Chinese company Haier has done. Most commonly known for manufacturing washing machines and air conditioning units it seems a strange venture to branch out into, but not impossible. You may not recall, but Nokia started out life manufacturing rubber goods such as tyres and Wellingtons - Look at them now.

The mobile phone in question is the Haier P5 'PenStyle'. Aptly named the P5's most striking feature is its size: as tall as a pen and almost as wide as a pen. Simple like a pen the P5 is a true design original that will no doubt be copied many times in the future. Looking more like a Dictaphone the P5 truly turns head; a number of restaurant outings with the P5 had waiters taking double-takes and provided hours of conversation amongst friends.

The styling of the P5 is also truly great. Coming in three colours; blue, red and silver, the silver version we managed to obtain is striking… The matte brushed silver body with chrome style buttons sits elegantly alongside the rounded yet slightly angular black casing of the screen. This mix of slight curves with subtle angles reminds us of the styling employed by many modern-day cars.

However what really sets of the design of the P5 is the ice-blue backlight. Not only lighting the LCD screen, the backlight pierces through behind the buttons. Also, a hairline gap of clear plastic on the edge of the black screen casing fully illuminates to embody 21st century style.

Feature-wise the phone may be limited in contrast to others on the market. No colour screen, bluetooh or data facilities makes for… a phone just like the Vertu. The P5 puts the essence back into making calls, but does have a few tricks up its sleeve. Amongst other things the P5 has a built in laser pointer for the business-minded and a 15minute Dictaphone facility to go with.

The P5 also possesses around 30 polyphonic ring-tones and should you want more then you can download them as you would with any other handset. That's a feature that brushes aside all of the concerns about buying a phone from an otherwise unheard of manufacturer.

The P5 in essence is a Nokia. You can download ring-tones or change the operator logo as often as you like. Other features include voice activated dialling, 3 surprisingly good games (including the much loved and addictive Tetris) and all the standard security and call divert features you'd expect on a phone.

Many have commented to us that the buttons look absolutely tiny and they'd be right to a certain extent. Twinkie-fingers may have a few problems but if you can send a SMS on a Nokia, you'll be fine with the P5. Saying that, 'texting' on the P5 does take some getting used to. The vertical positioning of the screen means that you have to turn the phone on its side to send a text massage.

Due to the undecided rotation of the phone, using the central arrow-key also takes a while to get used to. Traditionally moving right with an arrow-key takes you further into the sub menu while moving left takes you out of this. With the Haier it's the other way round but its easily to understand after a short play around.

Unfortunately the only thing we can falter with Haier's P5 is the battery life. This is a handset that, if used frequently requires a daily charge. You may be able to squeeze two or possibly three days life out the internal (and non-removable) battery. Also, the somewhat unheard of nature of the manufacturer means that there are no additional accessories available for the P5 short of the included charger, hands-free kit and belt-clips.

So what does the Haier P5 cost? Well that's a tricky issue. Not currently for sale in the UK, O2 are rumoured to be releasing the Haier P5 for about £300 later this year. If you want one now (and we suggest that you buy one now) you can pick them up from independent importers & internet auction sites for around £150 - Truly unbeatable value for the package that you're getting… exclusivity, practicality functionality and most of all style that no mobile phone in this country can come close to rivalling. The Haier P5 'PenStyle'.